What Day Is It?

When you stop getting full eight hour rest periods time place become hard to recognize in one's mind. Back in the day I used to pull a twenty four hour no sleep day fairly regularly in an attempt to make sure I got done everything I need to do in that time frame. Stay up 24 get home crash at least 14 or as long as needed to recuperate. I can remember a couple of occasions where I almost went 48 hours on no sleep. Don't try this at home. By the time you finally get to be the huge doses of nicotine and caffeine in your system have your heart racing a mile a minute. Just getting to sleep at that point becomes a chore. Your body is wired into the notion that it must keep going but your mind is just exhausted.

That was without the help of hard drugs. I've seen people after a couple coke or meth nights. It makes my experiences tame in comparison. Sleep Deprivation is bad and I've come to the point in my life where nothing is really worth foregoing a nights sleep.

Then events transpire. I wont get into any real details, but lately I have taken on a greater part of the duties and chores surrounding caring for my niece. My mother tries to help but with her diabetic retinopathy she can not see well enough to do simple things like find the snaps on baby girl's under clothes. She is also at an age where she really isn't physically strong enough to hold baby girl for extended periods. A ten pound bundle doesn't seem like much in words but when she is a kicking screaming eating and pooping machine it becomes much more than a woman who had eight bypasses can handle. (Mom didn't have the big heart attack but she had the big heart surgery).

So what does this have to do with sleep? I sleep when I can. Rarely for more than two or three hours at a stretch. Its been maybe four days since I've had a night I slept through (well day technically I used to sleep from 5 am till about 1 pm) I get baby girl when my brother goes to bed at night. The old man will get up and take a few hours in the morning if he doesn't have court. I will crash for a bit but I take a 2 way radio with me just in case the old man or grandma need me to come down and lend assistence (Average a page every hour and a half. The old man goes to work at 2 pm but starts getting read a couple hours a head of time so I'm roused to full alertness at 11 am or noon. The brother might get home at 4:30 or 5 in the afternoon. I might get an hour if he doesn't have something he is working on. I might get two.

I'm getting enough sleep. I'm not tired. I just start losing track of what day it is or what I'm suppose to be doing. My rhythm is off. Instead of hitting the sack once a night I'm laying down two or three times a day. I don't begrudge what I'm doing I just don't understand how a couple does this on their own? If I ever have children I would want to have like 15 adult roommates to help out. I'm becoming more a fan of the extended family living together the more I see of what it takes to properly care for a child. Perhaps the message people should be sending to their children isn't fly high and far but stay near you will need the help.

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