For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 03, 2010

I gave up sleeping in 1989 ! Passing out while riding my motorcycle is the only sleep I get.

Although I’m not a parent, but I get the impression that many parents think that way, and then it passes.

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Sure it does but if you ever voice that to your kid it can really hurt them and they may never forget it. So keep such awful thoughts to yourself.

What a great family! You can tell when the boy gets out of bed worried about his Mom and says so many caring things that she is bringing him up right.

We all have instances of wanting to get away from our kids (and parents). But we love them, and when they are sweet like that, we remember why.

Awe, this is so true!

When I can’t sleep I read the Louisiana Civil Code. Problem solved!

Very sweet! My oldest one does this sometimes when I’m having a rough day (although not in the middle of the night), and I’m always touched by how perceptive and sweet she is.

I gave up sleeping too. I’m already dead, I’m just too stubborn to lie down and admit it.

When I can’t sleep I just lay down and relax, close my eyes and “look” at all the corners in the room until it is suddenly morning. It is amazing how many corners can be found: the normal 8 corners, the corners of the windows, dressers, chairs and bed. This and have a physically active day work wonders. A walk before bed also helps. My son was wonderful like this also, always knew how I was feeling and knew just the right thing to say.

I’ve had sleep problems for a lot of years. Never has my kids ever came out like Michael to ask about me like that. This strip is very touching. Yes I know it is a cartoon strip. I’ve tried taking sleep aids what happens next my mind goes in overdrive. Not worry or problem solving sleep problems. My mind picks tunes I might hear or remember from way in the past so far no rock and role or jazz. I can’t sing as well as the tunes. I have tried like Advill PM and this will help but when I’m off same seniorio my mind will not stop. What I wish is a separate room from my husband but I don’t have one and away from nosy traffice. The family fell in love with a bi-level house and where by two highways and this gets noisy can tell shift change. Usually I’m the one who leaves the bed and I go out in the living room to read. Usually midnight or 1 am before I can think of returning. I also go to rr a lot.

My parents felt like that a LOT…..the wanting to give me away part!!!

When I could not sleep well in the middle of the night, I usually went to the kitchen to get the carton of milk and pour it in glass. After I drank it, I went back to sleep and then knocked me out quickly. Problem solved, eh! :-)

I don’t find that ibuprofen has any effect one way or another.

What does have an effect is diphenhydramine (that’s the generic name - it’s called Benadryl in Canada, I don’t know the name in the US), a very strong medication for allergies; or dimenhydrinate (called Gravol in Canada and Dramamine in the US), also strong, for dizziness and nausea. In Canada you don’t need prescriptions for them; I don’t know about the US.

These pills often put me to sleep whether I wanted them to or not!

Incidentally, our prescription rules in Canada are often very different from the US. There is a pill that has a mixture of aspirin, caffeine, and codeine; and another pill that has a mixture of Tylenol, caffeine, and codeine; and in Canada neither requires a prescription. I think in the US everything that contains codeine does require one?

I know that many years ago, when I was going to school in the US, I brought with me from home a bottle of the aspirin-caffeine-codeine pills (we call them 222’s, I have no idea why). When I ran out of them, I went to the drugstore to buy some more, and the pharmacist told me I would need a prescription. Oh, I said, never mind, next time I go home I’ll buy some more. He gave me a very dirty look.

End of reminiscences…

@ireg, I think that’s a wonderful meditation for when you can’t sleep! Next time I can’t sleep, or for that matter when I am too strung up for any reason and need to relax, I ‘ll try it.

If I remember - that’s always a problem.

its funny, but my 7th grade teacher taught us a little self hypnosis trick to get to sleep and its helped alot over the years. He had us clear our minds, and imagine a movie screen, then start visualizing your body parts starting w/ you toes, tell them to relax. It can take a while, sometimes the body parts take a lot of convincing, but it always worked for me.

@kab2rb, what might help you is learning some relaxation exercises. There are many different kinds. Would it help to ask your doctor?

I’ve bought Benadryl and I’ve seen Dramamine OTC here in Indiana — definitely no prescription necessary.

Maybe Elly’s finding it so hard to sleep now because of the ugly thoughts she had earlier in the day when she was so angry with her son that she was ready to give him away! Things like that can keep me awake at night too.

I sleep with a “white noise” machine on. A fan running would also work. It’s the low motor noise that masks other sounds that could keep you awake.

“Count your blessings instead of sheep”

(Song lyrics from the movie “White Christmas”)

Aww - loved this one. Thanks, Lynn!