i WAS afraid of the dark!

Dear oldest sister recently posted this blog..

Lately I have been staying up later and later at night, reading or watching trash TV movies, often not going to be until midnight or later. Of course this will have to stop when I start my part time gig next Wednesday because this gal likes her beauty sleep. It took me five weeks to work up to my night owlish ways and now I only have 5 days to get myself out of it.

Unfortunately for me, Night #1 didn't go so well. As I laid in bed, wishing desperately for sleep, I started thinking about all the weird rules I had for sleeping when I was a kid:

1. When getting into bed, you must turn off the overhead light, then take a running leap onto the bed. You must not get any closer than three feet before making said leap, lest someone grab your ankles from underneath the bed.

2. The bedside lamp must be kept on at all times. (This was the rule until I was 9 and the lamp fell onto a pillow and burned a hole through it. After that, I was only allowed to have a plug-in night light.)

3. The bed must be pushed against a wall and you must sleep facing out toward the side that is not against the wall. This way no one can sneak up on you in your sleep.

4. Any stuffed animals or dolls sleeping in bed with you must have their head on a pillow and be tucked under the covers. Dolls get cold, too.

5. Under no circumstances do you ever sleep on your back. This leaves your stomach vulnerable to random attacks of malicious jumping. (Can you tell I had younger siblings?)

6. All body parts (except your head) must be covered by the blanket or, at the very least, the sheet. Any body part not covered by the blanket or sheet is subject to dismemberment should someone manage to sneak up on you (see rule #3).

Yeah, I know. I was a sad, strange little kid.

Sadly, as I thought about all my childhood sleeping rules, I realized that I have almost as many as an adult. They're aren't quite as strange, but they're rules none the less.

1. I must have a fan or white noise machine going to block out noise.

2. I must have a pillow between my knees, one in my arms, one under my head and a fourth to put over my head in case the fan is not doing a good enough job. Nate thinks sleeping with a pillow over my head is the weirdest thing he's ever seen. My mom does it too and I've done it for as long as I can remember.

3. I must put chap stick on my lips before I go to sleep, otherwise I'll lie there thinking about how badly I need chap stick. It should be noted that I don't wear chap stick at any other time during the day. Weird, I know.

4. I wear a sleep mask to block out light. Don't knock it 'til you've tried it. Seriously, it really does help you sleep better.

5. I no longer have to keep every body part covered but I still never, ever sleep on my back. Old fears die hard, I suppose.

Did you have weird bedtime rules when you were a kid? Are there things you absolutely must do to get a good night's sleep?



hmm, lemme think. childhood was pretty much the same. well, minus a few things..

#3- i tossed back and forth, bc i also had this fear that something creepy could come out of the wall..i blame whoever let me watch Jurassic Park as a child, bc it was always a t-rex doin the creepin.

#4-didn't do this, not that i remember. ever. i do remember holding a few favorite animals or dolls though, which explains why i do the pillow thing too.

i was a relentless thumb sucker each night til age 10 at least. I also held a blanky, well, spun rather..ya know, swing it over your head til it gets nice and cool, then hold it tight real fast, repeat repeat repeat. fine, laugh now, but i know of at least one other little blonde girl who did it too.

to mix 1 and 6, i never ever ever let any body part off of the bed, largely due to the grabbing fear. (and okay, still wont, never ever ever.)

Noooow,
#1 - i much prefer to fall asleep to whatever is on my ipod. but ONLY if i know each word, bc if i dont, ill stay up thinking ab it.
#2 - a pillow to the knees, in the arms, 2 underhead, and 1 if not 2 behind me..for safety reasons, obviously. and i like one at my feet if possible..i have 9 pillows.
#3 - i have light blocking curtains, which i imagine are like her mask, i get no light unless i turn it on.
#4 - i will sleep on my back upon occasion, but thats a rare occasion. and on my stomach sometimes. but usually on my left side when im comfortable where i am, on my right when im somewhere new.
#5 - i cannot sleep with wet hair..if it happens to be wet, its up in a knot.
#6 - i have to be on the cool side to sleep comfortably. if its hot or stuffy, i lay there forever.
#7 - used to be that i couldnt sleep with the door open ever. but now that puppy sleeps with me, its cracked, but just enough for her to slip through.
#8 - i love to sleep, and i will sleep forever, but i hate to just lay there. i cant do it to wait for sleep, and i cant lay there once ive woken up. if im up, im up.