Sleep Talking

Tom is an intense person. He’s intense when he’s awake and when he’s asleep. He’s a very hard worker and he takes his work, whatever that might be at the moment, very seriously.

Which is why he never really shuts down.

Back when he was working in management at Walmart, he often talked in his sleep about work. He’d mutter something about moving the skids. Then he’d get angry in his sleep and say, “No, not there! Over there!”

I’d always just say calmly, “Okay, I’ll move them.”

That seemed to sink into his unconscious mind and he’d settle again, content in the knowledge that the skids were going to be moved.

A few weeks ago, he actually woke himself up by talking in his sleep. He was talking about calories and fat grams. When he woke up and saw me looking at him, he smiled sheepishly and said, “Oh crap.” Then he turned over and went back to sleep.

This intensity is something he passed on to both Alyssa and Olivia. Neither of them talk in their sleep nearly as much as he does, but they do both do it on occasion.

Last night Olivia was muttering in her sleep. At first it was intelligible, just whimpers and whines and a few sounds of frustration. Then she finally said quite clearly, “No! I don’t want it.”

I rubbed her hair back from her face and said gently, “You don’t have to have it.”

It worked the same way my comments work with Tom. She settled back down and stopped fussing in her sleep.

I love that I can comfort my family even in their sleep. It makes me feel like I’m doing something right in the grand scheme of things.

Of course, during their awake hours, they’re all three still very intense and during those times, my gentle words don’t always make quite the impression I’d like them to make. So sometimes, I just shake my head and walk away when one or two or even all three of them is (are?) in an intense mood. I just let it ride and know they’ll work it out.

I do so love the sleep talking, though, because sometimes it gives me an insight into what’s really going on in their heads. When they’re sleeping, they don’t have the filter that sometimes hides the intensity during the day.

Does that make me something like a peeping Tommie? Maybe, but I’m kind of okay with that. I’ll take whatever I can get to understand them all a little better.

And no, I don’t think I’m much of a sleep talker. Or if I am, I never say anything interesting enough for anyone to remember and tell me about the next day. Hmmm...