He doesn't want to miss a thing

I’ve come to realize that there’s an odd parallel between men & children when it comes to bed time.  Now, the children are all grown up, but the memory always remains.  I do know that they always wanted to “stay up later”….. “just 5 more minutes……”

And, oddly enough, my hubby seems to share this inability to admit he is sleepy.

A typical evening at our home consists of some unwinding time in front of tv prior to bed.  Eventually I’m tired and will turn over and fall asleep, But first, like the nut that I am , I ask are you sleepy?  Then, like playing a broken record,  To which he always replies, “No, I’m gonna stay up a bit”.

Now this “staying up a bit” could be just after he’s:

• declared how tired he, himself, is.
• I had just looked over at him to find that he is in fact asleep, or has fallen asleep 2-3 times during the last hour while holding on to the remote
• announced that tv programming sucks, and there’s nothing to watch

But alas, none of the declarations are reason enough to put himself to bed.

So, I find myself negotiating like I would with a five year old.

“Honey, you do realize that you’re pretty much asleep?”

“Honey, you’ve been complaining all day that you didn’t get much sleep last night, so why would you want to force yourself to stay up?”

“Honey, I could understand wanting to stay up if you were in the middle of a great movie, but you are flipping through the channels deciding between Duck Dynasty and American Pickers… I bet nothing earth-shattering is going to happen that you need to know about”

And lastly…..

“Honey, I promise you will not miss anything by going to sleep now.”

And, there are generally one of 2 replies from him. He either says… “I’m just gonna flip around and see if there’s anything to watch”  — This makes no sense to me since he’s admittedly tired BUT there may just be something on some obscure channel that would keep him awake.  Or, he says “But it’s only __’o clock”  (and you can fill in just about any time whatsoever into the “__” time slot”).  It’s as if the clock dictates his bedtime not his level of exhaustion.  If it’s “only” 10:00, it’s too early to go to bed.   If it’s “only” 11:00, it’s too early to go to bed.  I’m not sure where he gathered the impression that he’s less of man if he can’t force himself to stay up past a certain time just so he can say he didn’t go to bed early.

This is not my hubby… but it might as well be!

Nope, I just don’t get it.    If I’m tired, I go to sleep.  If he’s tired he goes to sleep only if it’s past a certain time or he’s exhausted all possible options of crap tv. And, even after all that, sometimes he falls asleep with the T.V. on, lights on, no covers, and one of at least 3 doors unlocked.. thus, taking away the required decision to Go To Bed…. somehow, I feel like he thinks he’s won by not going to bed.  What exactly he’s the winner of is debatable.  In my world it’s probably along the lines of some sort of  man against man moron award, although I’m sure in the World of Men, this might just be some great honor that I’m unaware of!

Now I must ask myself.  What does it matter?  Why do I care?  Is it so important that everything and everyone is "tucked in" for me to be able to rest?
Now, that's a whole nuther' entry.