Dear Kid,

I have been thinking about koalas. Because koalas are cute and they sleep a lot and I have been thinking about sleep. Koalas sleep about 18 hours a day – because they can.

I slept a lot this weekend. Partly because I could and partly because … well, entirely because I could.

Sleep is a wonderful thing (I believe I may have mentioned this once or twelve thousand times) and college and high school kids rarely get enough.

You know that feeling when you’re sitting in class and you have to jerk yourself awake every few seconds? Caused by not enough sleep.

You know that feeling of reading the same test question three times and still not knowing what it says? Caused by not enough sleep (occasionally caused by a bad instructor, but usually lack of sleep is the culprit).

You know that feeling of being rude to your family and not really knowing why but not being able to help it? Generally caused (or at least exacerbated by) not enough sleep.

You know that feeling of your stomach hurting and your head spinning and the world going too fast on its axis? Can be caused by a bunch of things, but one of them is not enough sleep.

What can too much sleep cause? Too much sleep can cause you to miss classes, too much sleep can cause you to miss work, and too much sleep can turn you into a legend (just look at Rip Van Winkle). Basically, if you adhere to proper alarm clock management, there aren’t many downsides of too much sleep.

So.

We are delighted you’re home. Seriously happy to have you back here. And we understand you need a day or two to sleep and recover. There are a few things we need to accomplish in the next few days (and by “we” I mean you), but mostly you are free to snarf food (please stay awake long enough to clean up), watch bad TV (try to share the remote), and lounge like a piece of Jell-O on the couch.

The ordinary rules of family behavior will be suspended modified over the next day or two. After that, we expect you to return to regular family member status and helpfulness.

In the meantime, get some sleep.

Love you, kiddo.

Love, Mom