Early Morning Visitors

Several weeks ago, but after Daylight Savings Time had begun for the year, I awoke one morning to find Dane standing over me. He was fully dressed for school - glasses, uniform, shoes and socks.

"Mom," he said softly, "you need to get up and make my breakfast."

The first thing I noticed was that Don was still in the bed next to me. Very suspicious, since he's usually up by 4:30. Next, I noticed it was dark outside - very dark, not the thinning darkness of early morning.

Don groaned. I rolled over and looked at my clock, squinting to see it without my glasses on. 2:20 it glared at me with its red light. I groaned.

"SON," I nearly shouted, "it's 2:20 in the morning. That's the middle of the night. I only went to bed 3 hours ago. Take your shoes and socks off, put your glasses away, and go back to bed!!"

"Oh," he responded, simply - typical response for Dane. Then he quietly disappeared.

Several hours later, he re-appeared, this time without his shoes and socks.

"Now is it time to get up, Mama?" I glanced at the clock. A very respectable 6:30 a.m.

"Yes, son, it's fine to get up now, if you're ready."

"Will you get up and make my breakfast," he asked eagerly.

"It's a little early for breakfast, sweetie. Sissy's alarm won't even go off for another 15 minutes. Mine hasn't gone off yet, and Daelyn is still asleep. Once everyone's up and Sissy's dressed for school, we'll have breakfast, the same as usual."

"Well, then, can I go play on the computer or watch a movie?" he asked.

Long sigh. Why is it that he bounds out of bed before the crack of dawn and I struggle to get up well after the sun is high in the sky and the son has been up for hours? And what do I do with him when he gets up so early and I'm still battling to get in as much shut-eye as possible?

Deanna's just like me. Even as a baby, she's snuggle up against me in the bed and sleep until I was full ready to wake. On weekends, she'll sleep in until noon, if I let her. She's motivated to rise early because she can't watch cartoons until her Saturday chores are done, so she generally gets up and at 'em. But, given the opportunity, she's a sleeper.

Daelyn has always been early to rise. As an infant, he'd be up around 5:30 every morning. Dane is just like him, rising early no matter how late he got to bed. He might be an absolute bear all day, but he's still up early.

Now we've got Donovan to add to the mix. It's very funny that none of the children have any compunction about waking Mom, but everyone tiptoes around to keep from waking the puppy. HE'S A DOG!!! Who cares if he gets woken up. But they're, like, "Don't wake the baby. He's still asleep." "Be quiet. You'll wake Puppy." "Don't jump on Mommy's bed. Donovan's sleeping." They walk up to the side of the bed, shake me, and whisper in my ear. Mommy ought to be up - after all, we're up - but Donovan, he's the baby. He needs his sleep.

I know I need to be thankful for these years. Soon enough, they'll all be rising and dressing for school without the need for Mom to wake them. They'll be running out the door with a piece of toast in their hands and won't want to sit and eat as a family. I'll make them, anyway, of course, for the sake of family life, but life will be very different.

For now, I'll have to settle for buying Dane a clock for his room to curtail the 2:20 a.m. visits. That should do nicely - for now.