mornings

 

i've never been much of a morning person. i don't wake up with a fight face or anything, i've just never been bonkers about alarm clocks, breakfast at a specific time and leaving the house at an even more specific time. for as long as i can remember i would give myself the exact amount of time i needed to get ready, freak out and leave the house in a tizzy. the freak out could be over almost anything; from a run in my stockings to toothpaste in my hair to a missing umbrella. either way, these were complete tragedies at the time. it was a terrible system, yet i never thought to deviate from it in over 33 years. like most good things, the change to embrace mornings came with atticus.

atticus loves the morning. he almost always wakes up happy and starts reciting his ABCs and sweetly chatting to himself. this immediately puts a smile on my sleepy face an i eagerly (yet slowly) stumble to brush my teeth and pop in my contacts. when i go into atticus's room to say good morning, he smiles a bit and says "up, milk, downstairs" and off we go to start our day. once out of the crib, it's "hand" and he reaches his hand out to me so we can go down the stairs. when we get to the kitchen, i scoop him up and plop him down in his favorite spot, the counter. at almost anytime of day he might say "sit down!" and that means put me on the counter, woman. it's a nice, little perch for him to observe the world and cause a little trouble. he likes to pretend to use the pepper, not use the salt (i've told him the s is a mess! and he knows not to turn it upside down) and play with all the utensils {atticus: "spatula!" mama: "what do we use the spatula for?" atticus: "flippin' pancakes"}

as he sits on the counter, i pour his milk and hand him his cup. before i've even found my coffee cup, he says, "coffee? sugar!" and hands me the sugar bowl as i pour my coffee. we sip and chat for a few minutes, sometimes nibbling on a pre-breakfast snack of fruit or cereal. at some point, atticus always says "dream?" and i ask him about his dreams. his dreams are usually about milk or the park or a party. my favorite mornings are filled with reading books, this week we're very into mr brown, are you my mother and happy pig day. we also always play house for awhile, depending on if we can find all the guys. sometimes they're missing. when i ask atticus, "where is kermit?" he'll think for a minute before saying very seriously, "party." in between the playtime, there is making breakfast, getting dressed, maybe a walk (jacket! shoes!) and some straightening up of the clutter (the boy loves to sweep and show me where all the crumbs are located, he is the king of domesticity i tell you).

during the work week, our mornings together are about two hours. after work, there is about another two hours that we spend together. it would be an understatement to tell you that i value this time. i cherish and delight in this time. i try my best to make this time fun and relaxing for both of us. the mornings are still kind of chaos at times, but happier chaos. of course, the hardest part of the morning is saying goodbye, but if i'm lucky i get a nice long hug and a kiss followed by bye bye mama, love you. how could a morning ever be bad when it starts like that?