Synchronized Sleeping

Kids are awesome.  So awesome, in fact, that I don’t know what I’m going to do with myself when my youngest leaves home in about 18 years.

Well, I do know one thing I plan to do.  Sleep.  The whole night through.  Without interruptions.  Won’t that be blissful?  Unless, of course, I’ve forgotten how to sleep by then.

I do get uninterrupted sleep occasionally – like when the planets are on the same side of the sun or something.  But that doesn’t happen very often.

It’s not my baby’s fault.  He’s a pretty good sleeper when he’s not sick or teething.  It’s my nocturnal preschooler who keeps me up late then climbs into our bed a few hours later, kicking my husband downstairs to sleep in the spare room.

Even when we all manage to synchronize the timing of our shut-eye, the sleeping habits of seven people don’t always mesh.  One of my children sleep-talks.  The other night she sat up in bed and yelled, “Who wants ice-cream?”  At least she’s friendly.  We also have a few snorers, a teeth-grinder, and the bed-roaming preschooler who prefers to sleep perpendicular while offering regular swift kicks to the head and stomach.

If you don’t have young children at home, please be kind to those of us who show up late with bleary eyes and tousled hair.  Just be thankful we’re there – with pants on.

And if you’re a new parent, take heed to the counsel “Sleep when your baby sleeps”.  Unless you luck out like my sister did and get children who sleep for 12 hours straight, it may be the last time in a while that you get to enjoy synchronized sleeping.

Home For The Holidays

When I was single and living in Calgary, travelling home for the holidays meant an eight-hour journey through the Rockies into British Columbia.

The first year I took this trip, I put my life in my brother’s hands.  He put me in an old Chevy with a leaky radiator.  It was minus twenty-five and we crawled into Nanton just as the car died.  With cardboard in the grill we continued on, detouring around a twenty-one-car pile up, then creeping up and sliding down Kootenay Pass.  We arrived home after midnight, cold and exhausted.

The return trip was even worse.  Kootenay Pass was closed so we had to take the ferry which, due to high winds, was shut down right after we crossed.  Then we found ourselves stuck in a snow bank on a nearly deserted road.  Fortunately, three big guys in a pickup truck lifted us out.  We continued to Fernie where we spent the night trying to get warm.

The next year I took the bus.  It was a holiday-crowded overnighter and my seatmate was a clean lumberjack-look-alike whose legs were too long for the seat.  When I awoke, I apologized for using him as a pillow.  He said, “That’s okay, you can sleep on me anytime.”

You never know what might happen on a bus.  My dad learned this in 1961 when a large, white-haired woman wearing a red coat boarded and the drunks in the back began to sing Here Comes Santa Claus.  Luckily the woman wasn’t offended and the passengers enjoyed the moment.

However you choose to travel this holiday season, I hope you do so safely.  If you drive, why not tuck a shovel, candle, matches, blanket, and extra drinking water in the back seat?

Season’s Greetings, Merry Christmas, and Safe Travels to you and yours!

Feverishly Fighting the Flu

Flu season is upon us.  I know because a feverish, coughing preschooler climbed into bed with me last night.

Why do fevers get such a bad rap?  I find them helpful – telling me that my child isn’t faking, keeping her in bed where she belongs, and revealing that her immune system is fighting the bug.

It’s the coughing I can’t stand.  Coughing equals sleepless nights, crying, sometimes vomiting, and spreading germs.  Yuck!

The company I worked for in Calgary recognized employees who had perfect attendance.  One woman received the award repeatedly.  This was the same woman who came to work when she was ill, germs oozing from every pore.  Thankfully, corporate eventually cancelled the award and encouraged employees to stay home when unwell.

Five things contribute to me getting sick:  1) Direct contact with germs, 2) Unhealthy eating, 3) Excess stress, 4) Inadequate rest, 5) Getting chilled.  If I have any combination of at least three of these, I’ll get sick.

As a mother of young children who cough (and sneeze and breathe) indiscriminately, it’s difficult to always get enough rest and avoid direct contact with germs.  So, I have to try extra hard in the other areas, like limiting fast food and excess sugar, pacing myself to avoid stress, taking power naps when needed, and dressing warmly when I go out.

We can help our families and communities stay well by washing hands properly (it’s alarming how many don’t do this!), using antibacterial wipes on busy surfaces (like banisters, remotes, and doorknobs), and coughing or sneezing into tissues or elbows.

And for coughing out loud, take a sick day if you need one!