My morning routine

I'm not a morning person. Way back when I worked for an actual paycheck, I had to haul myself out of bed at dark-thirty, stumble through a shower and getting ready, and head off to the office or classroom. Mr. at Home learned fairly quickly in our marriage that mornings were not the best time for involved conversations. Or any other kind of conversation. In fact, it's probably better to just pretend you can't see me while staying far away.

Since I wised up and stopped working two jobs - one for a paycheck and one that involved taking care of my family and home - I've usually been able to avoid that whole "morning" thing. I taught the girls early on to get themselves up, get their own breakfast, and find something to do that doesn't involve making me get out of bed to deal with them. I get to wake up peacefully without an alarm, take a shower without worrying about the clock, and get a slow, gradual start to the day. I justify this because I don't get off at 5 and leave my work at the office. Even during those times when the girls are busy and I can sit down for a break, I'm always "on call" and there's always something I need to be doing.

Every once in awhile, though, I wake up really early and something prompts me to get out of bed. Like today when I woke up at 4:30 and laid there trying in vain to get back to sleep. Around 5:30 I got up and went to catch up on all my on-line reading. When Mr. at Home's alarm went off, I went back to the bedroom, got a shower, and decided to use the quiet of the house to organize my office. Unfortunately, it wasn't long until the girls decided to wake up and get moving, but at least they've been so well trained that they left me alone to work.

Today was a field trip day and we left early, without the chaotic last-minute rush, and we arrived at the pumpkin patch almost an *hour* early. The girls had time to enjoy the slides and other play structures before they got overrun with schoolkids on field trips. It felt so nice to be so relaxed and unhurried. Tonight I am sitting in a clean office with an empty inbox as I actually had a large enough space to take care of everything. And now I'm off to go relax and watch a movie with Mr. at Home and hope that I don't fall asleep!