I have one running fantasy in my life, and it does not involve my husband, a larger home, chocolate cake or exotic travel.
It involves me, a bed and a nap.
I want one. Bad.
It’s not just finding the time to take the nap, which is tricky enough when you have two kids. It’s the act of letting yourself, when there is so much other stuff you could be doing at home—the laundry, the bills, the broken stuff around the house that needs tending to, the book club book you have to finish by tonight (too bad you haven’t started it yet). There are Sundays when I literally start thinking about taking a nap soon after I wake up. Inevitably, I never get around to it, foiled once again by an endless to-do list.
I crave naps both because I’m perpetually sleep deprived and because I love the comfort of them. There is something deliciously decadent about snuggling under a fluffy comforter as rays of winter sun shine through your window. Assuming you have locked your bedroom door, so nap thieves (aka kids) can’t break in.
I think I need a to-snooze list—reminders of why I should be taking that nap. Such as:
• I’ll feel happier if I take a nap.
• I’ll look better if I take a nap (beauty sleep is no cliché).
• Just one nap can have restorative powers that last for days.
• My family will realize they can actually survive without me.
• Life’s too short not to indulge in a free luxury like this.
Napping Day, an unofficial holiday created by a former Boston University people to help people adjust to Daylight Savings Time, happens in March. I’m already 100 percent sure I’m too busy that day to celebrate it. But then, I’m always going to have that excuse. So I’m testing out my nap resolve this afternoon; January 1 is the unofficial laziest day of the whole year. If I can’t pull off a nap today, then there may be no hope for the rest of the year.
Here’s wishing you naps in 2014, too.
From my other blog:
We had entirely too much fun at the doctor’s office
How not to pack for Disneyland
Those little big-deal accomplishments
Image of woman taking a nap via Shutterstock