nighttime

I've had insomnia since I was about 8 years old. I remember many nights as a youth going downstairs and watching television all night long, or laying in bed checking the clock every few hours, only to find that 10 minutes had passed.

I've learned over the years to appreciate this little quirk in my physiology. Nighttime has a music all its' own. Coyotes don't talk to each other during daylight hours. My dog chases cats in his sleep and my husband worries about things at work a lot more than he lets on. I know because he talks about them all night. I get to hear the aspen trees whispering and I doubt there are many who have seen as many falling stars as I have. Rain smells different at 3 a.m. than it does in the afternoon. My neighborhood moves to a completely different rhythm at night.

With four children, three of whom are teenagers, the middle of the night is one of the few times it's completely peaceful at my house. I've done a lot of my best thinking and brainstorming at two in the morning and treasure the conversations I've had with my Heavenly Father when my brain is too full to sleep. And there's not one Harry Potter book I've finished during daylight hours... Not to mention my girls are always home on time because they never know if it's a night I'll be up. Sneaking out? It's not worth the chance of getting busted.

Don't get me wrong, I do sleep. But those nights when I know it's not going to happen it's no big deal anymore. That's what naps are for.