Morning Routine

One of my girls is not a morning person.  Here is how a typical morning before school goes: Daughter with usually pleasant morning disposition jumps up before her alarm clock goes off and begins getting ready for school.  Soft humming is heard thru her door as she quickly dresses and then...oh my...begins making her bed (something i dont even require of my kids.)  When I pop my head in to say 'good morning' she responds kindly and then continues getting ready, distracted only by the slight mess her pajamas have made which she quickly remedies by tossing them into her clothes hamper.

Meanwhile I take a deep breath and enter the room of Daughter who thinks mornings stink.  I gently whisper 'good morning, time to get up for school' to which I receive a moan and a roll away.  I click the light on as I quickly leave the room to get myself together before the storm hits.

Moments later I hear the first rustlings of a child coming to life and moving to the carpet to begin the frustrating task of taking off warm pajamas and putting on cold clothes laid out the night before. Slight wimperings and groans begin to escalate into whines meant only to make my skin crawl and drag me back into the den of darkness.  Out of love I gather my wits about me and re-enter the room to find my darling daughter writhing on the floor in a pile of old clothes, with one pant leg on and a pajama top hung like a scarf about her neck.  I gently persuade her to let me help, which I know was her goal in sounding the whine alarm, but her anger at the morning turns on me and I receive the punishing verbal blows of frustration over not being able to get her foot thru the tiny hole of her size 6x skinny jeans.

 What follows can only be described as a wailing and gnashing of teeth.  Once dressed the task at hand is to brush hair and meet in the kitchen for breakfast. Pleasant morning daughter has since brushed hair, changed earrings, and is sitting down to eat a great breakfast while reading thru the book she is writing (no joke) and sharing funny little quips about the story thus far.  Daughter who thinks morning stinks, on the other hand, crawls down the hall with her shoes in her hands to announce that she can no longer wear them because the "fluff" inside is not fluffy anymore. Hair brushing is done with aggressive gestures meant to prove her continued opposition to the whole morning routine.  And after falling exhausted into her chair at the kitchen table she announces she will not be eating breakfast. As we approach the time we need to leave for school, she is persuaded to take a hand full of Doritos and her toothbrush to the car.

And as we make daily drive to school, and she finishes her "breakfast" and brushes her teeth, I look into the rear view mirror at my two sweet girls, who are so different yet are both gazing at the day with bright innocent eyes, and I am reminded it is all worth it.

(and that they will shortly be at school and I wont have another episode like that til after 3:30....)