
Man, this daylight savings thing is really kicking our butts. We have trouble getting to bed, we have trouble getting up, we have trouble not being cranky.
This morning i woke up to silence at 8am. Nobody was awake yet. Being the slacker mom i am i immediately thought, meh – let's be late. I fell back asleep for a few minutes then all four kids came and joined me in bed. We giggled and laughed and taught parker the monkeys in the bed song. Pushing each of them out in fits of laughter.
It was nice. I like it when mornings start slow and relaxed with a nice moment of tenderness, it sets a good mood for the day.
It ended abruptly this morning as i felt guilty for being so slack and anticipating the "look" from the principal as i shuffled them into classes late. I rushed through a shower, shouting as i got in "20 minutes!" Then yelling again every five minutes till i was slinging my bag over my shoulder and rushing out to the car.
As it turned out my time and their time had not met when i jumped out of bed. I had started the morning slow and easy and then jarred them into rush mode. They didn't adapt. They were not ready. Socks weren't on, homework hadn't been found, lunches sat on the counter. And i snapped.
I found myself honking the horn like a lunatic in the driveway, feeling my blood pressure rise as i watched them scramble to find everything through the window.
I hate it when i do that. I set the tone and then i screw it all up by expecting them to behave like me. To get themselves ready in a blink when they are just kids – whimsical and slow.
I ended up pulling over to the side of the road halfway to school and apologizing for expecting too much from them and telling them that it wasn't fair of me to let them sleep in and have fun without explaining that we would still have to rush.
All of this to say daylight savings is a stinkeye.
i can’t beg anymore
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So great that you apologized. That’s all that matters.
ahh, but the sunshine on my commute home is glorious! and my little baby sleeps past 730 AM! nice. I’ll have to respectfully agree to disagree with you on Daylight Savings.
You? Are a great Mom, and an inspiration to me in protecting my children’s feelings. Thank you. Very very much.
the frantic caos of your school morning is ever so familiar….
I too find myself shouting “hurry up!” and for what?..becuase I slept in and didnt get them up because I was tired?…or because we feel like we all have to hurry up because thats how our lives are in today’s society…I havent figured it out yet…
I find myself apologizing frequently to my children as well, if only so they understand that my behaviour is not their fault…
you are not alone, my friend, always remember that I am right there with you…
xo
good for you for apologizing….my mom would have neeeever done that, lol. ever.
I do that too, hit the snooze button one time too many and then get frustrated when my six-year-old can’t keep up with the rush. I get really upset with myself when I do it and apologize too – saying you’re sorry is a great gift to your kids, it lets them know that just because we’re adults doesn’t mean we’re infallible.
I’m still trying to recover from the time change. Getting up while it’s still pitch black is not doing anything good for my psyche. Blah.
Aww what a cool mom.
Totally feel ya on this one! I was doing this everyday for a while and then I decided that my frantic AM tirades probably screw up the rest of his morning. So now I drag my limp body from the bed early every day (almost) so I can’t fall into my old snooze till you lose trap. It’s working slightly better:)
That’s one good thing about living in Saskatchewan. We never change the clocks.
I completely understand what you are saying here. My kids have had to deal with that abrupt switch many times. Fortunately, they are resilient; probably more so than their mother.