Late Night

I just got home from work to find all my girls asleep. The house is dark and quiet. I should probably go to bed too, but my mind is too awake. Don't really know why. That makes for a restless night of sleep. So I'll write for a bit.

My wife has the gift of sleeps. She can fall asleep anytime and anywhere at the drop of a hat. Some nights we'll crawl into bed and I'll be telling her a story about my day, and I just know she is fighting the sleep. She wants to welcome it so badly, but knows that it would be rude to fall asleep in the middle of a story. So she stays awake. I'll smile and say, "You were almost asleep, weren't you?" and let her drift off. I just checked in on her and she was in light-sleep mode, as though waiting for me to get home before allowing herself to fully give in to her sleep-gift.

Kyra, my youngest, is a light, resltess sleeper. She thrashes around in her bed, throwing off covers, mumbling nonsense and generally cracking me up. When I checked in on her, I found her face down and spread eagle with most of her left leg dangling off the bed. I never would have done that at her age. That's how the monsters get you. Apparently she doesn't realize that. Perhaps ignorance, in this case, is bliss. Kyra is the one who most often shuffles in to greet me in the late nights after work as I nurse a beer and flip through countless channels of worthless programming. She'll give me a hug and I'll carry her back to bed where I tuck her in and give her a kiss goodnight. I'm half-hoping she'll come out and see me tonight.

Kailey, my oldest, could sleep through an air raid. She'll manage to work her way onto her covers and will sleep through any maneuvers needed to get her back under the covers. And God help me if I ever have to wake her up for school in the morning. It's actually turned into sort of a game where I'll sing silly songs and rub her back. When she ignores me long enough the back rub becomes tickling and then we're off. She's actually still under her covers tonight, sleeping on her side with her favorite blanky under her head. Did I just write "blanky"? I love to watch Kailey sleep. She's such a deep sleeper that I often wonder what she's dreaming about. I'll occasionally ask her about her dreams and she comes up with these crazy, elaborate tales that could only come from a dream. I think I'll ask her tomorrow after our singy-tickle wake up game.

I seldom remember my dreams anymore.

Perhaps that's part of the problem.