Feb 11
A Great Night’s Sleep
What a difference a (night) makes! I honestly can’t believe it. This morning I woke at my usual time (I’ve been well trained by my human alarm) to silence. Cas was awake when I went in to pick him up, standing and waiting, but perfectly happy. And I was happy.
Because I wasn’t woken up by god-awful screeching.
You guys were such a great help and I can’t believe this idea had never occurred to me. I was completely trapped in this "impossible" mindset. But I did something even more radical than putting a camping mattress in the lounge. I broke down the bed altogether and cleared the room. This doesn’t just solve my sleep problem: It solves the major problem of mess.
The house has been full of half packed boxes, lining the hallway and cluttering up the living space. Trying to clear it up with Cas running around a pulling everything out of boxes has been a Sisyphean task, always depressingly one step forward and two steps back. Cas is a fantastic, easy boy but I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in the experience of cleaning everything up only to have the place looking like a disaster area again not an hour later.
Now the boxes and things to be sorted out are stacked neatly against the wall in the bedroom, where I can close the door. It’s not entirely sorted out yet but I feel like I’m getting somewhere. Who knows, I might escape the suburbs after all.
Today, I even had the opportunity to take an afternoon nap. Big Sis was out with the boyfriend, and the mattress was lying there waiting for me. I didn’t use it: I got caught up in some of the usual Internet things. But I could have and that was a really nice feeling.
I still have a sleep deficit and I won’t be out of the red any time soon. By about 5pm I was tired and cranky, and then of course wide awake and passed the point of sleep by the time Caspar went to bed.
But I don’t feel hopeless anymore and I don’t feel trapped by the situation. Such an easy fix. So here’s to another good night’s sleep!
(Whenever I decide to go to bed.)
February 11th, 2008 at 12:05 pm
Yes it does make SUCH a difference. And better for Caspar too, of course, not to have cranky mum. Looking after self is an essential ingredient in looking after others.