I have a confession. Today, I got up early (because Scooby Doo had to poop mostly), and even though I wanted to go back to sleep, I decided to go for a drive instead and get some iced coffee. My morning drives are my favorite part of the weekend. Everyone else is still in bed, and I go out in my pajamas, usually with the Jeep top down, and I listen to my audiobooks, have some iced coffee, and get myself together for the day. I had high hopes for all the ways I would be productive— books I would read, chapters I would write, laundry I would ignore….the usual. 

When I got back home an hour and a half later though, I could barely keep my eyes open. Even after my Venti vanilla sweet cream cold brew. And two Krispy Kreme donuts. (Don’t judge me. I know my truth— also, I bet only John Wayne can tell me what movie that’s from). So I laid back down shortly before lunch time, and didn’t wake up until almost 2. When I got up, I felt like a new person. 

I wish I could say this was unusual for me, but it’s definitely not. I have always loved to nap. My mom used to worry about me because I would nap in my car when I was in college and she just knew something terrible was going to happen to me. When life gets to be too much, a nap usually fixes it. Sort of like how small children need to rest half way through the day so everyone doesn’t hate them. It’s better for everyone if I just take that time.

Other Half doesn’t understand it at all. He thinks it’s a waste of the day. The kids haven’t really said much about it before. But tonight, at dinner, we were talking about the day and how much time Benjamin Button had spent on his video games, and he said, “So. I play games and Mom hibernates.” I laughed because it was funny, and also it was true. But that got me thinking. Why do bears hibernate? 

I looked it up, and according to the National Forest Foundation, bears hibernate (or sometimes enter into a state called torpor which is similar to hibernation but lets them wake up faster and get up to eat) so that they can conserve energy, lower their heart rate, and it allows them to survive. The website said that the need to hibernate is triggered by shorter days, hormonal changes, or food scarcity. 

Basically, their world has changed and they need to protect themselves. And then, I realized that Benjamin Button is right. I’m basically a bear. I got up, went foraging for food (and coffee), and then went to sleep. Probably to protect myself from how much my world has changed, Although, my world was pretty good back in college and I did this then too. I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I think it’s how I protect myself from too much stress. But I decided that if I have to be a bear, I choose Jasmine. She has a sweet wig, a tiara, and very memorable theme songs.