Sweet Dreams...

Lately dad has been sleeping later into the day. For years now dad's sleeping schedule has been off. He stays up until all hours of the night and then sleeps until noon or later. When he first moved in with us, we would turn out lights at 10 p.m. and start heading to bed and he got into a better sleeping pattern. That didn't really last very long though, and lately it's been as late as 3:00 p.m. when he wakes up...and he still goes back for naps.

About a month ago when he came out of his room about 20 minutes after I had checked on him sleeping, I asked him how he'd slept and he told me he hadn't been sleeping, but was in talking to mom...mom has been gone for six years now. When it happened we were the only ones home, and I forgot to tell Eli about it later.

Then during the Christmas break, we were remodeling the main bathroom and were using dad's bathroom while the toilet was removed. We would quietly sneak in and out of his room being careful not to wake him...surprisingly all the banging didn't wake him either.

I guess once as Eli was passing through dad's room he had a similar experience, and dad wasn't all the way awake but seemed to be very coherent. That's when Eli told me his theory.

Eli thinks that in dad's dreams he is the dad I grew up with. That he is able to understand and do the things he is dreaming about and everything makes sense, so that's why he's been letting dad sleep longer. Why wake him up to the state of confusion he lives in.

Remember the Easy Button

Most Saturday evenings when I tell dad that tomorrow is Sunday, he lays out his church clothes so they will be ready in the morning. I will tell him, "Church starts at 9, so I'll wake you up at 8 o'clock." Then Sunday morning when I go in to wake him up, he changes his mind in favor of more sleep.

Our ward's meeting time changed to 11:00 a.m. for 2011, so I thought getting up for church would be easier for dad...he still prefers his sleep. (Remind me later to tell me our theory as to why dad sleeps so much) The usual routine is that we all go our meetings & either Eli, me, or both of us will come home and check on dad between meetings. If he is awake when we check on him during Sunday School, then we have him come back with us to Sacrament.

Eli had meetings today after church, so the boys and I beat him home. When we arrived, dad was still asleep, so I decided to take advantage of the free time to take a nap. At 4:00 Eli called up to me. I thought it was to wake me up, so I asked him to let me sleep another 1/2 hour. Then he informed me that dad had been awake for about an hour and a half, but had not yet eaten because his teeth were misplaced.

Ever since he slept with his teeth in about six months ago, I have got in the habit of going into his room at about 9:00 p.m. and telling him it's time to start getting ready for bed. Them I pull back his sheets, lay out his pj's, and get his denture bath ready. Last night I fell asleep early and forgot to go set things up for him.

When I went into dad's room and asked Eli where he had looked, he replied , "I thought I'd looked everywhere, but was obviously wrong because I haven't found the teeth."

Three people in dad's room looking for teeth was at least 2 too many, so I asked dad if he thought he could eat some oatmeal without them, and got him set up eating breakfast.

The last time he misplaced his teeth, after looking in every drawer, nook and cranny...even his shoes, I sat down in his chair and decided to try and think like him. Just as I was thinking that he had to have put them nearby, I saw them in one of those desk organizer cup for pens. He had placed the teeth inside the pen holder and then placed a smaller paperclip cup on top of them. The time before that they were in a drawer.

Of coarse this time I went right to all the usual places, but no luck. I even looked in some places twice! Then I decided to check the drawers "one more time" and there they were! He had put them in his shaving cup, filled it with water, and placed it inside one of the bottom drawers on his dresser. He doesn't usually use those drawers, so I had not checked them. Next ime I need to remember to check the easy places first...and not overlook the drawers he doesn't use.

The Many Faces of Dad...