Morning Gratitude

Life is Good: celebrate the gift of time

Month of Gratitude: Day Five

Brace yourself. I am about to expose a shocking truth about myself.

I.am.not.a.morning.person.

That's right. You heard it here first. I am not-- and am pretty sure I will never be-- a morning person. Ask me to stay up all night and have a smile on my face at 5 AM? Done. Ask me to get up at 5 AM and dance around like Mary Poppins while cartoon character birds whistle and tweet around me? Nope. Can't. Not gonna do it. (I hope you read that last line in a George H. W. Bush voice.)

But now that the big kid is in kindergarten, I've been forced to become (my version of) a morning person. His school starts early. Really early. The upside of that is that he gets home early, too. And I utterly enjoy that. But because of timing, we've decided that the only way we can respect little brother's routine (naptime being the deciding factor), the big kid needs to ride the bus. And he loves it. He loves school, he loves the bus, and we are grateful for this!

However...

In order for the morning to feel peaceful and not to be rushed, in order for our house to feel more zen and less chicken-with-its-head-cut-off, I set my alarm for 5:40.

Let's take a moment for all of the gasps to stop.

I know, it is painful even to type those numbers! It is still painful every night when I check the alarm. But for now, it is what I need to do to get myself in order in the morning so that I can be the jolly, peaceful, loving mama my big kid expects.

I am grateful to wake up each day. I am thankful for the little boys I turn and see on the video monitor when I open my eyes each morning. I am grateful for the opportunities that a new day brings. I am grateful for God's mercies and grace and blessings. But, man. Ideally, this would all start a couple of hours later!

Blame it on Daylight Savings Time, but the big kid woke up at 5:53 this morning. And I am grateful. No, I didn't get through my "talk yourself into being Mommy Susie Sunshine" routine. I didn't get a few moments to myself to make a mental check list, say my prayers of thanks, and prepare. But what I got instead was a few extra moments with one of my favorite people in the world. I got to hear a story, acted out in character, of a little chick about to have breakfast. I was anointed with the wisdom that "you should never keep butter in your hat". And I got to see that dimple. Oh, that dimple. Gifted to him by my Grandma, for sure. It makes itself known when the big kid is especially proud of himself and grins from ear to ear. And also when he is being a real stinker...

I am so grateful for that dimple. A daily reminder of my Grandma, who I adored as a child and was fortunate enough to become friends with as an adult. She's been gone more than a decade, but I can still hear her voice. And see her dimple...which would hide until she was especially tickled about something. I like to think that when the big kid was born, she kissed his cheek and planted that dimple.

So today, I am grateful for time. A little extra time with a little person I love a lot. Times like these just might make me a morning person after all...