Blog it out - Sleeping

I recently got an email from a friend about putting her child to sleep earlier and it released a flood of memories about my own sleeping problems as a child. I need to blog it out....

I hated going to bed so much when I was a kid and really didn't need very much sleep. I have a birth mark on my butt and, until I was 15, thought it was from being spanked from getting out of bed so much. I also had a drowsy doll that used to say "I want another drink of water!" and used it on my dad all night long. I would sit in bed and stare at the canopy and never remembered falling asleep. I didn't learn to close my eyes to fall asleep until I was a teenager. Strange huh!? My mom used to try relaxation techniques on me - it is all coming back now. Anyway, I swear it gave me the imagination and creativity that I still used today. Still, I think I should have been allowed to stay up. Every kid is different.

My parents tried alot of techniques on us and one was the star/reward system. We got to set some of our own rules as long as we were willing to follow them. My parents even gave us the opportunity to decide on a bedtime. The catch was that my brother and I had to agree on a time. Well, this was a big problem. My brother wanted to go to bed at 7. DORK because he was born a realist and was extremely practical. I remember yelling - THIS IS OUR OPPORTUNITY TO STAY UP UNTIL 11. My brother probably knew that this would be my reaction so he started out low with some room for negotiation. I was doubly pissed because I felt that, being the oldest, I should automatically get to stay up later. I think we decided on 8 which was really sad for me. My brother often got his way because he had more resources - he was a hoarder and could coerce me with his stash of NOW and LATERS.

Another sleeping nightmare was day-care. My parents had to tell the daycare not to let me take a nap because it made bedtime even worse. The daycare people hated me for it and made me read in the sleeping room, in the DARK! I was so bored that I used to pinch the sleeping kids to wake them up - AWFUL!

Luckily, Sylvie loves to go to bed and sleeps for 12 hours on most days. I think she got this from her dad. PHEW!