All Night Long…
“All night long. All night. All night long. All night.”
No, I am not quoting the words to a Lionel Richie song. Well, ok I am quoting the words to a Lionel Richie song, but I am referring to my Mother’s TV. My Mother’s TV is on ALL NIGHT LONG!
My Mother amuses herself watching reruns of her favorite sitcoms. These shows range from “The Andy Griffith Show,” to “Two and a Half Men,” to “NBC News.” And although she may have seen these comedy episodes before, they never cease to make her laugh. And it’s good to hear my Mother laugh. She giggles like I do.
She can watch the episode where Aunt Bee makes pickles on “The Andy Griffith Show,” over and over again and she just laughs Then there’s Doug and Carrie on “The King of Queens,” and Raymond’s father on “Everybody Loves Raymond,” who are always good for a hearty chuckle. Wonder why I’m speaking of these television characters as if they are people we know? If you listened to them all night long, you would feel as if they were close personal friends too. And let’s not forget Roseanne. All delightful characters in the early evening but at three o’clock in the morning, not so much.
My Mother’s TV is at a consistent high volume—the better for her to hear. Easy for her to hear, myself in the next room and any neighbors in the near vicinity. Carrie screams at Doug in a high pitched volume that is even higher and louder in the wee hours of the night and morning. And Raymond’s mom seems to yell constantly. I wouldn’t mind listening to Charlie on “Two and a Half Men,” but my Mother watches the channel that shows the episodes with Ashton Kutcher instead of Charlie Sheen. And so, I suffer through the voices of her favorite comedic characters. All night long.
I attempt to turn the TV volume down on her TV at a reasonable hour only to notice that she turns it up when I fall asleep. Thus, waking me up. I am one of those people who don’t like to be awakened—especially since I get very little sleep. But being awakened by the alarm on my phone which plays my favorite song in the morning and being awakened by one of “The Golden Girls,” singing at the top of their lungs or the shrilling sound that is Roseanne’s voice are two different things.
Therefore, I often find myself awake at 2 am wishing that I could just sleep. My Mother, however, manages to sleep through these shows with no difficulty at all.
I bet you’re wondering why I simply cannot turn the television off when she falls asleep. Because… Because she can sleep through Doug, Carrie, Raymond, Roseanne, and the NBC newscasters but if I enter the room, she wakes up immediately. She wakes up and declares that she has been watching said show even though I have been standing in the doorway watching her sleep. And snore.
I wear earbuds and listen to radio shows on my phone at night in an effort to drown out the 90s sitcoms. But then the Caregiver’s conscience kicks in, and I feel bad about drowning out the sound with music or shows I’d rather hear. What if my Mother needs me in the middle of the night? What if she calls out to me and I can’t hear her because I’m wearing noise-cancelling headphones? And so, I traded the noise-cancelling headphones for “I can still hear everything” earbuds. And I can hear everything, ALL NIGHT LONG.
My body, mind, and soul ache for a quiet, relaxing good night’s sleep without the blasting volume of my Mother’s TV. I wake up each morning exhausted because I need 8 hours of sleep. 8 hours of sleep which I never get! That’s not entirely true, I have actually enjoyed one or two (and just one or two) nights of sleep since I’ve assumed my Caregiver responsibilities.
A few months ago, I had a version of the flu (ok, I think it may have been the Corona Virus) and I slept all day and night. Of course, I would not refer to that as a restful sleep. But then there was the time when I drank an entire bottle of wine one evening after a particular stressful day and I slept ALL NIGHT LONG!
“ALL NIGHT LONG” – LIONEL RICHIE
One of my favorite 😍 ❤️
Wow!