AnchorMommy

A recovering nightowl

October 7, 2009 by Shannon

Working in a newsroom/TV studio until 10 pm for eight years has left quite an impression on my body clock. In fact, I can’t seem to reset the damn thing for the life of me.

It has occurred to me that most people are able to get out the door by 8 am, when I can barely get out of bed. I don’t like this. I want to become more normal. You know, just so if Kellan and I need to be somewhere by 9 am, I can actually pull it off.

I’ve been trying to move up my bedtime, little by little, so I can get out of bed before Kellan does. I’d like to be able to have a cup of coffee and maybe even get showered by the time he gets up. That way I could think about what’s ahead for the day, rather than race around prepping Kellan’s breakfast, cleaning up after breakfast, and arguing with him about why he can’t wear his pajamas all day before I can even set foot in the shower. I just think that would be a much nicer way to start the day.

Things were going pretty well this week. Then Tuesday morning happened. I was up too late the night before for several reasons. I had to bake a bunch of bread for a magazine photo shoot. I had a ton of laundry to get done, partly because Kellan is potty training and going through multiple pairs of underwear and pants every day. I had a blog post to get done. I had a magazine to read. (Okay, so I didn’t have to read it. But I couldn’t stop myself. I have a bit of a magazine addiction.)

So instead of getting up with my alarm at 7:30, I let the cat out and crawled back into bed. By 8:07, I put my feet on the floor and listened for Kellan. No noise. So I figured I still had time to grab some coffee and get in the shower. Then I heard him. “Mommy! Maw. Mee. Maw. Meeeee.” I knew I had to postpone the shower and get some oatmeal started, because Kellan can get pretty cranky if he doesn’t eat shortly after waking. 

With the oatmeal cooked, I sat down to map out the route to a friend’s house for a playdate…and the internet was down. I found this infuriating on several levels. One — I needed directions. Two — I am compelled to check my email in the morning. Three — this is the second time our internet service has been down in the past three days. Four — I couldn’t get any tech support on the phone. 

So I messed around with the computer for a while. I tried to convince Kellan he had to get dressed. I reminded him he’s wearing big boy underwear now and should sit on the potty before leaving the house. Somewhere in there I managed to shower. Luckily, at the last minute, the internet came back up and I was able to glance at the map to my friend’s house.

But I still had to drop off that bread so it would get in the right hands for the photo shoot. And I still got lost on the way to my friend’s house. I ended up being something like a half hour late. (Sorry, Amy.)

I don’t think waking up earlier will keep my internet service from crashing, or keep Kellan from running away from me when I’m trying to pull a shirt over his head, but I do think having a little more time to manage mini-crises in the morning will help me feel more sane. 

I hope. 

So. Even though my body clock is still hanging on to my old work schedule, I am going to be in bed by 11:30 tonight. Lights out, no excuses. No laundry, no bread baking, no blogging. Only a little magazine reading. And maybe…just maybe…tomorrow will be a better morning.