I am not a morning person. I’m more of a morning person than my mother-in-law, but she’s the kind of person that gets stressed out by meetings scheduled for 9am. I’m more of a morning person than Jerry. But I’m still not a morning person.
Alice, however, is a morning person. This is probably the only thing I actively dislike about her personality. I also recognize that it is her wiring, and will likely never change.
I was the only night owl in a house full of morning people growing up, and I made them just as miserable as they made me. And I’m *still* not a morning person, and they *still* don’t understand how I can stay up so late.
Helen is a morning person right now, but I know that this is temporary. She takes a while to wake up — the sign of a night owl — so I know that once I get *her* room-darkening shades installed (this weekend, probably), we might get some more sleep out of her in the mornings. It’s working for Alice — she’s now sleeping until 6:15ish, which is probably about the best we can hope for… But Helen? Helen could probably sleep until 7:30 or even later if her room stayed dark. So I’m going to do what I can.
This morning my night-owl tendencies are torturing me. Alice woke us up heinously early, as is her custom, so I fed her and once Helen was up, we all went downstairs to watch cartoons (mostly so I can lounge on the sofa and catnap while Helen eats breakfast and Alice totters around the room). Helen kept coming to sit ON me (she’s been kind of clingy lately), so my catnaps were interrupted. Plus, I pretty much have to sleep with one eye open to make sure Alice isn’t putting foreign objects into her mouth. I swear, if it fits IN her mouth, she’ll put it in there and then walk around, looking like a gerbil with full pouches. Helen didn’t do this, so it’s a strange new world.
Now Helen is at playschool and Alice is napping, and I’m torn. I could go take my shower, which is what I *should* do. Or I could go get a decent nap until she wakes up. And then just let her scream in her crib while I take a shower. Would that make me a bad person?
I’m SO tired. Why do I stay up so late? I *KNOW* better. Every day I tell myself I’m going to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Every night, as it gets later and later, I’m thinking, “I. Am. An. Idiot.” And yet I stay up. Again and again and again. And then try to catch up with a single nap on the weekends. Am I *stupid*?
Okay, then. I’m going to go nap now. And then tonight? TONIGHT I’m going to go to bed at a REASONABLE HOUR. This means BEFORE 11pm. Really. I mean it this time.
10 Responses
Yawn.
I do the same…every night. I wake up and hate myself for staying up so late, but I like my time without the pressure of the kids or the phone way too much to go to bed before midnight most nights.
I am stupid, too. Yawn.
You hit it; there are biological factors that determine our inner clocks. Mine changes over time. I used to be the night owl that could sleep till noon, but now I’m up by eight o’clock (and THAT’S sleeping in for me) and asleep by ten. I’m a lame 25 year old. No kids. At least you have an excuse. 🙂
Well, I went up to nap. Alice squawked. So I got in the shower. Alice is asleep again, but at least I’m clean. Maybe I’ll go nap for the 2.7 minutes until she wakes up again, but it seems like a waste of effort… Poor, poor me.
I would love to be a morning person. Failing that, I would still love to get up early. I’ve always liked the idea of having some morning time to do something: go for walks, be creative, something.
I’d like to get up early with the kids, but Alice needs you and I can’t lactate. When she’s weaned, let’s figure something out, hmm?
In the meantime, let’s set a bedtime and stick to it. The other night I was amazed when we were in bed at 10:45. And then we started talking and suddenly it was 11:40. Ugh.
I love it when we lie there in the dark and talk, though. Even when I know we should be sleeping, it’s nice. 🙂
I am with Jerry…I would love to be a mrining person. I have come to terms witht he fact that I never will be. Steve is. He wants me to be. He will be sad for a very long time.
Wanting to lay in bed and chat.. it’s a 9/3 thing. 🙂
My best creative time is late at night. Really. I’ve tried getting up EARLY to take advantage of the kids sleeping, but my brain is a vast wasteland early in the morning. I don’t function well until I’ve been awake for several hours. I start hitting my stride about 5 p.m., and once the sun goes down, I go full throttle. I’ve ALWAYs been that way. Darren used to be a morning person. I guess he still is down deep inside, but my late schedule has corrupted him, bless his heart. God smiled on my when he blessed my kids with my night owl tendencies. I couldn’t do what you do. I’d be a raving lunatic! 🙂
I’m totally a morning person. In college, I’d procrastinate writing papers, then go to bed at 10 and wake up at 4 to write. Now I typically schedule myself on the earliest flight of the day . That way I get the night with the kids before I travel. I LOVE going to bed early. And Jeff and I never lie in bed and talk. I’ve been asleep for at least an hour or two before he climbs into bed.
Right there with you, Stacy… I do my best creative work starting at 10pm. Which is a bummer when you really SHOULD be going to bed at 11. That’s only about an hour to get going! 🙁
You strike me as a morning person, Steph. Not an insult, either. My mom is a morning person, Bless Her Heart, and I adore her. I just think she’s a Freak.