I think I have almost perfected the art of napping. I was born into a famly of nappers. My father, a college president, walked home from his office every day for lunch--a mile or more--and then took a twenty-minute nap. My brother naps--in fact, during periods in his life, I knew him to take two naps before noon. He's too busy for that these days, but he gets in his afternoon nap.
And I feel downright deprived if I don't get a nap of at least an hour. These days my friends know I love to visit over lunch--but I want to go early, so that I cn get my nap in before I pick up my grandson after school and facing the daunting challenge of first-grade homework. Yes, I put on an old t-shirt and crawl into the covers--none of this napping fully dressed on top of the bed for me. I actually go to bed.
Some days my soundest sleep is at nap time. Like today when I went to sleep at about one-thirty and woke about ten after two, totally disoriented. I thought it was two in the morning, but then why was it daylight? Was it Saturday? No, couldn't be because I didn't remember going to the grocery in the morning. Sometimes in my rush to orient myself I run into the kitchen to check the clock there and make sure it says the same thing as the bedroom clock--though what that would tell me, I don't know. At last it dawned on me that it was Friday and, yes, I had to pick up Jacob. So I went back to bed until the alarm went off at a quarter to three. I have also perfected the art of throwing my clothes back on and getting out the door to get him but , after all, his school is just across the street.
If Jacob is here on weekends, I tell him firmly not to wake me unless the house is on fire. So he tugs the blanket to bring me out of a sound sleep for something like,, "The TV isn't working," or "I'm hungry." Like all children his age, he's given up napping unless sleep overcomes him while he watches TV--it happens.
Sometimes I think Saturdays are my favorite days--no school, no pressing things to do that evening (on Sundays, I'm often cooking for company), and if Jacob's not here, I sometimes nap and doze for two hours. Oh yes, I can sleep for an hour, and then drift in that netherland between sleep and wakefulness for an hour.
I've read that napping is good for your health, and I'm ready to believe it. How about you?
And I feel downright deprived if I don't get a nap of at least an hour. These days my friends know I love to visit over lunch--but I want to go early, so that I cn get my nap in before I pick up my grandson after school and facing the daunting challenge of first-grade homework. Yes, I put on an old t-shirt and crawl into the covers--none of this napping fully dressed on top of the bed for me. I actually go to bed.
Some days my soundest sleep is at nap time. Like today when I went to sleep at about one-thirty and woke about ten after two, totally disoriented. I thought it was two in the morning, but then why was it daylight? Was it Saturday? No, couldn't be because I didn't remember going to the grocery in the morning. Sometimes in my rush to orient myself I run into the kitchen to check the clock there and make sure it says the same thing as the bedroom clock--though what that would tell me, I don't know. At last it dawned on me that it was Friday and, yes, I had to pick up Jacob. So I went back to bed until the alarm went off at a quarter to three. I have also perfected the art of throwing my clothes back on and getting out the door to get him but , after all, his school is just across the street.
If Jacob is here on weekends, I tell him firmly not to wake me unless the house is on fire. So he tugs the blanket to bring me out of a sound sleep for something like,, "The TV isn't working," or "I'm hungry." Like all children his age, he's given up napping unless sleep overcomes him while he watches TV--it happens.
Sometimes I think Saturdays are my favorite days--no school, no pressing things to do that evening (on Sundays, I'm often cooking for company), and if Jacob's not here, I sometimes nap and doze for two hours. Oh yes, I can sleep for an hour, and then drift in that netherland between sleep and wakefulness for an hour.
I've read that napping is good for your health, and I'm ready to believe it. How about you?
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