The Best Part of Waking Up…
Lately, in the wee hours before Peter’s alarm wakes us, his work phone begins pinging with notifications. Emails of cancelled or rescheduled meetings, new cases for his workload, or reminders about a pressing matter on one of his current cases lead to less rest and more stress at times. Occasionally, he has time to snooze for a bit before the alarm reminds him to get up (then he may snooze a little more until he absolutely HAS to be up).
When Peter leaves for work, he kisses me good-bye. We say, “I love you.” I tell him to be safe. He replies, “Always.”
Dietrich comes in a few minutes later, or pops up from the couch, saying he was hiding from Daddy. I’m not sure why he does this. Usually, as I get Dietrich settled with breakfast, through a 14 million question session where I do not know the answers, Madilynn begins yelling for me. She is still in a crib. This is 90% to do with safety because their rooms are upstairs. I know it is a matter of time before she conquers this obstacle. Madilynn argues more about breakfast; changing her mind about what she wants and which plate she wants it on several times.
Other mornings, Dietrich climbs in bed and snuggles for a while before we get up and then follow the rest of the above routine.
Finally, I get to my own coffee! Often I end up reheating it at least once. I’m not much on breakfast for myself, but I am trying to do better. Most people would say I like a little coffee with my sugar, but I’m getting better about that too.
Then Dietrich begins arguing about School. It is not unusual for him to spend three hours on one page of addition/subtraction. He is capable of doing the work and getting all the answers correct by himself. He simply wants to be doing other things. It is a power struggle, plain and simple. He does not realize he inherited his stubborn will from me, and I can argue with any brick wall (and win). When Dietrich chooses to focus, work on a task, and pay attention, he can finish all of the “assigned” work for the day before lunchtime. That has not been the norm lately.
I usually reheat my coffee at least once during this power struggle.
Sometime during my spirited discussions about which plate Madilynn will choose to eat fourth breakfast and telling Dietrich,
“just do your work!” I try to get in my PiYo workout. After that, I am likely to eat my own breakfast, usually in the form of a fruit-filled smoothie/shake.
Then it is lunchtime. Some days, this includes throwing supper into the crock-pot as well.
Of course, certain days are errand days: Mondays for weekly grocery shopping, for example, in which case I drink my coffee, the kids eat breakfast, and out the door we go, hopefully before 10:00, because I like to be done with that part of the week as soon as possible.
Chores are also interspersed through this routine. After all, laundry and dishes are never-ending tasks. Now if you’ll excuse me, my coffee is cold (again), I have a homeschool student to teach, a fifth breakfast to fix, and laundry to move.
My youngest typically eats second breakfast before he goes to school. When he was in daycare, he had breakfast at home, breakfast in the car, and then breakfast again at school. And I was never surprised when he wasn’t hungry for dinner!
Rabia @TheLiebers recently posted…Making Pretzels with Kauffman’s Fruit Farm
I guess what surprises me is I never know which meal is going to be the one Madilynn skips. Lunch or Supper? Rejection of a previous favorite? Devouring a previously never touched meal? Part of me wants to “give up” but still I keep trying to get her to eat something healthy….8
Great post! It causes me to smile and remember those days when my children (now grown) were at that stage and age. Your posts based in so much real world life are always a great read!!
Pam recently posted…To Share or Not to Share
I’m so glad you enjoy my posts. Thank you for the kind encouragement! I want to be authentic in my writing, so it means a great deal when others really see that coming through. This age and stage is full of EVERY extreme, and I’m just trying to keep up!
Cold coffee… The universal mom language! 😉
Susannah recently posted…The Creative Closet: Meet My Boyfriend
If I decide to truly give up on the hot coffee for the day, I refrigerate it for a little while and have homemade iced coffee. Then, I’m drinking cold coffee on purpose.
I don’t like my coffee too hot, so I usually make it and let it sit for 10 minutes or so. Often, though, I forget about it and, when I remember, I have to reheat it! 🙂
Lisa @ The Golden Spoons recently posted…Coffee is Really a Fruit . . . . And Nine Other Useless Facts About Coffee
I don’t like “too hot” or “too bitter” hence a little coffee with my creamer… again, I’m getting better about this. I’ve fixed coffee and forgotten about it, reheated it and forgotten it, set up the Keurig without a K-Cup (that was a winning moment!), and promptly spilled it after getting it just right. Mornings are tough!