I Am Thankful for an Afternoon Nap!
Sleep is something that I don’t think about too much. I have found that as I get a little older I really need less sleep. Or, maybe it’s the afternoon nap that I try to sneak in each day. We get up really early around here and usually after the quiet afternoon tea we all rest for about an hour if our schedules permit. Something about napping gives us enough energy to carry on late into the evening.
And, quite honestly I have made the habit of napping in the afternoon, if only for a few minutes, the one thing that I do as an act of rebellion. Okay, so at almost 60 what is so rebellious about a nap? Well, my mother was one of those people who grew up on a farm back in the days when mules and a hand plow did the work. There may have been a few tractors in existence back then, but during the depression few people had them. Don’t think the mules did all the work. The farmer had to walk behind the stubborn beasts and guide them along the rows. Mules have a tendency not to care if farm rows are straight or not.
Anyway, my mother and her sisters had more energy than any group of people I have ever known. They were up at dawn and didn’t sit down until it was time to go to bed. Of course, they went to bed a lot earlier than I do today, but still they got up and didn’t stop until their heads hit the pillows. That brings me to napping. My mother used to tell me that only “trifling” people slept in the afternoon. “Trifling” and the way my mother said it was one of those words that didn’t need a definition. I knew what she meant.
When I moved into my first house I can remember thinking that I shouldn’t take a nap. (Okay, some things take a long time to let go of.) I remember once my husband came home early from work and I was taking a nap. I was embarrassed! Can you believe that? I was ashamed of napping and thought he would think me lazy, if not “trifling.” I’m sure he didn’t know “trifling.” But, you get the idea. Of course, he didn’t. He was well aware of my daily activities… and even encouraged me to take a nap when time permitted.
Now, I am an beyond adulthood. My mother died fifteen years ago. And, I am free to take a nap without fear of her ringing me up or popping in unexpectedly. As a matter of fact, as much as I loved my mother, I have found a certain freedom to do things that I would not have done while she was alive. I know that is crazy. And, by no means am I suggesting that life was anything less than wonderful while my mother was still living.
Chances are, everyone has some strange notion that they learned in childhood that still has a grasp on him. For the most part I learned to let that baggage go a long time ago, at least the major pieces. I didn’t even realize until I was without parents that I was clinging to some of the strange ideas I had been taught as a child. Of course, some are beneficial. On the other hand, some are “dated” and do not necessarily pertain to life in today’s world. I stopped washing used aluminum foil and folding it into a place in the drawer next to the sink. And, I don’t keep a stack of washed margarine tubs under the sink. I use real butter and it comes in sticks! But, I wouldn’t keep the margarine tubs even if I did have an empty one.
We all have our little idiosyncracies. I’m sure I have plenty of my own so I don’t need to cling to others. I’ve tried really hard with the boys not to teach them those odd little things that I am sure I do compulsively. I have never suggested to them that a nap is a bad thing. And, yes! They could sit on the bed. That’s another one. “Chairs are for sitting. Beds are for sleeping.” In fact, I often prop up on the bed to read. And, I sometimes don’t take my shoes off.
Well, you are getting the idea. We have all learned crazy little things that we pass on to our children. Imagine how warped their little minds must become when we try to teach them the value of a used piece of aluminum foil, or that they can never sit on the bed, or that they are lazy if they take a nap in the afternoon.
There are enough valuable things to teach kids without teaching them things that don’t really matter in the long run. My kids, when they were young, were taught to save 10% of all their allowances and to save for the things they wanted to buy. That’s something my father taught me. He always said that if I saved up for something I want, chances are that by the time I had saved the money to buy it I wouldn’t even want it any more. And, he was right. I can remember wanting to buy a brand new Jaguar years ago. I thought about financing it, but decided that I would save all my company bonuses until I had enough money to pay cash for it. Well, two years later I had the money… in cash. I walked into the Jaguar dealership determined to buy the convertible I had been dreaming of. But, you know, I looked at the window sticker and I thought of the money in bank. I sat in the Jag and thought of the money in the bank. I drove the Jag… with the top down… and thought about the money in the bank. I bought a Chevrolet and kept most of the money in the bank. That was a valuable lesson.
Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against financing a car or getting a mortgage on a house… at least, I don’t think I have anything against those ideas. I don’t have any credit cards. I do have debit cards. And, when I want to buy a new car, I finance it myself… making payments back into my own account, with interest!
There have been times when I have wanted something and felt that I had to wait to get it. But, after talking to a young neighbor this morning… she is considering bankruptcy due to credit card debt… I guess I learned a few valuable lessons that I am clinging to, although washing used foil isn’t one of them. My young neighbor looked like hell. She is pale, with dark circles under her eyes. She says she can’t sleep at night and that her stomach is in a knot.
That brings me back to my gratitude statement for today. I am thankful that I will sleep well this afternoon when I take my nap. And, if you will excuse me… I am through with my cup of green tea and it’s time for my nap.
Make your weekend special… and cheer for the home team during the Olympics.
