Either I’m gonna have to give up my policy of trying not to go to sleep with pills (drowsy cold meds or knock-you-out-cold prescription stuff like ambien) or I’m gonna have to find a new way to fall asleep.  As a kid it would sometimes take several hours for me to fall asleep.  Part of the issue at that point in my life was my mind was always racing.  The other aspect was I had to also keep an eye out on the Bogeyman and whatever creepy crawly creatures resided under my bed, plotting my imminent demise. 

Taking forever to sleep almost always was the case all the way through college, excluding the alcohol-induced sleeps during that 4 ½ year period of body abuse.  It wasn’t until a few years into my life with Megan that I think my mind finally relaxed and was able to fall asleep like a normal person.

One thing I eventually realized was that, while I preferred to lay on my stomach as a kid because that was the most comfortable position, it also didn’t allow me to fall asleep for whatever reason.  It turns out that lying on my back facilitated falling asleep a lot easier.

Until a few months ago.

Who knows if it’s because of age, dementia, global warming, too much caffeine (although I rarely have any in the afternoon even though that’s when I need it most) or something else but now all of a sudden I’m left with two options if I want to fall asleep.  I need to lay on my right side or left side.  Of course an inherent problem with that is if I wind up staying in that position, then I get the “pins and needles” effect if blood flow gets restricted to that part of the arm.  Now both girls, for once, are finally sleeping through the night yet I still can’t drift into Neverland until the early morning.  Is it worth it to just watch TV and catch up with what’s on my DVR or continue to hope this is just some stupid phase?

The most annoying part of this whole scenario?  Realizing that I’m veering dangerously into Boring Old Person Mode by talking about my maladies.  Maybe getting discussions like this out there will prep me for the eventual move into the old folks’ home where I can look forward to Mashed Potato Wednesdays and Stay Awake Until 7 PM Fridays.