A Tu-Tu a Day Keeps the Morning Blues Away

I am not a morning person. Let me repeat. I am not a morning person.

I wish I was, but I am not. I work in the schools, therefore I am supposed to rise before the sun, get dressed, get my children dressed and fed, have my stuff together and ready to go, eat breakfast, take my monkeys to daycare (which is at the school I work at, but still) and be at work before the children arrive with their bright and smiling faces! This is probably the hardest of my daily struggles. Sad but true.


Oh, but I'm not the only one! I've noticed at my elementary, that you can tell which students are morning people and which are not. Some are bouncing to their classes, books and backpack in hand, whistling the song they heard on the radio in the car; while others are glaring as they slowly make their way down the hall past all of these morning people who do not seem to understand that they could still be in bed. Let's just say that I was the latter during my school days. I've learned to hide it a little better. Still no singing to myself! Y'all know which one you are!


Because I have had so much trouble with mornings, I always hoped that my children would be happy, smiley, morning people. Little Mary Tyler Moore's of mornings (or Dick Van Dyke for my son I guess).
I even distinctly remember saying to my hubby, "I hope God lets our children be morning people like you because it's rough not wanting to get up but having to anyway."


Little did I know how much that prayer would come back to bite me.

My children are morning people, waking up early on weekdays, weekends, holidays, and every day during the summer. Awesome. Way to go Autumn.  I only wanted the best for my children. Can I take it back????   In the mornings on the way to school, my sweet husband turns the music up high and the kids jam out on the way to school. Although the dancing and cuteness of my kids screaming the words to Kelly Clarkson's, "Since you've been gone," which comes out as "Since you McDonald's" is worth every memory, I still feel a need for quiet and calm.

 I would rather drive in complete silence or maybe with a little Michael Buble softly playing in the background.


I have learned to adapt slightly. I attempt to have mine and my children's clothes ready the night before, if I have energy to do this and if there are no distractions such as "The Bachelor". This is, and has been, one of my favorite shows for a long time. It's definitely not intellectual and probably rots my brain as I watch it, but it is like a train wreck, you just can't look away. And there is always one crazy lady on there that makes it worth staying tuned to see when he figures out that he really is dating a lunatic. I digress,,, sorry. Back to my mornings of torment :)


Anyway, I have attempted many things to help myself to wake up in a cheery mood: getting up earlier (didn't work out), having coffee ready (takes too long to kick in), sleeping a little later and doing makeup in the car (got pretty good at this, but it's a little too dangerous now that I have kids). I had pretty much given up on it until this morning.

I woke up to noises in my living room. I figured it was my 5 year old who I call Stinkerbelle. She is always up early asking for food. Constant hunger around here. To my surprise it was my 2 year old Mini-me. She has recently gotten a toddler bed, and has discovered the freedom of getting up whenever she wants. Usually she knocks on our door if she has woken up early, but this morning was different. After hearing the noise I walked into the living room and realized that she had already dressed herself, gotten her shoes on, and made herself look beautiful. 

By this I mean, she was wearing a tu-tu, 2 unmatching shoes (a flip flop, and a croc), and had gotten my lip gloss. Oh, I forgot to mention, she was also wearing a shower cap. Not really sure where that came from, but she found one. I could not stop smiling and laughing at how she had attempted to get herself ready this morning. Mini-me did the unthinkable. She made me smile before 8 a.m. Yes, I had to redress her, but it was one of the sweetest most hilarious things I have ever seen. She had attempted to get herself ready, and was bright and shiny and ready for the day.

I'm thinking that maybe the key to a good morning is relaxing a little, and enjoying the little things. I may not have a cute little 2 year old dressed in a tu-tu every morning to make me smile, but I have 3 little blessings and a Coach who always wakes me with "Mornin Glory What's Your Story." Oh you early risers.  We will see.

P.S., I'm also going to set the coffee maker each night to help as well. :)