<\/p>\nThis morning I found myself starting the day more tired than usual. Maybe it was due to my late-night reading of “_Sense and Sensibility_”:http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0141439661\/octothorppres-20 last night, or missing out on the usual 30-minutes-extra morning snooze that Jon gives me while he gets up with Lucy. (Isn’t he a saint? Today he had to leave early to drive to Madison, Wis.) In any case, I was sleepy, and began pondering one of my favorite fatigue-induced fantasies: the Sleep Bank. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
p{color:gray}. Photo: Not sleepy. Not even a little.<\/p>\n
Wouldn’t it be great if you could store up sleep to use for later in life? Imagine the possibilities:<\/p>\n
* You could store some of your babies’ “spare” naptime to use during the noisy family reunion that falls at an awkward time of the day.
\n* Your eight-year-old is bored, and you suggest that he take a nap — to save for the slumber party he is going to next weekend.
\n* Teenagers could sleep all summer long, saving up their sleep points for late nights of studying.
\n* College students could nap frequently at the beginning of the semester, banking up z’s for finals week.
\n* Pregnant couples could go into hibernation for a few months to cache away some rest to use up when the baby is born.<\/p>\n
But as I was changing Lucy out of her pajamas, my morning fog began to lift, and I began to consider some snags in my plan to stockpile sleep:<\/p>\n
* Sleep would truly become a status luxury. For example, rich people would go off for fabulous sleep-bank vacations that the poor couldn’t afford.
\n* New, wildly expensive lines of products would be developed, assuring customers of the deepest, most relaxing sleep possible.
\n* If they knew they really could save it up, people might begin to feel stingy with their sleep, trying to use the minimum amount possible, resulting in irritability and unclear thinking.
\n* Catching a cold (and needing extra sleep) would cause undue anxiety. “Where am I going to find the time to make up the sleep for this?”
\n* People might start going into sleep-debt, which might get harder and harder to pay off as age- and worry-induced sleep problems developed.
\n* Teenagers might waste these prime sleeping years by staying awake, and then regret their rash decisions when they become parents.<\/p>\n
So, it seemed like a great idea — but only for about ten minutes. I’m happy to have sleep as a daily reminder of our humanity, even though that means I feel tired here and there. I guess it turns out it’s a good thing I don’t rule the universe!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This morning I found myself starting the day more tired than usual. Maybe it was due to my late-night reading of “_Sense and Sensibility_”:http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/exec\/obidos\/ASIN\/0141439661\/octothorppres-20 last night, or missing out on the usual 30-minutes-extra morning snooze that Jon gives me while he gets up with Lucy. (Isn’t he a saint? Today he had to leave early … <\/p>\n