Today at work we were talking about the different ways people like to sleep. For instance, one co-worker has to have it completely dark and another likes to have a fan running all night.
It reminded me of when I was a child. We were raised in a small bungalow-type house with two bedrooms on the main floor and a large, upstairs attic bedroom. Because I had three brothers and no sister, I got the second bedroom on the main floor all to myself, while all three of my brothers slept upstairs.
At night when I would have to go to bed, my mom would always close the door to my bedroom because being on the main floor she thought the light and noise from the TV would keep me awake. I hated being alone in the room and I was afraid of the dark..so instead of sleeping I would lay awake for hours (it seems) just staring at the rectangle of light coming from around the closed door! I'm sure that if she would have kept the door open just a little I would have relaxed and fallen asleep!
As a result, when my kids were little they were allowed to sleep with the doors open and the hallway light on, or even a light in their rooms on if that was what they needed to feel secure. I never wanted them to be afraid of the dark like I was!
Many years later during some holiday I was telling the above story to family members sitting around the table and my mom was absolutely mortified! She felt so bad! She said, "Why didn't you tell me? I never would have made you sleep in the dark!" I told her I probably did ask her to leave the door open at one time, but she probably said no and I did not argue with her because back then, you never argued with your parents! Then I felt bad that she felt bad!!
I'm not afraid of the dark anymore, but I do sleep best in a room that is softly lit. I just wish I would have had a softly lit room when I was a child, or at the least a sister to be afraid of the dark with!
See ya tomorrow for the Brenda Photo Challenge!
Isn't it funny that you obeyed them so much that you couldn't ask them one more time or open the door yourself...and then you suffered all those years.
ReplyDeleteA good thing for a Grandma to read (me) so I remember to ask the grandkids their preferences. LOL
I don't remember ever being afraid of the dark, but my mom did the same thing; closed our bedroom doors! To this day, I cannot sleep with the door closed. Sometimes, when Hunter and I are playing, we end up in my walk-in closet and I have BEG her not close the door! :)
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing all the challengers tomorrow and hope you have a great weekend.
You are so right that kids didn't argue with their parents back in the day. Once the rules were set, that was it! It's funny how we all have to have things "just right" when we fall off to sleep!
ReplyDeleteI think we respected our parents and just knew that they knew best. The dark has never bothered me but being closed in does, tremendously. I like to have the doors open!
ReplyDeleteWhen my kids were little, I always left their doors open. When they got older, they slept with their doors closed. Who knows what kids want?
ReplyDeleteBack in the day, it didn't really matter what kids wanted, it was what parents wanted that mattered.
I cannot sleep with the door shut - I feel like I can't breathe if it's shut. Also, I have to sleep with a ceiling fan blowing on me and a small box fan on my end table. I can't sleep without the white noise! Yep, I'm a pain in the ass!! :)
ReplyDeleteHi Jeanette,
ReplyDeleteI was afraid of the dark too. When I was little we lived in a house with one bedroom on the main floor and two upstairs along with an attic. I hated that attic. It was at the top of the stairs right across from my room plus I had another attic door in my ceiling! At night in the dark I would lay there and listen...there were times I was POSITIVE that I heard that door open at the top of the stairs more than once. Now I like my room nice and dark....but I still listen for noises especially now that we live on a little farm in the middle of now where. You never know what creepy things are out there! Hope you have a wonderful day. Maura :)