Bedtime blues

As a child, I always hated bedtime. I wanted to squeeze every minute out of the night. I resisted bedtime so much that one night when I was about seven, I flat out refused to go to bed. Mom and Dad even agreed that I could stay up as long as I wanted. But, all the lights had to be out, no TV was allowed, and I had to stay inside. Okay, I agreed, I wasn't sleepy. I would stay up!

I remember sitting quietly on the sofa. Everyone said their goodnights and their "Now I lay me down to sleeps". The house was still. After a few minutes, Mom came to check on me. "I'm fine, I'm not ready to go to bed, goodnight". I sat, I squirmed, I wiggled. I pondered the situation. 'What was I thinking?'. As quietly as I could, after probably no more than ten minutes that seemed like an eternity, I snuck back into my room and into bed. I wanted no one to know how my resistance had failed.

And apparently, I wasn't the only child of us six kids who resisted bedtime because every once and awhile when we would linger longer than we should at bedtime, we would hear Daddy holler, 'last one in bed, gets to rub my feet!' I can still remember the scramble of kids racing to their beds. And often, I would get stuck as the last one and had to rub Daddy's feet. He usually paid a nickel or dime and just about when I was ready to quit, he would say, 'How about five more minutes for ten cents.' Sometimes, I was a hard bargainer and would ask him for more money and he usually agreed, but it was still just a few cents, ... and I would rub his feet, all the time thinking of all the sweet treats awaiting me at the Handy store or 7/11 down on the street corner.

I always wondered why the saying goes 'Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy and wealthy and wise.' What about 'Late to bed and late to rise?' Aren't you getting the same amount of sleep?

In case you wonder, I pondered all this info about sleep last night when sleep was eluding me. Now I am worn out, exhausted after a busy week at work, I SHOULD go to bed, but even now, I resist. But rest assured, in the morning, I will resist equally as much crawling out of bed! But atlas, it will be Saturday and I can sleep as late as I please. Thank God for Saturdays!