50 and beyond

I can’t believe I’ve been married for 24 years now and I have NEVER thought of this.

When I don’t sleep well, I can’t function well the following day. I get headachy, I get a bit short tempered and impatient, and I cannot focus. Once I am headachy, I need to take paracetamol before I sleep, otherwise, the headache gets throbby when I wake up and then, I may have to stay in bed for most part of the day while taking paracetamol every 6-hourly, until the following day.

I think my sons are used to seeing me grouchy. I was grouchy for most of their toddler years because, as a typical mother of active toddlers, I never had enough sleep.

I rejoiced when my younger son reached the age where I could finally take a nap on Sunday afternoon without having to worry about what mischief he was up to without adult supervision. As a ritual, before I started my nap, I would warn my boys that if they came to wake me up for a frivolous emergency, I would make them memorise a Chinese compo. They gave me peace. Over time, my mood improved tremendously and I got along much better with them.

But I never did quite solve my night sleep problem. Hubby snores. And when he doesn’t snore, he breathes loudly. I have asked him numerous times over the years to get it fixed, but of course, he ignores me. I take audio clips of him snoring to show him how loud he is, and in turn, he does the same to me. Sheesh. Somehow, noise doesn’t bother him when he sleeps; he can sleep through loud construction sounds. Heck, he can be fully awake, looking at me, but can’t seem to hear anything I say.

But last week, I suddenly had an epiphany. Get ear plugs!

This morning, I went to Unity to look for ear plugs. I was very disappointed when I saw that they only sold these cheap $2 ones. I bought one, just as an interim, and thought that perhaps I’ll look around and get one of those high-tech music headphones that would shut out all outside noise.

But that isn’t necessary. I just tried on this piece of pathetic foam and THEY WORK VERY WELL! There’s some construction going on in my neighbour’s place but right now, it sounds like a distant murmur.

I’m so sure they will work tonight that I’m not going to wait until tomorrow before I post this blog entry. Here’s to a wonderful peaceful sleep tonight! If successful, you will know, because I won’t be grumpy in the morning. Cheers!