Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Magic Morning

This morning, I woke up to the delightful murmur of my kids finishing their homework, getting dressed, and quietly getting themselves some cereal. I jumped out of bed, panicked, because I was certain a bad man had kidnapped my real children in the night and replaced them with extraterrestrial beings.

A normal morning in the Howerton household begins with Caleb waking up at the crack of dawn (I say this phrase so often to him, that he defined it to his teacher as "a specific time of day that my mom always says") and intentionally playing legos LOUDLY until everyone else in the house agrees to share in the bliss of the sunrise.  And, by everyone, I mean Mike.  Mornings are not, shall we say, my favorite time of day. In my defense, I have a hard time sleeping. Mike falls asleep within 20 seconds of hitting the sheets and I usually get to listen to him snore for a solid 2 hours before joining him in dreamland. He has four distinct snores, in case you were wondering.

When I do finally wake up in the morning, I tread down the hallway and begin coaxing Alex out of her deep sleep. I start gently. Then, I start begging. Then, I start threatening every consequence that would matter to her if she doesn't get up RIGHT NOW. She gets up, tears running down her face, and starts getting dressed. When I go downstairs to make breakfast, she sneaks back into bed. I go up and threaten some more. Finally, she makes it down the stairs and eats breakfast dramatically uttering things like, "Why do I have to go to school? How can I learn if I'm exhausted?" Half way through breakfast, she usually cheers up and becomes her normal self. 

So, this morning, I was understandably awestruck by the calm environment my dreaming brain awakened to. Kids. Awake. Happy. FEEDING THEMSELVES. Our morning went off without a hitch. Everyone, including me, woke up in a good mood. We held hands and, instead of running , panicked, to catch the bus, we skipped lackadaisically to the bus stop. 

As I walked home, I rubbed my eyes, just to make sure I was awake and thanked God for the gift of a pleasant morning.  Today started like a breath of fresh air. And, it was oxygen that we desperately needed. 




12 comments:

  1. Four snores that you KNOW of.
    I keep my best snores for special occasions.
    m

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  2. i love mornings like this.

    funny, i blogged about my morning today, to be posted later tonight.

    we must have been thinking 'morning' today.

    love you xoxo

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  3. i so relate to alex in this story. today i wore a hat to work because i decided twenty minutes of extra sleep was worth dirty hair.

    i have no idea how many snores brian has, but i'm most familiar with the loud and totally annoying one. is there a scientific reason why men snore more than women?

    anyways, glad you had such a nice morning. :)

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  4. Jodie, you do not need to defend yourself about the morning thing. And being an insomniac married to a snoring-as-soon-as-he-hits-the-pillow Howerton as well, I feel your pain.

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  5. Sounds delightful!! It always seems that way when I'm at your house!! Let me assure you, every family with school aged children probably has similar chaotic mornings--it's just the nature of the beast!! I have some pretty amazing memories myself!! I'm feeling some of that even now as I have to hurry Lonnie around in the a.m.--now that we seem to be carpooling indefinitely!! It's like having a teenager!

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  6. Oh, how I remember the mornings where I would try to get my deep sleeping boys out of bed. They could sleep through earthquakes, radios blaring, the loudest alarms and their mother's very loud yelling. Then one day, my younger son (then a teenager) said to me, "Mom, maybe you should try not yelling and we'd get up easier." So I tried it the next day. It worked!!!! But that was the only time. So.... Here's hoping that your mornings are peaceful from here on out, Jodie. Oh, and thanks for the snoring info on Mike. :)

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  7. oh my gosh you guys make me crack up. my pastor snores.... come on Jodie sneak in a tape player for the next blog post. I can relate to the mood. I'm actually seeing blue sky today!

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  8. As a mother of six grown children, I'm remembering thousands of mornings as the drill sergeant barking at everyone to get up! Our youngest was always the one who had to ride along as we dropped everyone off for the day. For years she thought waking up every morning in the 15 passenger van was normal! Peaceful mornings......a pleasant dream!

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  9. Kyna and I shared a room for the better part of 20 years, and she can relate to you on the snoring.. but I don't fall alseep fast, she does...

    My mom had the same struggles getting me out of bed (Kyna is up with the sun) but the complaint was "Why do I have to get out of bed, I'm HOMESCHOOLED!!!" :P She gave up about the time I hit my teen years and only forced me out of bed if there was a serious need to be up....

    Being back at home she just asks IF I need to be up since I have the bad habit of sleeping through my alarm....

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  10. Anna falls asleep in mere seconds, while I generally take much longer, toss and turn and roll around so much I pull even the fitted sheets off the mattress, and when I DO fall asleep either talk in my sleep or snore like... some sort of monstrous pig/freight train/Canada Goose hybrid.

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  11. Oh my mornings. My favorite is Saturday, when no one does any significant moving until 10.

    Good to know that we are not the only household with morning tears.

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