I'm Not A Morning Person...

The Awesome One is not a morning person either. So you'd think that mornings might be a bit tough here in our crazy household. But actually, they're really not that bad!

I am a routine kinda girl. I love predictability in my life. I can cope with things when they aren't, and I like a bit of spontaneity every now and then, but for the mornings things need to be done the way they're done or it kind of irritates me. Not emotional meltdown like the Little Dude when he tries to deal with stuff that isn't in his routine, but still. I can get  a bit cranky!  
I know, you're so surprised right?! Me, cranky?! Never! ;) 

So this is what happens in the mornings here, and it works for us, mostly that is anyway. I get up with Little Miss Penelope at somewhere between 4:30 and 5:30 usually for her bottle. I sit on the couch in a sleep deprived daze, waiting for her to drink her milk so we can go back to bed. She's pretty quick at that time of day, usually drinking what she needs in about 15 minutes. Then I put her in bed and kind of crawl back in bed myself passing out pretty instantaneously.

Then the alarm goes off at 6:55am. Except for Mondays when The Social One has early start for soccer at school and so the alarm goes off around 6:30am. Snooze is hit a couple of times and then it's time to get up. The Awesome One (who really lives up to his name on Monday mornings and leaves for work early so he can take her to school for her early start) gets up and takes a shower. I get up, go to the kitchen and make coffee. Then I make lunches for everyone and put all the stuff out for their breakfast. The Boy is usually up if not before me, then pretty much at the same time I get up, so he keeps me company while I do this. He chatters a little and gets grunts from me in return. He doesn't mind. He has learnt that Mummy is not very lively or vocal in the mornings, so he seems quite ok with essentially talking to himself while I make lunches.

Without this, I could not function.

His job in the mornings is to get his siblings up. They (mostly) share his passion for cheerfulness in the mornings, but they do take a few minutes to wake up. He stands at their door and says "get up" in the same way every single day. He doesn't wait to see if they hear him, he just says it and moves on. Occasionally I have to send him back a second time because one or more of them either don't hear or just plain ignore him. He's okay with that too.

He's such a cheerful kid in the morning.

Little Miss Penelope varies in whether she is awake or not at this point. If she is, she gets plonked down on her mat on the floor, nappy off to let her air out so to speak, and she is quite happy to see her brother and her toys. Especially Grover. So she chatters away, looking around in baby happiness at the goings on around her. By this stage I have finished making lunches and The Awesome One is out of the shower. So I get coffee and he gets breakfast. Then I get to sit down and drink my coffee and check emails etc... The children have all learned that in order for me to be a happy camper, I must must must have my cup of coffee. They do sometimes forget that I'm not a morning person and try to talk to me, asking me about stuff they forgot for school or whatever. But they quickly remember about my non morning joy and decide to talk to their baby sister instead. She is much more receptive to their chattering. She seems to very much enjoy it actually. Except for The Eldest One, they are all annoyingly cheerful in the mornings. It reminds me of my Dad. When we were growing up he would always be so damn happy in the mornings. I don't get it, but apparently they understand perfectly. 

The Awesome One goes to work about now, and I need to put a nappy on the baby and usually dress her. Sometimes she gets to stay in her pj's for a bit longer, but that's ok. And then she gets passed around from child to child while they talk to her and play with her and generally make her very smiley! I get myself washed and dressed during this time and start to organise stuff, like put a load of washing on, or make myself lists of what needs to be done. Sometimes I come across notes that The Eldest One has left me, and that makes me smile.(Of course I keep these notes to remind me that she IS a wonderful lovely girl, during those not so lovely and wonderful teenage moments.)
















Then we know it's time to get in the car and go to school when Little Miss Penelope starts objecting and wants her bottle. She seems to have impeccable timing that way.

So off we go and get in the car to do the giant loop that is the school drop off. First the older two at the high school, then off to the primary school. I'll admit that the occasional day when Miss Emily and The Boy forget to give me a kiss and then wave to me after they've gotten out of the car makes me sad. Luckily it doesn't happen much. They are very affectionate children really.

And then we go home, and the Little Miss has her bottle and almost always goes straight back to sleep. And I have more coffee and what do you know? I'm suddenly a human being again, capable of actual conversation with someone. Being that there isn't anyone here, I usually end up talking to myself.  But that's ok, I'm a pretty good conversationalist. :)

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