Morning Ritual

No matter what time I finally get to bed at night, the morning begins the same. Somewhere from the darkest deepest sleep I will hear the increasing, piercing, shrill "beep, beep, beep..." of the alarm clock. I stagger across the room (otherwise the snooze button is too close) trying to not trip over the dog to hear the "click" to silence as I hopefully hit the right button at 6:00 a.m. If I've hit snooze instead of off, it will go off again about midway through my shower waking those up who do not need to be up yet.

I relieve the bladder, turn on the shower and encourage my eyes to open. I step into the wave of water and awareness. As I shampoo my hair, my brain begins to recognize the oxygen increase to the cells and by the time I rinse, I am fully awake. From there it is a quick journey from dressed to Mom mode at 6:15 a.m.

I learned a long time ago the value in preparing for the morning the night before. After pulling my son from bed and directing him to the bathroom, I can then make my bed, throw his breakfast in the toaster or microwave and be back to make sure he hasn't climbed back into the bed by 6:20 a.m. If he's not dressed, I offer to do it for him, which usually takes care of the problem. After he is dressed we are making his bed together and we discuss what he has on the agenda for the day. This is the time I leave a note for my daughter or husband (whoever is still sleeping) for any tasks that they need to complete before they hit the door. Eating breakfast and getting to the car is complete by 6:30 a.m., we both grab our backpacks and head out the driveway. Our driveway is only about 500 feet up a winding hill, but sometimes we can loose ten minutes in that process. Trey will wait for his bus that comes at 7:09 a.m. with his friend next door. He sometimes will call on his cell phone if his friend is running late and he's just trying to pass the time.

My drive is only 31 miles, but it is into the sun and down Hwy 120 to Hwy 278 to Dallas Hwy. Going by a couple of schools and to be rush hour, it is not so bad. Leaving at 7:00 a.m. takes an hour and 20 minutes and leaving at 6:30 a.m. takes about an hour. The stress difference of getting here 30 minutes before class is completely different than getting here 20 minutes late!

Although my 8:00 a.m. class is only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I keep the same morning routine to keep from getting off on my days and missing a class. It never hurts to have extra study time in an environment that is set up for success.