...perchance to dream

Sleeping is no mean art: for its sake one must stay awake all day.
~Friedrich Nietzsche

Such an elusive seductress, sleep is. Sometimes she comes over to visit at the most awkward times and you pretend, for the sake of your present company, that you and she have never met. Other times you call and leave messages, and then wait by the phone for her to return your urgent pleas of loneliness, only to find that she "went out" for the night and didn't get the messages until the next morning.

People who say they sleep like a baby usually don't have one.
~Leo J. Burke

Last night we put Canerib and Pookie to bed at 8:30, like always. It was nothing more than a quick bout of bedtime snacks, pajamas, vitamins, fluoride, potty, drinks, scriptures, room-cleaning, tooth-brushing, more potty, more drinks, family-praying, hugs, kisses, and tomorrow-promises. Then came the nightly installment of How to Eat Fried Worms -- a classic in its own rite. Attentive listening, more hugs, more kisses, more potty, more drinks, and the peace and quiet began ... or so we thought.

There is more refreshment and stimulation in a nap, even of the briefest, than in all the alcohol ever distilled.
~Edward Lucas

We caught ourselves up on le Tour (a tough day for Cadel; Christian holds our awe; what the heck kind of name is Schleck, anyway??) while we waited for the peace and quiet to begin ... and waited ... and waited. At 10:30, the Western Front finally developed the quality that Remarque bequeathed it, and we began our own bedtime ritual (almost as involved as the kids') and lights were out by 11:30 for a hard 7 hours of blessed respite ... or so we thought.

Sleep... Oh! how I loathe those little slices of death.
~Author unknown

At 2:00 Shem finally fell asleep: some nights are harder for her than others. Ah, the blissful amity (and vengeful bitterness) of alertness in the early morning hours. I had already fallen asleep twice, but had been gently awakened each time to be informed that I was breathing incorrectly, or something like that (Shem calls it "snoring," but then she has always been slightly lexicologically impaired). Fortunately for me, once Shem fell asleep, I could also fall asleep. And how wonderfully we slept! ...

Consciousness: that annoying time between naps.
~Author unknown

... until 4:30 when Pookie wet the bed. Change the sheets, change the pajamas, back to bed, lickety-split. And now we start the unwinding all over again ... after an hour I finally gave up.

Dawn: When men of reason go to bed.
~Ambrose Bierce

No matter what else anybody tells you, at 5:45 The Backyardigans are NOT entertaining.