Falling asleep

Even if it occasionally happens, most of the time I do not have any problem falling asleep. On the contrary, I have been known to take naps in some unusual places, both due to the noise level and the comfort conditions. It has been this way since I was a kid: I used to get motion sickness as soon as I got into the car, so instead I just tried to relax and fall asleep until we reached our destination. It had the double benefit of sparing me an upset stomach and having me rested.

Photo: pxfuel

In recent times, the situation has only gotten worse because my life circumstances keep me in a permanent state of mild sleep deprivation. In the morning, the alarm clock is a tyrant that pulls me out of bed shortly before 6 a.m. so that I have time to freshen up and clear the dishwasher before the kids wake up. Karen tends to stay up late working on the computer, so it is left to me to see the kids off to school. These days, with the COVID around I even drive them to school. It is only a five-minute drive that they could easily cover in twenty minutes on foot, but it saves them some sweat and helps me make sure they make it to school on time. In exchange, most of the days the walk back home when they are done a school, so they do get some chances to walk.

In the evening we try to have the kids in bed between 9 and 9:30 p.m. so that we have some time alone. Of course, at ages 16 and 13 neither Jason nor Trevor are too happy to go to sleep "so early" so they stay another half hour reading a book or just chatting, but quiet enough that we can get going with our own dinner. Theoretically, that should allow me to go to sleep between 10:30 and 11 but, hard as I try, most of the days I do not manage two switch the light off before midnight. That keeps me all week long on a 6-hour regime that is only marginally enough to keep me running... as it became obvious today.

Due to the pandemic restrictions, we are not allowed anymore to escort Trevor to his piano lessons and wait for him in the music school, just outside the class, enjoying the muffled music that gets through the door. Instead, we drive him to the school and wait for him in the parking lot. The drive is not long and the lesson lasts 30 minutes, so technically we could drive back home, do something for about 15 minutes and then drive back to pick him up. However, most of the time I decide to spare the world some carbon and stay in the parking lot reading (Karen does the same, but it was my turn to drive today), and got a surprise instead. It was a bit windy outside, so instead of trying to read among the gusts I stayed in car: the light was good, the temperature mild, the traffic low... within a couple of minutes I realized that the lines were swimming in front of my eyes. After reading the same sentence three times and still not being able to grasp what it was about, it became evident that Morpheus (the Greek one, not the one in Matrix) was beckoning, so I set up my cellphone to wake me up before Trevor was back and fell asleep within seconds.

I have to admit that I woke up rested and the rest of the afternoon has been quite productive, so I cannot complain. Still, it would be good if I kept a closer eye on the watch in the evening and did not have to wait for the weekend to make up for the lost sleep. I will let you know if, by some mysterious coincidence, I manage to make some progress. Have a nice evening.