bedtime rituals

[Food Lady]

Who has a process to help the brain say "It's time to go to sleep now"? For me it's a cup of Harney and Sons hot cinnamon sunset tea and carefully brushing out my hair and braiding for bed (to reduce tangling and strangling). The process of doing my hair is relaxing. I feel like a victorian lady.

[Mike Taylor]

Reading a book or writing gaming notes in one of my spiral bound notebooks.

[SongsOfDragons]

I read. I tried this year to do a count of all the books I read over twelve months but failed some time in February My sunrise clock helps a lot too, making sure the light gradually gets too dim to read and therefore making sure I don't keep reading until 2am.

[42_42_42]

Generally, for me, it's when I'm so tired that I can't make sense of what I'm studying and about to fall asleep into my nursing textbooks. Then I drag myself upstairs and collapse into bed.

[hinakiba777]

I watch comedy videos on my iPhone. I start off laying down just watching them. Then when I start dozing, I put in my earplugs and put on my sleepmask and just listen to it as i drift off. It's great, though sometimes i have trouble getting to sleep and I end up having to switch the video which is annoying.

Only downside is a few nights ago my wireless cut out after step 2 and I didn't realize, so I exceeded my monthly data.

[drunkenwildmage]

I download the daily podcast of "The Bob and Tom Show", and listen to it as I fall asleep.

[sms001]

'nother reader here. I was SO relieved when I read Heinlein's Glory Road and Oscar HAD to have some reading material to get to sleep - up until then I thought my brain was broken. My wife is a TV watcher, which has always been tough; we went through headphones and weird watching angles etc. but it always bugged me. Now she's got the iPad and life is wonderful!

Oh yeah - I ALWAYS shower before bed. Can't stand being any bit grimy when I crawl in.

[dawnfire]

my habit is to turn off any lights in the house (quite often the bedroom corridor and kitchen lights are on) and the central heating. Turn on my electric blanket if it is winter. Set out my medication on my desk with a bottle of water for the morning. wash my face. climb into bed. I bed I have to read even if it is only one page.

[MoonCat]

I like reading or flipping through a couple of catalogs. Also have to snuggle the cats a little before I go to bed. If I don't have to get up early, sometimes I listen to BBC radio for a while. The business report always makes me drowsy

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

What I'm doing right now. Giving myself an hour or so to waste some time on the internet, eat something (a banana if possible; they're basically big yellow sleeping pills, at least that's what I read), and shower.

[Ophbalance]

Work until what I'm looking at no longer makes any sense, and then usually try and find a soft place to pass out in the house.

[protege]

Not much of a ritual here. Usually before I go to bed, I have to tell the kitty that it's bedtime. She loves to walk all over me, and burrow under the covers

[AccountingDrone]

We have a few rituals -

In the morning, alarm goes off at 0500 and we feed Jezabel her hairball and tooth tartar treats, and I give 5 a couple beef croutons as he really doesn't need hairball treats nor tartar treats.

At 9 pm the alarm goes off for me to do bedtime meds, and the feline overlords get their treats just like in the morning.

Right after waking up and just before bed I unbraid my hair and comb it out, then rebraid it. I don't wash it every day - that would trash it out. It gets washed about every 4th or 5th day. I prefer to shower before bed, or before hot tubbing in the mornings.

Rob and I like doing breakfast together in the morning - we have always gotten up at least an hour before needing to leave the house, sometimes 2 hours. Currently, he has to leave between 630 and 700 to get to work on time.

[Food Lady]

I'm surprised at so many responses. AD, are you growing your hair long, too? We seem to have a similar routine, but I wash every 2 to 3 days. I kind of like that scene in the movie Little Women (with Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder) when Marmee is talking to the girls and brushing and braiding Jo's hair at bedtime.
And I should do this, as I always wake up in pain:

Set out my medication on my desk with a bottle of water for the morning.

[AccountingDrone]

I'm surprised at so many responses. AD, are you growing your hair long, too? We seem to have a similar routine, but I wash every 2 to 3 days. I kind of like that scene in the movie Little Women (with Susan Sarandon and Winona Ryder) when Marmee is talking to the girls and brushing and braiding Jo's hair at bedtime.
And I should do this, as I always wake up in pain:

I have waist length hair so it isn't a case of trying to grow it long, it just sort of arrived there because I don't cut it.

I have one of the med plaques that each day's pills are already sorted out for the week [well actually I have 4 of them so I do it a month at a time] and they live in my bedside table. I pretty much always have a glass of water wherever I am.