Literal translation of this proverb could be: “It’s not when you are sleepy to go make your bed.”

Depending on the means of Haitian families, they have different activities to prepare a place to sleep. Some people have a bed. They just change the sheet and the pillowcase and are ready to sleep. In some other families or depending on the occasion, people have to set up a bed to sleep on. These use different kinds of mats: carpet, ‘nat’(made out of rush or latanier), or carton.

In fact, it takes time to prepare this bed place. People have to clean the area, spread the mat, put different layers of sheets on it and prepare a pillow. The fact that everything is in different places in the house and someone has to search for them to use them, makes that a pretty long process.

Therefore, we all know that when we are sleepy, we are impatient, negligent and very tired. We do not have enough focus and energy to put on procedures.

Haitian people say this proverb to point out the importance of planning ahead of time. They say that everything you do in a rush does not have the success it could or should have.