by Jill Jacks

Created on: July 22, 2010

Guilty pleasures - who came up with that? Perhaps, someone running on too little sleep?The words guilt and pleasure simply don't go together. That's the work of a twisted and unrested mind, ask any Catholic and you'll see. In my house you can put these two together and it works. My husband's pleasure is the snooze button and the guilt belongs to me as I regularly consider smashing the little button to smithereens.

Unfortunately for him, pleasurably for me, he has to get up much earlier than I do. I tend to be a bit of an insomniac and he is someone who can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Now you may understand my odd desire to take frustration out on an inanimate object. My husband sometimes stays up too late, enjoying my company, for the early work hours he has to keep. This is when he most cherishes the snooze button.

I don't understand it, as he sets the alarm for the same time each morning. He sets it a good twenty minutes before he needs to get up. When the alarm goes off he delights in hitting the button and burrowing back beneath the covers. If I am awake, I observe with pleasure his little smile which lets me know he somehow thinks he's cheated the clock into giving him additional time to cuddle and sleep.

Time stands still for no man, which includes my husband. I marvel at the inventions of man. I see the snooze button as a killjoy. I cannot be tricked. If I set the alarm to go off early I don't miraculously forget I've done so during my sleep. The instant it goes off I know exactly how much time I have before dragging myself out from the covers. There is no secret smile upon my lips. If anything I become cross. The pesky noisemaking button will go off just as I am releasing myself into that peaceful state of sleep. Even the knowledge that it will go off again soon is enough to evoke dark clouds of wrath in my mind.

If I have a busy day ahead the snooze button is an even greater curse. Torn between enjoying the warmth of the blankets and a few more minutes of bliss or lying there already beginning to panic over what has to be done and the possibility of sleeping in is not a productive way to begin. I don't wake up well. I need my sleep. Playing games with deceitful electronics is not  my bag. I'll leave the gimmicks and tricks to the kids....or in this case to my husband.

That is the way it is to be.The snooze button will remain a guilty pleasure. I won't even wish to trade places with my husband on this one. Instead I'll live with my guilty thoughts of snooze button murder just for the sake of catching that smile, once in awhile, upon his face as he happily burrows beneath the covers.

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