The alarm goes off. I wake up instantly refreshed from a
great night full of peaceful sleep. I stretch while I get on my t-shirt and
stretchy pants for my bike ride. I eat a banana and drink a 16 ounce glass of
room temperature water so it absorbs into my freshly awaked body faster. I ride
my bike outside for 30 minutes enjoying the wind in my hair and the fresh
morning air that not many others have breathed yet. While I ride I listen to inspirational
and fortitude building words from great spiritual leaders through my head
phones. I roll back to the front door of my house to find my husband dressed
sharply for a day at the office with a lovingly packed lunch that I prepared
the night before under his arm. He is waiting to say our morning prayer before
he leaves for work. With a prayer and a kiss he is on his way. I wash my face
and great dressed in one of my favorite blouses and jeans. I sort through my
favorite earrings for the extra punch of awesome to my ensemble. I apply eye
liner, mascara, and lip stick and finish it all off with a face flattering up-do,
the kind I like that once I do it in the morning doesn’t move for the rest of
the day. My “wake up the kids” alarm goes off. I lovingly go into each of their
rooms and wrap my arms around them to wake them up. Each kid hops up, immediately
makes their bed, gets dressed and goes to the family room to start our morning
routine.
False.
The alarm goes off. I’m exhausted because there was a really
good book I was finishing last night and I stayed up way too late reading it. I
hurry and grab my phone to see what time it is and how much longer I can stall
before one of the kids wakes up. My husband has already left for the day. I
think it was my turn to pray. I think I said the prayer after he politely
nudged my leg to say goodbye. He left on time, very skilled in his habits
despite my inability to become so. I have talked myself out of getting up
earlier than the kids for the past 9 years because any time I have done so it
seems any noise I make (I have witnessed or maybe imagined even the lifting of my
blanket off my body being the noise that woke them up) will wake them up
causing my day to start even earlier than normal which would sure be a bummer.
Soon I hear my name being moaned resembling I think the sound of a hungry baby
calf in pasture, “MOOOOOOOOAAAAM.” They have all mastered this morning time
moan. Maybe they get together and practice when I’m not paying attention. I go
get the first kid out of bed and tell them to please quietly get dressed
because the others are sleeping still. They get dressed and them come lay on my
bed while I am trying to pretend that I am right back into really great sleep
already while I listen to them ask me repeatedly why I’m not up yet and if they
can do this or that thing this very second. Minutes later the other kids are
all up, except thankfully the baby. So I whisper warn which escalates into a
whisper yell at the other kids to be quiet because what we are about to do
downstairs in the living room will be a lot easier if the baby stays asleep through
the start of it at least.
Make up, yes I will squeeze it in at some point later. I’m a
nicer mom with eyeliner on! Exercise? I’m pretty sure that folding clothes and
chasing kids will once again be my exercise. Hey maybe I will even vacuum today
because that really can get vigorous. I admire gym moms, cheer for them even,
but it’s just not me. My husband’s lunch is usually packed by himself. I’m
grateful he loves me anyway even though it’s really a treat if I pack his lunch
once or twice a week.
Is my own personal reality juvenile, yes! Should I be a big
girl and get out of bed with my husband in the morning and start my day
properly, yes! But hey nobody’s perfect and if I wasn’t so good at picking
books I like to read then maybe I would sleep more. But lately I’m on this roll
of fantastic books and if its not staying up late reading books it would be
staying up writing, or drawing, or painting, or sewing or whatever it is I want
to do at night after all is quiet on my family front and I can throw caution to
the wind and spend my time on something besides dishes, diapers, medicine
administrator and crumb patrol. I do see the bad habits I need to break, but I haven't done it yet!
It’s funny though because even though I could do WAY WAY WAY
better with my personal morning habits we have mastered the art of cramming all
of our treatments into the typical hour and a half from when we wake up to when
we send the school kids off to school. We literally hit the ground running and
when all is said and done I’m proud of what we get done in regards to our
morning accomplishments. I recently made a list of just our morning meds to
help me feel more collected when I do get around to convincing myself to start
the day. I have a lot to improve on, but feel grateful for the chance to try
harder to be better tomorrow.
