It’s not THAT difficult to get crowned as The Sleeping Champion, mind you. This would be particularly easy to get if you :

• are a parent of young kids
• work full-time
• do the household chores yourself
• cook, iron and run a volunteer launderette service
• put in extra time on work after hours to beat the crazy deadlines
• commute minimally 2 hours one way
• try to blog with what little time you have
• amongst other things you do

The dead big-give away to claim the title is when you fall asleep within seconds as you lay down next to your little ones while trying to spend some quality chat time with your wriggly younglings before they drift off to la-la land. 

This is pretty much me on almost every evenings when I put my kids to bed. As we chat away on the happenings of their day, I involuntary doze off. I couldn’t keep my eyes open with toothpicks if I tried.  Sometimes I snore and drool away.  It’s like a power nap; I’ll fall asleep for at least 10 minutes with each kid before I have to walk myself to the other kid’s room.

Spud usually takes much longer to fall asleep. I would ask questions and sometimes she would talk and talk and talk about random stuff that don’t connect. Unwittingly, I fell asleep as she chats away and I would be awaken, startled,  by a child staring right into my face, giggling softly. 

Me napping next to her apparently has been her biggest amusement. She’s mentioned several times that sometimes, she doesn’t want to wake me up as she likes having me sleeping next to her. On condition that I don’t hug her. 

She’s now come to expect that I’ll always fall asleep within minutes. And she lets me be as she likes to hear me breathing. The other night, as expected, I dozed off.

Suddenly I heard a distant giggle. I woke up startled, with my body (involuntarily) jerking. I was still in a daze and there was Spud, lying on her side, her hand supporting her head and looking at me with a happy giggle. 

Spud: Mama, you really can sleep very well!

Me: Hmmmm…I think I can, yes. I do love my sleep. Plus…I’m exhausted. 

Spud: You really are winning at sleeping, Mama! You are a big winner! The best sleeper.

Me: Like a champion?

Spud: Yeah!Sleep Champion! 

With that my friends, was how I was crowned The Sleeping Champion by my 7 year old.

 

I don’t know if I should laugh or cry, but considering that my power-naps bemuse her to the high heavens, I guess I’ll take the honour. Besides,  it’s not easy to get 40 winks that easily these days and getting some winks in between is a feat in itself. 

Now…going back to the toothpick I was talking about earlier, perhaps I just need a different brand next time.