Learning to Sleep in the Dark

The TV was a way to drown out the noises when I worked the graveyard shit about 9 or 10 years ago, and it has been a great way to turn off my brain since then. This has caused many problems. First of all, I struggle to sleep when I’m not at home because there is rarely a TV in the room and the phone isn’t a great replacement or always an option. Also, Chad hates sleeping with it on because of all of the light in the room. Then, there are the times when an obnoxious show comes on and wake us both up. (I’m talking about you, SpongeBob.) I’ve known something had to change for a long time. After all, Chad deserves to sleep as much as I do. 

A few weeks ago, I started setting the sleep timer on the TV like I did when I was a kid. The first few nights were difficult. I would wake up when the TV turned off and have to figure out another way to get back to sleep. I settled on getting out my Kindle and reading. Slowly, I would wake up less often each night. I can now sleep most nights but til the dogs or my alarm wake me. I still read with my Kindle when I need, but that is usually when the dogs wake me and I go back to bed. 

I am so happy with this change. Chad seems to be happy with it, too. Maybe someday I will figure out how to fall asleep without the TV. It would make travel easier and probably make my husband happier. 

Sleep Deprived

We have three dogs. Dexter is a lab mix we got a few months after we got married. He’s getting a bit old, but is a good dog most of the time. Sophie is a pug/ Chihuahua mix and about he same age as Dexter. We got her in 2019 and have loved her ever since. Aqua is a hound/ boxer mix. We adopted her from the same shelter as Sophie about a year prior. She was about a year and a half old when we got her and has been a bundle of energy most of the time. We love our dogs! 

Lately, Aqua and Sophie have been waking me up very early in the morning. When I say early, I mean before my 5:00am alarm goes off. This morning, Sophie woke me up at 2:45 to let her out of my room to get a drink. Then, Aqua started doing the bark that she does when she wants attention a little after 4:00. I decided to try to let her be until I was ready to get up to see if she would calm down. She didn’t really. She should stop just long enough for me to get back to sleep before she stated back up. Eventually, Chad got up with her about 5 minutes before my alarm would have gotten me up anyway. Them waking up one or both of us has been happening for quite some time. I wish I knew how to get them to stop. 

Time Change Woes

I usually adjust to the fall time change fairly well, but I am struggling with it this time around. I naturally stay up late and watch TV while Chad goes to sleep, but I have to get up early and start work at 6am. Most days I am a bit tired as I try to keep up with this schedule and end up napping during my lunch break. Apparently, my body has gotten used to waking up at 5am. This week, I have been waking up a bit after 4 am. I hope this changes soon. I am exhausted. I need my sleep. I am already dreading the spring time change. 

Morning Person/Night Person

There are a lot of ways in which Chad and I are similar, but there is one big way in which we differ. Chad is a morning person. He often wakes before his alarm, has more energy, and talks the most in the morning. He hates when we point this out. He doesn’t want to be a morning person because “mornings suck.” I am more of a night person. I have more energy at night most of the time. If I didn’t have a kid to take care of and job to work in the morning, I would sleep in later. I have to have an alarm to wake up in the morning. Sometimes, it goes off for a little while before I realize what is going on. Chad can be a lot of handle in the mornings. I overwhelm him at night on occasion with how talkative I get after 9ish. I know neither of us are going to change, but we don’t need to. We just need to understand the other person does not function the opposite time of day. 

Fan Broke

Ever done I worked the overnight shift in2014 and 2015, I have slept with a fan on to help drown out noises. (If you need to sleep during the day, I highly recommend it.) in this time I have gone through several fans. The current one has been sitting next to my bed for 3 or 4 years and has been the one that has lasted the longest. It is nothing special. It’s just a small Honeywell fan that I most likely got at Walmart. 

I am sad to say that this fan that has lasted though me tripping on it, dogs running into it, and being turned on all night, every night for longer than and other fan I have had died. I few nights ago it was screeching when on hi, so I ran it on low all night (not ideal). Last night, it was even loud on low. Now, it won’t even turn on. I ordered another one just like it from Amazon, but it won’t be here until Saturday. Until then, sleep will be difficult. It could be worse (I am aware of that), but I can’t wait until Saturday.