To Sleep Perchance, To Dream...
By Rochel Harris

Right now my four year old is on the couch. My dad is telling him a bedtime story from Florida. It's 2:30 AM here in Israel (the time difference really works for me sometimes). He goes back to school tomorrow after a two week vacation and he's woken up three times since 7 PM. I think it's just anxiety, but it could be a strong desire to do some kind of sleep deprivation experiment on his mother. Perhaps I'm raising a future scientist.

It's hard to think that "I'll never get a good night's sleep," is a pessimistic statement. It feels so real. We're going on 10 years now and I don't see any evidence to the contrary.

Yet I "never" (hee, hee) think of it as negative. I don't associate a negative feeling to it. It's just my reality. Consecutive sleep is a rarity.

But now that I've noticed how often I say "never," I realize it is quite pessimistic. If I want to be totally factual I could say, "I didn't get a good night sleep last night," or "I haven't had a good night sleep in over a decade." It's depressing enough. I don't need to use the word "never."

And it really isn't true. Every now and again they all sleep through the night. But I'm too tired to notice. Maybe I would notice more if I wouldn't talk about how I "never" get enough sleep. Just today my husband suggested I take a nap. I actually felt quite well rested when I got up.

Okay, story's over. Child is still on the couch. Eyes are open but he's quiet...

EYES CLOSED!!! Gotta go, my bed awaits (even though a different kid has already laid claim to half of it (I'll take what I can get).

What's that? Is that the baby stirring? Oh well, there's always tomorrow night, maybe. That's about as optimistic as I can be at 2:50 AM.

The Glass is Half Full