Five More Minutes, Mom

My kids have redone their sleeping and napping schedules since we've moved to Arizona. It's really not too bad. They're both in bed by 8:30 or 9 pm every night. I can now just put Dallin in his crib and he'll go to sleep (I used to rock him to sleep every night. Insane, yes, but I enjoy a little bit of cuddle time with my babies! Anyrate, the rocker doesn't fit in their new room, and the living room is too high-traffic to put him to sleep). Dallin has regular naps at 10 am every morning, and by about 2 or 3 in the afternoon both he and Aiden are ready to crash. So... what do I have to complain about??

They get up by 6 am. That's right. BY 6 am. Six-Freakin'-o'Clock in the bloody early morning.

Did you know that I am not a morning person?

In high school, I had my own alarm clock, but I was always pushing the snooze button. I had early-morning Seminary, and since my dad was the teacher, it wasn't like I could skip class or anything. I kinda had to be there (which is fine. I really enjoyed it... once I got to class that is). My mom often had to come in and get me up, and I'd immediately get in the shower, then fall asleep with my head leaned up against the shower wall. I did this every morning. That is why my showers were over 30 minutes long. Because I was sleeping in the shower.

In college I was able to get myself up (I had somehow learned a bit more responsibility), but I was grumpy as heck until I had fully woken up. I just don't like mornings.

After I got married, I specifically didn't take Percussion Techniques one semester because it was a 7:30 am class, and I didn't want anything earlier than my 8:30 am class. Ches took Percussion Tech that semester, however, and loved it. The next semester it was scheduled to be at 8:30, so I signed up (it was required for my major, after all!). The first day of class, the TA says to us, "We have a scheduling conflict with the other TA. So, are any of you busy at 7:30 in the morning?"

"Yes!" I replied probably a bit too emphatically, "I'm sleeping at that time!"

Needless to say, the class was changed to 7:30 am, and no one in the class could understand why I was constantly about 2 minutes late, grumpy, and just couldn't hit the crash cymbals like they wanted. Crash cymbals and 7:30 am just don't go together. Especially when you don't drink coffee (which people in that particular music department seemed to be highly addicted to! Another post for another time).

Weekends I reserve for sleeping in. Too bad no one else I have ever lived with agreed with this reservation. Back to living at home... if I slept in past 8 or 8:30, but dad would try several times to wake me up, finally just pulling all my blankets off the bed and tossing them across the room. I can't sleep without blankets on. I look back and think, why didn't I just start sleeping naked? That would have put a stop to that really quickly!! Oh well. When you're 16 and sleepy, you don't have a whole lot of rational thoughts.

Back to college... I had a roommate one summer who would wake up at (literally) the crack of dawn, singing in a loud, high-pitched voice, and throwing open every curtain and/or set of blinds in the apartment. I could have killed her. Don't ask me how I didn't. Maybe because it was a Church school, and I was "trying to be like Jesus" or something. One particular Sunday morning, all of us in the apartment were sick... except for her. We had spent the previous day at Lagoon (a kind of theme-park in Utah), but it had rained all stinkin' day long. So the five of us sick roommates said we were staying in bed and skipping church. Happy Crazy Singing Roommate of course was fine and went to church. When she came home at lunch time, she found the entire apartment still dark, and the five of us sleeping all over the living room (because, you know, misery loves company or something). She immediately opened the shades, started singing, then said, "Oh, and I invited some boys over for dinner. They'll be here in about 10 minutes."

It really was a struggle to not kill, or at least seriously maim, the girl right there on the spot. We all picked up our pillows and blankets, dragged our pajama-clad bodies into one of the bedrooms, locked the door, and slept the rest of the day in two twin beds.

I really don't like mornings. I understand you can get a lot more done if you just get up and go, but seriously... that's when I feel like sleeping! I can stay up all night and be fine, but once morning arrives, you'd better be nice to me. I hate mornings.

My kids have taken after Mr. Universe, however. They love mornings. Why do I have to be the oddball in the family??