Relationships practical tips about sheets

People do many unconscious things while they're asleep, from snoring to sleepwalking to showing all the bed-shaking symptoms of restless leg syndrome.

A very common complaint among couples is sheet-stealing. One partner falls asleep in a high thread-count cocoon only to wake the next morning naked and exposed like a baby chick abandoned by her nesting mother hen. Meanwhile, the other partner is wrapped up tight like a mummy. How to resolve this problem?

• Because people often later deny the things they do in their sleep, the naked and exposed partner should awaken the sleeping companion even as he is mummified in the sheets. Wake him gently, so as not to scare him.

• "Honey," you might say, "see how you're wrapped up in the sheets, and I'm lying here naked and exposed? This happens every night."

• There's no room for denial since he's been caught red-handed. Now you both need to put your heads together and figure out a solution that involves sharing the sheets equitably.

• The next night, when you feel your partner beginning to tug the sheet, tug back and squirt your partner with the spray bottle full of water you've placed on your nightstand.

• Continue to tug and squirt each time your partner begins to sheet-steal. Eventually he will become conditioned not to engage in this behavior.

• Initially you may lose some sleep while you're training your partner, but you will gain much more in the end.

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