Dozers

It's genetic. When my mom got tired, she would just fall asleep as soon as she stopped moving. It was that simple. And, apparently, it's catching.

And my mom did a LOT-- she gardened, cooked all our meals from scratch, made most of my clothes, took care of me and the house, and sometimes another child or two as well... had a part-time job, canned foods from the garden... on and on and on. She was tired a lot. So she'd sit down to watch a movie with the family, or lie down next to me to tell me a bedtime story... and she'd miss the last half. We'd have to wake her up so she could go to bed. Her bed. And the funny part was that often, when she finally went to bed, she'd start worrying. She'd worry about this and that and the expiration date on the milk and what if her daughter went out with friends one afternoon and didn't come home and... She'd be up all night thinking these horrid destructive thoughts. And the next day, she'd be tired.

Yet another chapter in "Adventures with Mom" would be written when she sat down in a nice comfy driver's seat, with a head rest and warm air blowing on her toes... to drive over the mountains and to the beach later that afternoon. After a while, she started bringing carrots and ice with her in the car, and I stopped talking so much when we drove places. I think it was quite a relief to us both.

(I did, however, come away from it all with the highly useful-- and oft used-- skill of talking about nothing for long periods of time to desperate people who need to be distracted by something unimportant. The variety of desperate situations which call for this particular skill continue to confound me.)

Genetically speaking, I find that I also need to stop and sleep when I get tired these days. I don't have a button on the back of my head or anything, but if I'm trying to read my school books or focus on the budget, and I didn't get enough sleep the night before... I might as well just go lie down for a bit and get it over with. And I keep a bag of fish crackers in the car, just in case. After all, you never know when the urge to nap may strike!

Why am I telling you all this? Well! This morning, I had to get up a half-hour earlier than usual for work. 4:30am. For those of you who do this on a regular basis-- GOOD LORD!! It was for a good cause, and I'm glad I did... but I was also very glad to get home early, and fall back into bed for a few hours. Now, as long as I don't start to worry about re-applying for the FAFSA and finishing Sue's Quilt and paying the rent on time, and what will happen if I don't check my other email for another week, and... I should get some decent sleep tonight, and be able to catch up on my school reading tomorrow. The thing is, I actually had to take a cat nap during one of my breaks. I just could NOT keep my eyes open! It's genetics. It has to be. A whole race of people who NEED THEIR SLEEP! I have a name for them, too. Dozers.

(Don't mess with my reasoning here. I'm quite happy to blame genetics for this little fact. If I think about how many different pies I have in the oven, I'll start to worry. Don't mess with it, I say!)