Mornings, sometimes, are impossibly difficult. I wake up impossibly early because I need to work out because, if I don’t, the voices in my head turn their whispers into screams and I spend the day at work huddled in a corner asking “is it safe?”. This would be fine if I went to bed at a decent hour, or if I would just stay asleep. Alas, too often, my brain will wake me up at 2 in the morning with a pressing matter, leaving me no choice but to look up the tagteam partners of Marty Jannetty when he was with the WWF on the iPhone1.
So, I wake up, impossibly early. I walk the dogs, and then I work out. I end the workout on the typical post-workout-high. But, that high is short-lived because, as soon as I’m done, I start getting ready for work. I head into the shower and play with myself shave my head,2 and then I get dressed. With any luck, I get downstairs without looking a single one of my family-members in the eye. It’s not that I don’t want to look any of my family-members in the eye . . . it’s just that, if I don’t, it means that everybody is asleep. And that’s for the best.
But, things rarely work out like that. Typically, I leave the shower to find two wide-awake toddlers . . . so I change some diapers and get dressed. Usually, I leave the house with two kids transfixed to the TV, watching Curious George.
Some mornings, though, George’s antics simply aren’t enough to distract my little bundles of joy as I leave the bedroom, and the “daddy’s leaving” crying starts. And there really is nothing worse than leaving the house to go somewhere that, quite frankly, you don’t want to go (but have to), as your children are loudly protesting that you should stay home & play with them.
This morning, I feared, was one of those mornings. As soon as I started to work my way to the door, CJ started whining. I was running just a few minutes early, so I went to lie down in bed (because it feels good to lie down in bed — see my previous writing about the fact that I don’t get to do nearly enough of this). CJ, simply, looked at me and smiled as he cuddled between me & Duffy. When it was actually time to go, I managed to get up & about without a tear.
It seems he just needed one last snuggle before I left.
Keith is up really early too and struggles with getting to bed at a decent time. Why is it that it’s so hard to get to bed early even when your kids do?
You know, I commonly fall asleep putting the kids to bed . . . and that little bit of a cat nap is enough to throw everything off.
Also, for as much as I like sleep, it means that I can’t be doing the stuff that I enjoy doing while awake . . . so, there’s a part of me that says “you shouldn’t fall asleep until there is no other option.”
My son get very upset if we can fit in a few minutes of cuddling in the morning. On the VERY rare occasions he sleeps late his biggest concern is, “Will we still have time to snuggle?”
That’s ultra cute 🙂
Early morning snuggles are the absolute best! The kids are all warm and sleepy. It’s one of my favorite things.
It really is a perk of parenthood that I did not consider, prior to joining the rank of “parent.”
YES. The morning snuggle. My 2-year-old and I both need it – though I honestly think I’m the one who’s worse off if I miss it.
The issue I have in “demanding” the morning snuggle is that there’s a good chance that, in the snuggling, I’d wake a sleeping kid . . . and I hate to wake a kid right before I leave the house.
Great story. So glad it turned out to give him the confidence he needed to say good bye to you without tears. And that whole staying up late thing – my husband’s the same way. And then when he does get a good night’s sleep he claims it makes him “more tired.” I’m like, “that’s your body telling you you NEED more, my friend!”
Yeah . . . if I ever sleep a whole bunch, I really, really have a hard time getting going. And, I know it’s because it’s my body getting a taste of what it needs, and wanting more. It’s a little scary how easily you can adapt to “little sleep.”
Sometimes just one more snuggle can make a difference although if I laid back down I would probably pass out and be late for work. That’s how much mornings and I don’t get along.
That’s one of my big fears in the mornings, lying back down & passing out . . . and then sleeping all day 🙂
Beautiful, John.
A lovely moment to savor, for sure.
Thank you, Galit 🙂
you had me at The Rockers – Shawn and Marty
the rest is icing on the cake
I’m really, really having a hard time watching professional wrestling right now — I know things from our own childhood are always “better,” but modern fake wrestling is nothing like I remember.
And, yeah, the Rockers were the absolute best.
Precious. I still need to get your motivation so I can get my ass out and run in the morning. I just never know what the baby will do and whether she’ll need to eat/wake up early. I’m starting a new schedule and need to work earlier, so we’ll see how that goes. Maybe I’ll just be disgusting and run at lunch.
The lunchtime workouts are, actually, what gets me going. But, I always shower after the workout.
I should have run this morning — but I’m getting up at 4 to start running tomorrow. At least, that’s the plan.