Mornings

Ugh…..

That, in a grunt, is how I feel about mornings. EVERY morning. I’m not a morning person. So many people say that, but I say it and MEAN it!! 😉 I wish I was a morning person. I wish I could rise early, enjoy some quiet moments before the day and the family start to stir, wish I reveled in the sight of watching the sunrise. I’ve always said that there’s no big deal in a sunrise, it’s just a sunset in reverse. I LIKE sunsets. I’m awake at sunset time. Sunrises only serve to remind me that I’m awake WAY too early! LOL!

Can you change the “morning person” “not-so-morning” person part of yourself? Do you think? I don’t know. There have been stretches of my life where I did indeed have to get up at a wretched pre-dawn hour for various reasons. Believe me it wasn’t because I wanted to. I went one semester at college, or maybe it was the whole year, getting up at 5:30 each morning. It was awful! Then my work hours changed and I was working 12am to 3am or 3am to 6am shifts and that was bad too! I’d rather work the 3-6 shift because then I was awake already for first hour. The other one left me very very cranky because I still had to wake up by whatever time 7:30? to have my bed made for room check. Silliness….

But that’s neither here nor there. I still despise mornings. I often resolve to change my grumpy-got-out-of-wrong-side-of-the-bed self, but the resolutions usually only carry me through till bed time and by morning I’ve lost them in my sleep. 🙁

I haven’t been sleeping well recently. I’m usually ready to go to sleep at around 7pm, seriously I get so tired right after dinner! Just about the time I’m wrastlin’ with the kids through their bed time ordeal. Well, not Ella, she LOVES to go to bed, and I so enjoy that stage!! But the boys put up a monstrous fuss every evening. So by the time they are down-ish, I’m more than ready for some quiet evening time. But then I get my “second wind” and I’m wide awake. I’ve tried recently going to bed earlier like 9 something, but then I lie in bed and toss and turn till I think I’ll loose my mind! Trying to find sleep, when sleep isn’t trying to find you is the most useless waste of time! Bah!

However, the past couple of mornings, I’ve been staying away from the computer more and spending a bit more time interacting with the lads. Really all I want to do in the morning is nurse my coffee and stay curled up in a fetal position in the overstuffed chair, or escape into cyber land! I can’t do that though. It, much like the witching hour, is a time of day when the boys really REALLY need me. Even if all I’m doing is helping them put away toys that were left out, and pretending to “hide” behind my hands till they get close enough to grab and tickle, it makes a HUGE difference on their daily outlook. Mine too, if I’m honest. How can you not be happy when you’re causing your children to shriek with laughter because you’re tickling their tummies!?!

I’ve been convicted about my lazy, irresponsible reaction to mornings. Yes, they are a challenge, I’ve grappled with that fact my whole life. BUT they aren’t going to go away, and I can’t just pull the covers over my head and ignore them. As much as I’d love to!! 🙂 I have an e-book on my computer called “Maximizing Your Mornings.” I’ve had it on there for awhile, but haven’t got around to reading it. I don’t like reading stuff like that on my computer, so I’m going to attempt to put it on the Kindle. I’m sure there are some brilliant ideas in that book, but what it boils down to is me choosing to NOT be selfish, and think of my kids instead of myself.

The difference is astounding. The last couple of mornings, the boys have played together better than they have in weeks! Seriously! And I think it is in part because they’ve had a bit more real mommy time in the mornings. Sometimes that makes all the difference.