Who Are These Heathens and What Have They Done With My Angels

I’m the kind of person who needs to wake up in my own good time. Even when I have to wake up to an alarm, I set it a good 15 minutes or so earlier than I actually need to be up, just because I need 15 minutes to get my head in a state where I can at least partially function before I have to actually DO anything. It’s who I am, who I have always been. I dealt with rude awakenings when the kids were tiny, but only because I had no choice. I’d rather wake up fast than listen to someone cry until I was functioning.

Once the kids started sleeping through the night, they seemed to be okay with that part of me. They were content to watch Disney channel or Nick Jr in my bed until I had wiped the sleep from my eyes and remembered my name. I got to start every day with my sweet boys cuddling with me and giggling at their favorite characters. That is, until a few months ago…

I can’t even remember who started it, probably because I wasn’t awake enough at the time to register what was going on. One day, I woke up to a sippy cup being shoved in my face and a tiny voice insisting they wanted a drink NOW. Okay, no problem, rough sleeping night with allergies and a dry throat, maybe? I forced myself out of bed and started the day…I could wake up properly tomorrow.

Only that never happened. In just a single day, our normal morning routine that was so peaceful and quiet turned into a new lifestyle of waking up to chaos. If it’s not screaming insistence that someone’s hungry or thirsty, it’s bickering over a toy or who wants to watch what morning show. Ever try to mediate two bullheaded preschoolers before you’ve had a shot of caffeine for the day? Yeah, it’s not fun.

I tried one day to ignore it and enforce the idea that mommy just needs a minute to get her bearings before getting out of bed, but that resulted in the insistence that a certain four year old could get his OWN drink in the morning. Yeah…no. Bad move. My punishment was cleaning up the juice that overflowed his cup and ran all over the table and floor.

I try to see the silver lining in all of this, because before I know it, they aren’t going to need me to get up with them anymore. Soon they’ll be grown up enough to pour themselves a cup of juice, get a bowl of cereal and entertain themselves for a bit while my brain defogs itself for the day. But when you aren’t awake enough to form a complete sentence, finding that silver lining is tough…plus I really miss my morning cuddles from my sweet little angel boys.