Sleepcleaners and poor thoughts

My daughter is ill and is having trouble sleeping which means, I am awake just in case. The problem is I am sick too with a relatively high fever. My wife is however sleeping peacefully in bed..well, she is also ill. This means that one of us has to stay up and, I am that one. Because I do most of my writing at night, I am better suited for the task anyway however, right now I would just like to close my eyes for a little bit.

I remember hearing many years ago about a study where researches deprived people of sleep and supposedly they stopped the research because they feared for the safety of the patients. They found that the longer they went without sleep, the faster the patients dropped into dreaming to the point that it was as soon as they closed their eyes. They concluded that dreaming is a core part of our health. I don't know if that is a true study or some random nonsense, but, I do think that we dream for a reason.

I have always imagined the brain as a type of filing system that collects massive amounts of data but can only consciously process small amounts of it. The unconscious processes more but, it doesn't always have a lot of energy to do an effective job however when sleeping, the opportunity arrives. I have seen dreaming as a type of system defrag of sorts where odds and ends are collected and evaluated for use or disposal.

The brain burns a large amount of energy and burning it creates waste but, with a limited lymphatic drainage system, it likely doesn't have the chance to clear much during waking hours as lots of data is pouring in. This to me means that the majority would have to be done during sleep when the brain has a much lower load on it. I assume this is why sleep is so important for clarity of thought as without it, the thought are literally ruminating in their own waste material. Perhaps this is why some days, 'I can't think for shit'.

Well, I actually don't get enough sleep anymore and have become somewhat accustomed to operating on low power. I don't think it is healthy in the long-term, even though it is necessary at the moment. One day, I will go on holiday and just take a long nap for a few days but, that won't be tonight.

What I will do tonight is prop myself in a chair next to my daughter and keep an eye on her until she wakes up. In the morning, my wife will hopefully feel okay enough to take over so I can catch a few hours of rest before it starts again. I don't know how single parents manage these kinds of situations, especially if they are working. It must get extremely difficult at times. I actually have a couple of posts I would like to complete on parenting but I am not up for it right now.

Instead, I think I will go and be by my daughters side now and listen to her dream. She woke up about an hour ago and I fed her and got her back to sleep and as she fell asleep she was singing to herself. This evening we were reading book and I guess her mind is processing it.

Pa-dding-ton, Pa-dding-ton, Paaaa-ddiiiing-tooooon. Even sick and asleep she is cute.

Taraz
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