Darlene - ‘Sleep like a baby’, I love it!

Sam - Resting is just how I look at it now.

Magpie - In our house it was mammy who did the shouting and hammering!

Maynard - A coal hammer was used to break large pieces of coal that were too big for the fire.

Judy - Like you, I noticed that alcohol puts me over to sleep, but it only lasts a very short time.

I drink a beer just before going to bed, and then I read until my eyes start to close on their own. I’ve noticed that if I drink red wine, I will go to sleep at first, but then wake up and be awake for several hours. So I have stopped drinking red wine with or after dinner. (bummer). I hope you find the right combination of things for you.

If my sister and /or were lying awake too late my father would shout from the bottom of the stairs,”Go to sleep or I’ll fetch the coal hammer.”

My doctor prescribed Gambapentin. It is not a sleeping pill, but a medication used to calm trembling in people like Parkinson’s sufferers. It is non-addictive and has been a godsend to me when I need to sleep. The side effect is drowsiness and that makes you sleepy. I also have a mental game I play; I start with every place (country, city, state, etc.) that begins with A and ends with A. I start with Alaska. Sometimes I fall asleep half way through. It keeps me from going over worries or a list of next day’s chores. (The same principle as counting sheep.)

It’s a myth that older people do not require as much sleep as younger people. We are not as physically active so we are not as physically tired at night. That’s a ripe scenario for insomnia.

I feel my best when I have had eight hours sleep, but that is a rare night. Unless I have to rise early the next day, I just sleep until I wake naturally.