Siestas

My siesta habit began a long time ago - when we lived in Las Vegas & I was in 6th grade.

Las Vegas is hot, but you probably already know that. What you may not know is that Las Vegas has year-round schools. For decades, the population has increased at a faster rate than they can build schools, so in an effort to maximize classroom space, they rotate classrooms as different classrooms go on breaks. Parents tend to like year-round school because you get vacations at "off" times, which makes it easier to travel. And of course you get the standard Christmas break.

Not only is it HOT in Las Vegas, but you also go to school in July when it's 110 degrees - and I'm not even joking.

Another "interesting" thing is that you have to live 3 miles away from the school to get bus transportation. When we lived in Vegas, I lived 1.5 miles away from the school. So it was either walk 1.5 miles home from school (Mom drove me to school in the morning) or walk 1.5 miles from the bus stop.

If you haven't been to Vegas before, let me tell you yet another tidbit. Las Vegas has no shade! There are a few palm trees here and there, but have you ever gotten adequate shade from a palm tree? Most of Vegas vegetation is tumbleweeds with a few cacti thrown in. I don't even think a spider receives shade from a tumbleweed.

Alas, I walked 1.5 miles home from school in scorching July heat with no shade while carrying a backpack full of books. It's no wonder that when I got home, I'd eat a big bowl of ice cream and cuddle with the air conditioner vent. And fall fast alseep. I'd have a siesta just like the people of Spain have.

And so a habit developed.

When we moved to Seattle, I kept up the same habit. It wasn't so warm here, but I would always snooze when I got home from school. Junior high and high school let out around 2-2:30pm. When I started community college, I took morning classes and usually finished classes by noon. My mom got home at 5:30pm. So I usually had 2 or more hours to take a nap except when I was working after school.

I'd always be up by 5:30pm. My mom has never taken a nap during the day since I've been little. Let's just say she doesn't approve of people sleeping during the day. In order to not get chastized for my lazy ways, I couldn't let her know.

When you take a late afternoon siesta, it is harder to get to sleep. So I'd stay up til 1 or 2am, and I'd either talk on the phone, play computer games, occasionally do homework, read, watch TV, etc. If the internet had been more pervasive back then, I know I would have basically lived on there.

So my nighttime sleep would be 4 or 5 hours, and then I'd supplement with a 2-3 hour nap during the weekdays.

Once I went to Western Washington University, I'd do the same thing yet again. And considering I worked from 11pm - 2am, the late afternoon nap became a survival mechanism.

By the time I graduated college, I had been doing regular weekday siestas for 8 years. This full-time work thing has intruded on siestas, but for most of my married life, I've at least gotten 1 siesta in on the weekend. Now that Miss J is here, I had the best excuse ever to partake in siestas yet again while I was on maternity leave and she napped in the late afternoon. Now that I'm back to work, there's no siestas on weekdays BUT... I still try to get at least 1 siesta in on the weekends.

Old habits are hard to break, aren't they? This is such a GOOD habit, though. If it wasn't for being up til 2am (when Miss J will be up by 6-7am), then I'd say siestas would be the best habit there is.