I am not a morning person. I know it is very unoriginal, but it’s so intensely true to my character that sometimes I have to stop from blurting it out during introductions. Hi, my name is Kate. I don’t enjoy waking up so please don’t ever speak to me before noon.
Lucky for Waylon, he’s not a morning person either. I say “lucky for Waylon” because if he woke up at 6am, I might have to exchange him for a different baby. This morning he woke up at 10, so we’re cool.
I’ve always envied those who jump out of bed, ready to meet the day when the sun rises. I don’t know where they came from, how they got here, or why they exist–but they do, and I’ve spent my whole life trying to figure out how to get along with them.
In High School I used to shower at 5:30 just so I could go back to bed for a half hour before catching the bus at 7. In college, I never rose before noon unless I had a torture session also known as a “morning class.” When I was working, I gave myself exactly 20 minutes to throw on clothes and look professional before walking out the door. I almost always pulled it off.
The thing about sleep is that it’s awesome. You know this as well as I do, except I’m pretty sure I love it more. I’m one of those people who dream every night, all night long, and remember it. So sleep is never a waste of time, it’s a place where I can eat a tub of ice cream and then fly over to France to bump into my second grade teacher who is pregnant with triplets. It gets weird in there. I love it.
I know I’m not alone, and yet sometimes I feel like I am. More and more, mornings have become the meeting time of choice. It’s always, “Let’s catch up over breakfast!” Excuse me? Did someone pass a bill declaring breakfast the official meal of adult interaction? If so, I would like to veto that bill. Whenever someone asks me to meet over breakfast, my first thought is “what type of illness am I going to have to feign to get out of this.”
My freshman year of college I opted to be matched with a random roommate. God bless this girl, she was the happiest person I’ve ever met, especially in the morning. Because of this, we never got along. Not one day passed that I did not want to strangle her. She literally woke up with a smile on her face; singing, chatting, grinning at me like an escaped lunatic. Years later we reconciled, and by that I mean I apologized for stomping around like a juvenile delinquent.
But still.
What about you? Are you a morning person? How do you handle mornings?
***
I shuffle and walk stooped over for about 23 minutes, and then I’m good to go.
23? That’s not bad. Not bad at all.
I became a morning person when I moved to the States and met my boyfriend (mu husband currently). I was in love with him and he always wanted us to mean EARLY in the morning. To me he was worth leaving the bed. But now it’s very hard for me to get up just because I’m up all night with the baby. In general I think I became a morning person for the last 3 and a half years of my life :)
PS. Kate I think this runs in the family because I have seen Kelly in the mornings …. so I know.
Tamara speaks the truth. I, too, am not a morning person as you well know.
She’s a bit of a grouch.
I’m a morning person! But my husband is not so I’ve had to deal with one of you for 15 years! Sometimes I just want to shout WAKE UP, but I know that would be futile. Instead I’m very gentle. I start the coffee and speak in hushed tones and try to keep the kids from screaming until his light switches over to “go.” He repays me but staying up late with the kids when they are sick and understanding when I pass out during movie night. I just can’t stay awake!
Oh! I am your husband! Thank you for not shouting WAKE UP.
I hate mornings and I hate nights. What does this make me??
Waylon.
This post made me laugh. I had a roommate like that. God bless her, that’s all I have to say.
Amen.
A resounding “I agree” to everything stated here. In college I had a reputation for semi regularly catching up to 15, sometimes 16 hours a night. A room mate of mine from about 5 years ago ‘loves’ the story of me hitting the snooze every 15 minutes for literally 3 hours one day. Clearly was in a state of lucid dreaming at that point. But, all that said, friends still accuse me of sleeping away my days, who don’t even live with me! “I’ve outgrown that” I say, or “I don’t do that anymore”….but I got out of bed at 2:00 p.m. today.
Haters gonna hate, there’s no stopping that. And yet everyone is always complaining about being tired. SLEEP MORE.
Morning routine: Haul the kids downstairs. Baby goes in the swing, and (hopefully) to sleep. Toddler gets to sit in front of the computer and watch Netflix while he eats breakfast. I crash on the couch for at least another hour. I don’t feel like I’m really “up” until I get dressed and take the kids outside around 5pm.
Hah!! 5pm. This makes me feel better. Not that you should feel bad. You should feel awesome.
I have mini panic atacks that wake me up around the time the alarm or the hubby is inevitably going to force me out of bed. I usually am the kind of person to jump out of bed, but not due to sheer anticipation for the day, but for sheer dread of hearing that danged alarm. Oh that alarm! I usually reach for something to eat immediatly following getting out of bed with the idea that surelly eating will wake me up-this is half the time accurate.
