Sleep Walking

According to Wikipedia, sleep walking can be entertaining as well as dangerous.

http://http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleepwalking

I have always had a problem with sleepwalking. I've had more a problem with talking in my sleep, but sleepwalking can be one of those random things that I do. Not too terribly long ago, I found myself standing in the middle of our bedroom trying to turn on the light by the pull cord on the fan. I had been there for about 5 minutes according to Rusty. Apparently, I wasn't pulling the cord hard enough. Rusty finally asked me what I was doing, and I guess I realized that I was standing in the middle of the room. I really don't remember very much about the incident. Rusty has told me most of it.

Some people have embarrassing moments while sleepwalking. I have never personally experienced it, that I know of, but a friend of mine has a story on embarrassing sleepwalking experiences.

My friend, Melissa has two sisters. I was talking to Melissa last night, and the subject of sleep walking came up. She told me that her sister has always had a problem with sleepwalking. One of the several stories that she told me was of a time that her sister came very close to an embarrassing moment.

Forgive me if I don't tell the story perfectly, but I think I can give you the general idea of what happened.

Melissa's Dad was asleep one night, and he was awakened to a noise coming from his closet. This was not your usual "middle-of-the-night" noise either. He sprang up into a sitting position on the bed, yet still under the covers as to not frighten the mysterious creature in the closet.

I can remember those nights where you think that you hear something unusual. I know, just as most of you do, that staying under the covers is more of a comfort for your sanity than for the noise's sanity.

Melissa's Dad took the covers off, swung his legs to the side of the bed, and listened. The noise was strange and frightening at the same time. It sounded as though there was a fierce wind blowing around all of the hangers in the closet.

As he opened the closet ever so slowly, he saw his daughter's blond hair. Melissa's sister was reaching into the hangers and moving them around. He asked her what she was doing, and she responded that she was looking for the light switch because she had to use the bathroom! This sleepwalking experience was a close call in the embarrassment arena.

Sleepwalking can also be dangerous. I would imagine that people could hurt themselves in many different ways while they were sleep walking. People could run into walls, cut themselves, or even fall down stairs. Sleepwalking, as funny as some situations can be, is a very dangerous behavior.

So, apparently, sleep walking is hereditary.

Last night, I was talking to Melissa on the phone. I stepped out onto the porch so that my talking would not awake the kids. Sometimes, I get a little bit louder than I'd like. It started getting cold, so I came inside, and as I walked out of the bedroom, there stood Rachel.

Rachel has a serious problem with sleepwalking. At least once a week (that we know of), she will come out of her room, stand in the hallway, and just look around. Typically, we ask her if everything is okay. She'll mumble that she's fine, and then continue to stand there. So, we send her back to bed where she collapses into a deep sleep.

So, back to last night. Rachel is standing in the hallway between the kitchen and the fireplace as though she has just left her room. The weirdest thing though, was that she was holding the jar of mayonnaise from the refrigerator. Of course, I ask her what she is doing with the mayonnaise, and with glazed over eyes, and a soft, slow voice, she said, "I waaasss mmaakinggg a sssnnnnnnaaaaacck."

I thought I was going to die laughing. Here's my daughter that NEVER goes into the refrigerator without permission standing in her footie pajamas holding mayonnaise. There's no telling how long she had been walking around the house holding the jar of mayonnaise. It was all I could do to not completely crack up in her face. She would have never known just what it was that I was laughing at, nor would she have ever remembered the situation, but my fear was that I would actually wake her up, and it would be difficult to get her back into bed.

So, I told Rachel that she needed to put the mayonnaise back into the refrigerator and go to bed. She had no qualms with my instruction. She put the mayonnaise back, and walked to her bedroom. A few minutes later, I ventured into her bedroom to make sure that she was asleep, and I think that she just collapsed onto the bed and that was that. If there is one thing that Rachel is good at, it's sleeping!

I seriously doubt that she remembers anything at all about the incident, and I'm sure that when I tell her what she was doing, she will crack up laughing as well.

As for the future episodes of sleep walking. I am now convinced that sleep walking can be very dangerous. We will be installing a chain lock on the front door tonight.