Wednesday, July 11, 2007

good morning, sunshine!

I have been wondering lately
how it is that my children can be so energetic
at 6:00 in the morning.
I usually awaken to the sound of little feet pattering around
to my side of the bed and I am wrenched from a comatose state,
fuzzy and bleary eyed, grasping at consciousness,
desperately wanting to go back to sleep.
And my children bound from their beds,
with effervescence, excited about the morning,
joyful, ready for a new adventure and
cannot comprehend why mommy can't speak in full sentences.
And I think it is this....
They have just barely begun living this life.
They are still brand new.
I think their skin cells regenerate every 3 or 4 seconds.
And me? Not so fresh. Not so new.
I've got a few hitches in my giddyup.
I'm not saying I'm through or worn out,
I'm just saying I may be in need of a spa day.
If I am expected to show that kind of early morning energy
I'm going to need a full ten hours of sleep and a facial....
or at least a hot shower and a bracing cup of coffee.
But I have stumbled upon a sweet secret this summer.
I've found a new way to get an extra hour of sleep in.
It's called public television.
And while this may horrify you or
lessen my child rearing abilities in your eyes,
I'm willing to live with that shame.
Because when the sky is still dark and the sun has yet to rise,
when the hot shower and dark coffee are still a long way off....
Big Bird has never looked so sweet.

7 comments:

Jessi said...

Amen!! My husband & I used to disagree on having a tv in the bedroom...I wanted it, he didn't...and my ONLY reason for wanting it was so I could get them to all lay down in my bed (so I knew where they were!)and watch PBS!! The moral of our story is...the great debate still goes on, as my husband doesn't feel tv first thing in the morning is the best thing (probably true) but I simply cannot function at the early hours they are rising!!(Although, at least now they are mostly big enough that they can go in the living room now to watch and I don't worry that they are in physical danger!)

Anyway, I'm with you! Long live PBS!!!

Amy said...

I agree with you 100%. My daughter got to watch Caillou, Sesame Street, Clifford, or Dora while I slept, depending on what time she chose to wake up. That was years ago. Now, at the ripe ol' age of 7, I can't wake her up in the mornings during the week. On the weekend, it is a different story. When I have the day off, she is wide awake and ready to go by 7:00 am. Ugh!

Cari said...

Amen!!!! We used to love PBS!!! Just wait, because there will come a day when you wake up before them.....yes, they do eventually sleep in. Especially on the school days. Kaitlyn is almost 10 and her goal this summer is to sleep until lunch, Tyler is 5 and makes it until 9. Now I wake up early just to get things done, because when they do wake up, that is when the party begins!!!!

upwords said...

Big Bird ROCKS! And that's all I'm saying...

emilymr said...

hahaha... unfortunately, we don't have a TV/babysitter. instead, we have mommy's computer, which, it was just discovered, has a fun little slot in it for inserting things like books of stamps. :P perhaps we need another babysitter.

Michelle said...

AMEN!!! I have a morning rooster too disguised as a child and I feel what you're saying. We do public tv in the AM too while the coffee is brewing. One day, when they're in high school and we're dragging them out of bed in the AM, we'll get our paybacks...

susanna said...

So glad to know that there are so many moms out there who love PBS as much as I do! :) Here's to looking forward to that sleeping in phase....may it come quickly! :)
Sue