Sleep

How blessed are some, whose lives have no fears, no dreads; to whom sleep is a blessing that comes nightly and brings nothing but sweet dreams-Bram Stoker.  Sleep is that warm winter coat or blanket that make you feel comfortable and warmth relaxing your soul. Sleep is best for meditation, it allow our mind to shut down for a bit. It’s all about recovery time for the brain and body. It build our soul back up in order to embrace life. Often we can have peace of mind and enjoy sleep knowing our day was full of giving one hundred percent to our endeavors.  In truth our anxieties can be lessened by a good night sleep. Though sleep is our best friend, it’s a friend that can keep us waiting at times. We sleep, but the web of life never stops and the intricate line pattern that was started when the sun set is still being design when the sun rises. Many parents, like ourselves, have develop qualities needed to get through sleep disturbance nights with our autistic child. These qualities encompass patience, discipline, perseverance, and willingness to forego sleep. Thus our ability to weather crises and accept exhaustion as a fact of life become a merit badge of unconditional love for our child that no one ever sees. In fact such sleepless nights or early rising at 1 a.m can spill over into days or weeks. Perhaps sleep resistance, bouts of insomnia, night terrors, and waking up screaming/hysterical are common among autistic children. I have discovered even with a routine of lavender bath and relaxing time one hour before actual bed time plus melatonin does not guarantee M sleeping through the night. Although psychology completing this practices should help M obtain freedom to relax into sleep, sadly often times he can not regulate the inner chatter within his beautiful mind. Around 1 a.m this morning our M awaken again…it was not until sometime after six before he could find inner peace to crawl into our bed and sleep.  M has taught me these truths…when M is so tired and actually fall asleep wherever in the house, let him sleep and do not I repeat do not bother to put on pajamas; if we didn’t get any sleep coffee/caffeine is a definite plus in keeping our unfailing optimism that tonight we may sleep too at least 5 a.m….dare to dream.

Simply an autism mom learning