The Gift

Men have the gift of sleep. I know a few women who have this gift too, but mostly men. I think God gave men the capacity to sleep just about anywhere, anytime. It is this special gift that allows them to totally "check out" for a bit, turn off their brains, and escape from the stresses of work and caring for a family. I remember after Phoebe was born, being sleep-deprived to the point of insanity, desperate to somehow acquire this ability to spontaneously sleep like the dead. We women just cope differently. God gave us the gift of gab-which we use freely to vent out frustrations to one another, or to share a funny story that ends in a fit of side-stitching, teary-eyed laughter with a friend.

But men? They can fall asleep in anything that moves-cars, trucks, trains, planes. You might find them asleep on the couch, in your favorite rocker, outside on the patio furniture, in the park, or in a chair at the mall, while waiting for their shopping wife. And if they really need a nap, they may even doze off while watching football, reading a book, getting a haircut, OR...widemouthed in the dentist chair!

Okay, maybe those last two are exclusive to my husband. You see, as far as the gift of sleeping goes, this guy is blessed! This is a man who walks past a park or a field and says with great admiration, "Ooh, nice sleeping grass." I recall one Saturday afternoon back in our California home. Xee noticed the sunlight streaming through the french doors in the kitchen. He layed down in the sunlight and sort of jokingly said, "Ah, I could just take a nice nap right here in the sun." I ran upstairs to toss in a load of laundry, and when I came down he was passed out, flat on his tummy, in a tiny pool of his own drool. I mean, who does this? Who falls asleep on a hardwood floor? Um...apparently, my husband does! (Too bad the battery in our camera was dead when I went to capture the moment.)

Right now Xee is is his office, enjoying a blissful little slumber while the landscapers are blasting away with the mowers and the leaf blowers. And I am out here admiring this gift. I have stopped coveting it, because it it shall never be mine to attain. So I am happy for him. Let him sleep. Let him drift away and escape for just a little bit. He needs it. He deserves it. If the gift of napping keeps him going and going, doing all that he does for us, each and every day...I too, am blessed by the gift!