SLEEP
The Oxford Definition of “sleep’ is “a condition of body and mind that typically recurs for several hours every night. In which the eyes are closed, the muscles relaxed, the activity of the brain altered, and consciousness of the surroundings practically suspended.”
Based on that definition, as a Caregiver, I never get any sleep.
Sleep is important.
Babies sleep through a good part of the day.
Children take naps during the day.
Teenagers can sleep the night through until mid-afternoon.
Corporate Executives invented the Power-Knap to sleep for 20-30 minutes.
Adults with no children re-imagine the “art of napping” because they can.
Sleep is important.
I happen to be a person who needs 7-8 hours of sleep per night to function at a high level during the day. In certain circumstances, I can pull an all-nighter and make it through the Presentation, the Commercial Shoot or the flight to Cancun the next morning with 2 hours of sleep. But my preference is an 8-hour night of sleep. I believe in getting my beauty rest.
And I don’t like to be awakened. Not at all. Not by a beeping or buzzing alarm. Not by the music of my favorite song. Not by a recorded voice saying, “Good Morning this is your wake-up call.” And I especially do not like being awakened by my Mother.
When we were younger, my Mother would play music really loud on Saturday mornings. One of her classic favorites was Chicago, “Does Anybody Really Know What Time it is?” The next line in that song happens to be, “Does anybody really care?”
And when we got out of bed, she would look at us and say, “Oh, you’re up.”
As if there was any question. Of course we were wide awake. The music was playing at high volume, and she was singing. It wasn’t at all possible to sleep through the sounds.
It seems that she’s always had a thing about waking us up. And I have never liked being awakened. Not a mystery why that is.
As my Mother’s Caregiver, I am awakened all through the night and very early in the morning. Due to a Caregiver habit, I wake up when I hear that she is up at night. I listen with both eyes closed to make sure that she is safe and goes back to her room in a timely manner. At which time, I fall back into a restless sleep.
As soon as the Cock Crows… Well, there isn’t an actual Rooster but there appears to be some alarm in her head. She gets up just before the crack of dawn for Breakfast. I have arranged things so that she can get her Breakfast—Coffee, Yogurt and a Banana alone. And I could sleep through her stumbling around with her Walker and then return to a deeper sleep if I was allowed to do so.
But…
My Mother makes a lot of noise and then she returns to her room to turn up the TV. I could even handle that if she closed her bedroom door. But no…
She doesn’t seem to be satisfied until I wake up completely, get out of bed and..
That’s the thing. And what?
A day of Caregiving—dancing attendance to my Mother’s every need.. That’s what I have to look forward to first thing every morning.
And when I wake up under those conditions…
I sometimes wake up crying.
Sometimes I’m angry.
I’m always resentful.
And then I feel guilty.
I feel guilty because all I really wanted to do was sleep.
Sleep is important.
CHICAGO – “DOES ANYONE REALLY KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS”
https://youtu.be/lzLbmOHTYcI?si=Dn29x40ZjFEp6OAu
A CAREGIVER’S CONSCIENCE PODCAST: “CAREGIVER MORNINGS”
https://youtu.be/wFSdXZ1d5l0?si=MZwGSSCTvZ9DhPha
A CAREGIVER’S CONSCIENCE – THE BLOG
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