How Much Sleep Is Too Much?

I have noticed recently that sleeping has become a very important part of my life. This just snuck up on me overnight.

When I was young and living at home, I tried to come up with excuses and reasons for not going to bed at night. My parents had an early bedtime schedule that they enforced rather strictly. Try as I might, I was never successful in beating that schedule.

Lately, I have noticed a completely different attitude about sleeping. I’m not sure where it came from, and I’ll have to ponder it for a while to find out.

It’s not just my problem but also the problem I share with The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage. Maybe I got it from her, I just don’t know.

When the sun goes down, so does my interest in staying awake.

After we finish the day, we watch a little bit of television before we go to bed. If there’s anything more boring than television, I haven’t found it yet.

Usually around 9 o’clock, The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage will look at me and say, “Is it time to go to bed yet?”

I have been married long enough to realize that when your wife asks a question, she may not be asking the question she’s asking, but setting a trap for something else. I never know what else it might be.

When she asked that question, I looked at her seriously and asked, “Are you ready to go to bed yet?” Then, looking at my watch, I said, “It’s not quite 9 o’clock yet.”

She clears her throat and then says, “I was just wondering if you were ready to go to bed.”

I’m not going to fall into that trap because I know she’s trying to set it up, so I became the reason we went to bed this early. Every once in a while, I noticed that her eyes were shut and I asked her, “You’re not sleeping are you?”

“Oh no,” she will say.

Then it goes around the other way, and she sees my eyes are closed and asks me, “Are you sleeping?”

“Oh no,” I will say, “I’ve just been praying for the day.”

She will smile and say, “I thought so because I heard you snore.”

As we age, our time schedule begins to change a bit, and it seems healthier to go to bed earlier and get more sleep.

I don’t want to be the first one to go to bed because I don’t want her to know that I am tired. I want to ensure she realizes I have my old energy, which is actually getting out of date.

Being retired has redefined our schedule. Our doctor's appointments are the only things on our schedule during the week. We have so many doctor appointments that we might have to hire a secretary to help us keep up with our schedule.

Lately, I’ve been trying to stay awake until 10 o’clock, and then go to bed. I’m not sure why I stay up until 10 o’clock, but I’m trying to convince myself that I’m not as old as I think I am.

The next thing about sleep is getting up in the morning. It is funny that I can be awake just about all night and then fall into a sleep that lasts several hours by 4 o’clock in the morning. I know I should have an alarm clock to get me up, but what do I need to get up for?

The only reason to get up in the morning is for breakfast. I can’t think of anything else to schedule my early rising from La-la land.

The Gracious Mistress of the Parsonage needs to get up when the great-grandchild comes for the day. She babysits for the granddaughter throughout the week, so she has a reason to get up at a certain time.

When I am on the other side of the bed, I do not have any reason to get up at a certain time in the morning. When I get out, I get up.

Sometimes, I wake up around 5 o’clock and enjoy the silence in our neighborhood. I think I should be getting up very soon, but then I fall back into such a sound sleep that I don’t get awake until 7:30. I wake up, look at my clock, and wonder where in the world the time went.

I stare at the clock and wonder how in the world I could have slept for 9 ½ hours. That doesn’t seem possible at all. And yet it happens more than I like to admit.

The question I have is, how much sleep is too much? What is the right amount of sleep for a person my age?

Another aspect of this sleep problem is that I usually nap in the afternoon. I think I sleep more than I’m awake, which may be suitable for the people around me.

In all of my considerations about this, I must confess that I really enjoy sleeping. I’m not sure of any activity I enjoy more than this.

Thinking about this, I was reminded of what David said. “It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late, to eat the bread of sorrows: for so he giveth his beloved sleep.” (Psalms 127:2).

Sleeping is a blessing from God.