Wednesday, December 10, 2008

SLEEPING TOGETHER. . .

Sleeping together, no not "sleeping" together, sleeping together. We sleep with our sisters, brothers, parents, friends, lovers, partners, spouses. We sleep but sometimes things don't work out.
When my sister and I shared a room, we marked off the bed, a line down the middle. If you crossed over all hell broke I made up only my side, an art form to do this. By doing this Mother knew I was the good child.

There are rules of the bed. Don't take the covers, don't steal pillows, don't get on the other side. And if someone gets up in the night, don't get in the middle and spread out. This is a common fault. You go to the bathroom, come back, and there is no way you can get back in the bed. A body is spread out in the middle and taking up the whole bed.


Ray Romona has a routine about picking your side of the bed. He says he blew it and forever is not on the side he wants. Women pick the side away from the door. That way the burglar gets your husband first and you can escape.

Young women usually are cold at night. They want to snuggle next to the person in bed with them. They put their icy feet on that poor soul and try to get warm. As women age they get warmer, and aging men get colder. The men want to snuggle close to their partner and get warm. Older women no longer want to snuggle for long. The hot touch of someone else is awful. More body heat, we can't handle more heat. We are in a lather at night. Can you say menopause?

Pillows are mobile. Sometimes your bed mate will take them. Sometimes the bed mate takes your side of the bed and throws the pillow over your head. Pillows are all on one side of the bed, or they end up in the floor. How do they travel?

And then there are the snorers. I know a couple who for 35 years dealt with bad, really bad snoring. She went to bed an hour a head of him so she would be asleep when he started snoring. But he woke her up, he sounds like a buzz saw. I have heard him. We had adjoining rooms in a motel. Our room vibrated from his snoring next door. He now has a C PAC machine. Many couple sleep in separate rooms because of snoring.

Sleeping together is hard. You want to sleep and get some rest. Maybe you will, maybe you won't.

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