…I don’t have a child yet… :)
That dang alarm. Sends shivers up my spine.
I have NEVER been a morning person. I think a lot has to do with my mom keeping me up when I was little so I could see my dad when he came home from second shift. It came back to bite her though because the summer before kindergarten, I never got up earlier than 11. She prayed for afternoon kindergarten and she got her wish :P
I married into a family or morning people. The in-laws LOVE to meet for breakfast at 7:45 at Bob Evans. Every Saturday.
Unfortunately, my 10 month old loves to get up about 6:45. Thankfully he will play in his crib for a good 20 minutes before I manage to get up. However, he is normally a cranky pants until after his first nap, so he isn’t a morning person either despite waking up so ungodly early.
I must admit, I am ever so thankful for his morning nap because the moment he is asleep, I rush back to bed and get another hour. I don’t know how I am going to do it when he stops taking them.
I am just waiting for the 6:45am wake up. Surely it will happen someday, right?
Oh dear. Bob Evans at 7:45 sounds like my nightmare. Maybe waffles makes it better?
Sometimes. But mostly, I just say I can’t get the baby ready in time, when really, it’s because I am still in my robe and PJs and don’t feel like making the effort that flippin’ early.
I used to be a morning person but since kids came along, I just want to stay in bed forever.
Bless you with that brood. ….Bless you.
Same here.
Too bad you never lived with Joy, Lauren, and me at 322. :)
Is it too bad? I heard it was bru-tal. Three clucking hens…in a good way?
Remember those days of scrubbing dorms at sunrise? Killer.
Ah! How did we survive that? Oh I remember.. a little game called MFK and a few naps snuck in the dorm rooms in between….oops on both accounts.
How do I handle mornings? Coffee and lots of it. I think I would be a morning person if there were no other people in the world. I don’t mind getting up, its the talking to other people, especially those really chipper ones, that always pisses me off.
I should really try again at the whole coffee thing.
No, you would’ve attempted murder. But our quick, morning agility would’ve spared us. :)
You’re right. I am not quick.
I am quite sure that I would be in the bin with your college roommate! I LOVE mornings! However, I strongly dislike getting up when it is dark outside, so I do need the sunshine. Then I am usually crawling into bed when Eric gets his second wind around 10pm. In our case, opposites definitely attract!
Austin is always out of bed first. I love it. The whole bed to myself!
By nature, I am a night owl. I’d prefer to stay up until 2am and then sleep until noon. However, the world doesn’t seem to think that’s acceptable. Too bad, so sad for me.
My husband has to leave the house around 4:30am-5am to get to work. I had a several year stint where I got up before him, made his coffee, and then STAYED UP for my own quiet time. It was nice, but seriously? Sleep is better. After I had my 3rd child in July of 2010, I lost my morning mojo and went back to the land of nod.
However, I only need 10 minutes and a few sips of coffee to really “chipper up” on most days. Not sure why…
Must get on the coffee train.
Someday the world will accept us…
this is so funny. “don’t know how they got here or where they came from.”
and HOW did you get Waylon to sleep till 10!?
Parker was up at 5 this am. mmhmm.
Oh, have I not mentioned Waylon goes to bed at midnight? I believe this is the sole contributing factor to his sleep in success.
God bless you for getting up at 5am like a mommy champ.
I’m totally with you. The only solution may be to move to Denmark, where night owl schedules are finally getting some respect:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6749791.stm
Um, this is awesome. I need to move there stat.
I love mornings and my brain shuts off about 8pm (hence why I’m on the computer now). My husband only wakes up at 8pm, I swear. One of the reasons I love mornings so much is that the house is quiet and clean (no toys out yet). My son shows tendencies towards being up early with me and I make him go back to bed until at least 7.
Coffee isn’t the only way to get caffeine, you know. Chocolate works too. Or tea.
Chocolate would motivate me to get out of bed..
I’m totally a night owl. If I could stay up writing and reading blogs from 8pm-2am every day, and sleep in until 11am every morning, I would be in heaven.
Unfortunately, my two little ones aren’t able to feed themselves breakfast yet, so I’m up at 7am on the dot every morning. {I know I should at least be thankful that they are excellent sleepers, and I am}
I handle mornings by running to the coffee maker to pour a cup of freshly-brewed joe which I set on automatic timer every evening. I usually am no go to anyone until I’ve consumed at least 1/2 of that first cup.
Great post. I love your voice. You are quite the writer.
Thanks Jennifer!
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