Have you ever been on complete bed rest? That’s when the doctor tells his (unwilling) patient that he/she must stay in bed (or on the sofa), in a restful state, only to be interrupted by bathroom privileges.

My grandson Kevin has such a badly bruised kidney from a BMX bike racing accident that the doctor has ordered him to stay in bed for three weeks. Ha! Has anyone ever tried to get a 13‑year‑old to sit still, let alone lay down for three weeks? This, Dear Readers, is mission impossible.

I was ordered to be on bed rest for a month during one of my pregnancies, but that was more than 30 years ago–when we were still in the stone age of technology. We had no television remotes, no IPODs, no laptop computers, no video games, no cell phones. We did have plenty of books to read, however, and radio. When I mentioned this to Kevin, he looked at me in horror. “No video games?” was all he could ask in a terrified voice.

Yes, times have changed. I think during my one and only bed‑rest stint that I read a few classics like “Crime and Punishment” and “Gone With The Wind.” Oh, and I crocheted a blanket. It was pure indulgence to do nothing. I don’t think watching cars and buildings blow up while you’re chasing evil guys in a video game could ever be restful. On the other hand, getting old (oops, I mean getting older) also means trying to embrace the things that young people like to do.

My friend Lila had to be on bed rest for two weeks last year. After falling off a ladder, she said she was given the “blessed order” to lie down. She claims she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at such an absurd verdict, but went along with the program. After stocking up on good books, note cards, Christmas cards and movie magazines, Lila said she spent “two blissful weeks” reading, writing, laughing and treasuring life in a horizontal position. She admitted she was in pain, but evidently that was a small price to pay.

Experts on health and sleep seem to agree that Americans work very long hours and don’t get enough sleep. Too many folks (including kids) are getting far less than the golden eight hours of quality sleep a night. Perhaps a few more doctors could prescribe a week home in bed, allowing us to catch up.

Have a movie you’ve wanted to rent? How about a day to just surf the Internet? What about reading a good book in one sitting? Yikes! Bed rest never sounded so good.

There are plenty of reasons to want to stay healthy, but the thought of several weeks in bed does sound tempting. It’s the long vacation that we never take, the nap that has endless potential,

the possibility to recharge our batteries. For the Type A personality, it would seem like a state of forced repression. Hey, it takes time to  adjust to life at a snail’s pace.

Kevin is handling his bed rest as well as can be expected. He is bored. I told him just gazing out the window at all the birds in the trees could be fun. He doesn’t think so. Sometimes, sitting (or lying) still is the hardest thing in the world to do. We want to “do things,” making it much harder to just “think things.” I suppose we are muti‑taskers at heart.

Bed rest? Plan your steps wisely and hope it never happens to you. However, enjoy every sweet moment of it if your physician ever tells you to “go home and stay in bed.” It’s the rest of a lifetime.