Bed thoughts

My brain used to get excited while I was falling asleep; it stored all thoughts, experiences and unresolved issues in relevant drawers..

Many times I had a really good idea, but laziness and mainly the inability to record it in half-sleep resulted in the dissolution of the heureka idea somewhere in the void..

It bothered me so much over the years that I tried various tricks like the ubiquitous pencil-paper combo (or cell phone) on the nightstand, etc. – but it never worked anyway.

(Cut to present day)

Now Jana (my wife) and I take turns putting our almost two year old firstborn to sleep - he sleeps in bed with us (his crib is tucked in next to ours).

When I’m putting him to sleep, all the fatigue of the day (and yeah, just laugh at me that we only have one for now and it’s like nothing..) suddenly overwhelms me in the bed and I fall into a few minutes of micro-sleep every time (‘cause you have to throw yourself into the same state you want to get your offspring into, right?).

But it’s completely different than when I actually go to sleep.. like my head knows that “it’s just for show” or maybe my circadian rhythm knows that I’m in bed unusually early – like 3 hours early.

In short, the body shuts down pleasantly, but the head keeps running. It’s dark, quiet and calm - other sensations are perfectly muted - and so it’s possible to concentrate on anything…

There may be those who call it meditation – I don’t know; I haven’t been there yet.

But I’m having a great time. One of the other hidden benefits of parenthood. I enjoy discovering and hunting these little bits and pieces.