I Wonder What Gives the Sandman a Little Help at My House?

Oh, that delicious, peaceful feeling that slowly starts to wash over you just as you begin to drift off. Snuggling deeper under the covers, giving your pillow a little squeeze, and knowing your mind is finally relaxing and letting go of whatever happened during the day … the calendar page you were holding gets to slip from your fingers and float softly down and away. It’s just the slightest bit of intoxication—a hint of dizziness, a moment or two of not quite knowing where you are, a touch of flush, an inexplicable shadow of a grin.

I’ve been mulling over super jane’s Wonder all week; the truth is that I don’t have a nighttime talisman. I had a pink homemade blanket (the kind with little ties of tufted yarn dotting the top) I loved when I was little and a floral-print bear that I nestled under my chin from junior high through college. I couldn’t tell you where either of those items is. I like to take the pillow from my bed when we go camping but that’s just b/c I’m a comfort camper and not a real outdoorswoman. We just bought new pillows a couple of weeks ago, actually, and I tossed my old one aside without ceremony. I don’t think too much about my jammies before I jump into them. I can’t stand to sleep in socks … I only know so b/c on nights when I do wear socks to bed, they are somehow on the floor next to me by morning.

I have been known to go to bed without taking out my contacts (bad but rare), washing my face (worse and also rare), or brushing my teeth (terrible! And extremely rare). I don’t need to get that one last sip of water or watch the weather or check the lock on the front door or make sure the fan is running for some white noise. Clearly, my sleep schedule isn’t tied to a ritual, either.

Huh. It appears there's no rhyme or reason for how I get to the Land of Nod. I wonder why?