RE: Sleeping in the car

[AustinBoston]

 
I sleep in the car.  I don t sleep very deeply, and very rarely sleep for very long, maybe 15-20 minutes.  Sometimes, as soon as I sit up after a nap, I m ready to lay down and go to sleep again.  Other times, I have the energy to take the wheel for hours and hours.
 
 I find sleeping in the car makes the miles go by faster, and if I have slept for at least 40 minutes uninterrupted, I m much more alert when my turn to drive comes around.  That can be important when you spend 7, 8, even 10 hours driving with the Taj MaHaul paperclipped to the bumper.
 
 Now I know I shouldn t do this, but I lay the seat partway back when I sleep.  I know that a passenger in a reclined seat can slide unter the seat belts and air bag, and be much more seriously injured in a crash.  I make the seat belt as tight as I can (while still able to sleep) and use a wrap-around neck pillow so I don t have to lean back as far.  Besides, DD is usually sitting right behind me and objects to having my balding head in her lap, so there is a practical limit to how far back the seat leans.
 
 There is one serious problem with my sleeping in the car.  It s my family.  They seem to think it s funny to wake me up just as I am falling into a deep sleep.  The mechanism is a unified burst of laughter from all four of them.  They claim it isn t them, that I am waking up myself.  But I know better.  I decided to break them of that habit.
 
 On one of those long drives (they occured every few days all summer in 2001), I was drifting off, when they had one of their bursts of laughter.  It was enough to wake the dead.  I decided to fight fire with fire.  " WHY DID YOU DO THAT?"  I roared.  " I WAS JUST GETTING TO SLEEP!"
 
 It was like fighting fire with gasoline.  This was responded to with uncontrollable laughter that I could not comprehend.  Every time one of them started to explain, the giggle fit would start again.  Needless to say, blood pressure ensured no more napping for a while.
 
 Over the next few days, this scene repeated itself a few more times, with me complaining loudly and sharply about being woken up.  Every time, they responded with giggles, snickers, or out-and-out side splitting laughter.  The lack of progress on this issue was as frustrating as the lack of car-sleep.  Not knowing what the joke was or how I fit into the punchline was worse.
 
 Finally, PJay decided she would take pity on me and explained to me that as I was drifing off, I would let out with a snort that would wake me up.  That s what everyone found funny.  They thought it funnier that I would try to blame them for waking me up.
 
 There ensued a significant discussion (some would call it an argument, but we re a perfect family and we never argue) about whether I was being awakened by the snorting or the giggling.  I tried to come up with a way to prove that they were doing the waking up, but to no avail.  I tried asking them to not giggle when I snorted, just to see if I woke up, but of course trying not to giggle is funnier than whatever made you giggle in the first place, so that just made things worse.
 
 After a few days of that, I decided to not " wake up"  when they laughed.  I would " sleep"  through the laughter and giggles in the hope of getting them to stop giggling.  Eventually, things settled down enough so that they didn t giggle every time I snorted.  They still giggled sometimes, which meant my brain never knew when they would or wouldn t giggle when I snorted.
 
 That created a different problem.  The human brain being what it is, it begins to anticipate things based on prior experience.  I found I was no longer able to sleep through the snorting!  They had very effectively trained me to wake up every time I fell asleep in the car.  Sadly, sleeping in the car has been ruined ever since!
 
 Austin

[tlhdoc]

 AustinBoston
Austin you could try going out to the car and take a nap by yourself on a weekend. []  Maybe that way you could start sleeping in the car again.

[Acts 2:38 girl]

 AustinBoston
Thank God I wasn t in the car with them!  I d be crying from laughing so hard!  []  
 Actually, even though it is bad, it could be a lot worse.  When I was pregnant with my 2nd son I fell asleep on the couch.  No biggie, right?  Except my sister thought it would be funny to block my nose.  My mouth was closed ( not snoring either).  Now THAT was scary!  I woke up pretty fast, but my heart was racing.  Now almost five years later she can t understand why I won t fall asleep near her!  She keeps saying, " I was only eleven years old"   Like it matters! [: (] []  Guess I better let it go sometime, huh?!!

[Horscampr]

 AustinBoston
Too funny!!  I m still laughing.
 
 I just hope you re not doing the driving when you decide to doze off.....LOL[]
 
 When I travel with my family, I m just the opposite.  I am WIDE AWAKE and very chatty....  My dad tells me I drive him nuts (and believe it or not, I am actually a quiet person by nature and in most other situations).  He will often make a stop at the library if I have to take a long drive with him.  He says sticking a book in my face is the only way to shut me up.
 
 Maybe I should come along with you......then you d never get any sleep...LOL  
 
 ...OR I could keep your family " entertained"  with stories and maybe you d be able to sleep.....
 
 Hey....there s an idea!!!!  When are you camping next??  Can I come??  LOL (just kidding of course)[]