“Pause”

I had tremendous plans to write something really detailed and researched this week, but as it turns out, am plain too tired after our trip. My brain cells are firing just enough to get through basic tasks, but that’s about it. If you were hoping for something profound this time around, dear reader, I am truly sorry not to deliver the goods. I promise to do better next week?

Just for your entertainment, I compiled a list of all the moments through which I slept or sleepwalked.

1. I fell asleep on a date night. The restaurant was all dimly lit and toasty warm. My husband went to the bathroom, and when he got back, I was deeply disconnected from my surroundings, and my head was doing that nod and jerk back up thing that is so annoying to the one asleep, so amusing to observers.

2. After over twenty years of marriage, our dates usually end rather unapologetically with a quick grocery store run, and this one was no different. I slept through the drive there, and also through the actual shopping. I woke up when my husband returned to the car with the bags.

3. I have slept through many of A’s dinner times. He has made his displeasure known, don’t you worry. He knows that if he yanks the fleece throw off me, I will sit up and bleat.

4. I acted like I was watching the Gilmore Girls revival last weekend , but actually I was out cold. When I rewatched it, I had to admit how much I’d missed. It was fabulous, though I can’t believe how token and stylized the Life and Death Brigade reunion was. Pah.

I think those are the most memorable instances. But I could be wrong because I probably slept through other stuff that has disappeared into the mists of time.

One of the changes we came home to was A regressing a little with bedtime rituals. He has taken to howling like a sad puppy if one of us doesn’t go and sit in his room while he plays for a bit before going to sleep. There are even actual tears and a whole sideshow involving a toy construction vehicle that he lights up while he howls. It’s endearing and pitiful, but also artlessly manipulative. This is why he is our endlessly engaging A. It’s never boring when he’s around.

While I am wrapping up the jet lag and intermittently unpacking, we have also begun the journey of physical therapy for A. A very grunty but thorough visit to an orthopedist kicked off the process, and soon we will have to power through some unpleasant adjustments in his routine. I’m feeling kind of bad for poor A. Sometimes, you know, I wish life would go a bit easier on him. I will put on my best poker face when the time comes, though.

I hope all of you are having fun anticipating the holiday season. It’s getting seriously cold here in New Jersey. Maybe that’s what will finally wake me up! Till next week, I raise my dreadful cup of green tea to you. We must build character in whatever ways present themselves, after all.

Radha.