12-Minute Memoir: Waking Up

10.26.2016

*This is part of a new post series where I set my timer for 12 minutes and write about a specific word or phrase. Idea originally from here.

On a typical morning, I set my alarm for 5:45. I like to take my time in the mornings and not feel rushed. I would much rather go to bed earlier and wake up earlier. Jordan is the opposite and usually snoozes his alarm a few times before finally getting up, but I (generally) get up within 5-10 minutes after my alarm goes off.

The very first thing I do is go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, and put in my contacts. If I’m feeling inspired or have a few extra minutes, I’ll put on some makeup or straighten my hair, but I often don’t do either of those.

Then I go into the kitchen and fix my breakfast (to eat at work), lunch, and R’s daycare snack. I make sure R’s diaper bag has everything she needs, and I check that my purse has my important things like my phone and wallet. I’ve been trying to slow down even more and take a few minutes in the morning to pray or read my Bible. I’m reading through Psalms right now.

Once Jordan is awake, I go back into our bedroom, turn on the light, and get dressed. Jordan does not like to talk in the mornings, and I always (unintentionally) annoy him by asking questions and trying to talk to him right after he’s woken up. He is not a morning person. If I have some extra time, I'll lie back down on the bed and close my eyes for a minute or two.

By now it’s 6:40 or 6:45, and R is awake. Sometimes she’s still sleeping, and I have to go wake her up so we can get ready to leave for the day. My favorite is when she wakes up on her own in a good mood. I go into her room and sit by her crib, and she reaches her hands through the bars and I play with her for a few minutes. Then I get her out, change her, dress her, and load up the car. R comes with me because I drop her off at daycare on my way to work.

Jordan and I both leave around 7:00 for the day. Sometimes I am a few minutes behind, but if I leave much later than that, I get stuck in rush-hour traffic on the highway. 

My morning feels so much less rushed now that I’m not nursing or worrying about packing bottles and milk for daycare. I’m so thankful I was able to breastfeed R for a good part of her first year, but man it was a lot of work getting all that together.

Of course when my alarm goes off, I wish I could keep sleeping. The bed is cozy and warm, and my eyes are still heavy. But I am most definitely a morning person and in general, I have to say that I really don’t mind waking up.

Are you a morning person or a night owl? What time do you usually get up?
Kaity B. said...

I love this idea so much! How often do you do your 12-min memoirs and how do you decide on the topic?

The Lady Okie said...

I am thinking I'll do one once a week for a bit, and I got some topic ideas from the original blog. I just picked ones I liked!

The Girl who Loved to Write said...

Love this idea! I'm definitely a morning person. I used to be a little bit of both, but now that Jack is around I'm way too exhausted at nighttime to do anything other than sleep.

Audrey Louise said...

Mmm, I am definitely a night owl. Oh how I WISH I was a morning person, but I'm not. I can easily stay up until midnight or later doing chores or reading or watching TV. In college it was easy for me to write papers and read into the early hours of the morning. Now my night owl tendencies do more harm than good. Haha. I try to be a morning person but I HATE mornings. Ha.

Danielle said...

Good idea! I might try that for my blog. I'm definitely not a morning person, but I'm not really a night person either. I'm more of a medium person (in an ideal world, I'd go to bed at 10-11 and wake up at 7:30-8).

Unknown said...

i'm a morning person too! my alarm goes off at 5:05 and I go workout everyday but thursday. i feel like i get so much more done in the day when i get up early lol

Maria said...

I'm neither. I just prefer to sleep as much as humanely possible :) I do feel like your mornings sound peaceful (as much as they can be with a baby) and I love the thought of being up before everyone else when the house is quiet. I just need to execute.

I was actually looking for blog prompts the other day so that I don't drone on and on about the TTC process. I'll check some of these out!

Michelle said...

I love this concept. I'm definitely a morning person, though I'm feeling more like a night owl these days.

Rach said...

I know it's weird, but the minute I wake up, I bounce out of bed. I can't lay there once I wake up (whether it's by alarm or naturally waking up). Sometimes I'll get up and go to the bathroom and brush my teeth and then come back and snuggle in bed a little longer if it's a weekend and Christopher is still in bed, but usually he's up before me too. He wakes up around 5:15am and I wake up naturally with the sun (so yes, in the summer I wake up at 5:30/5:45 every day without an alarm). Right now I wake up between 6:30 and 7 just depending on the morning. But I very rarely set an alarm (like maybe a handful of times a month). Back when I nannied full time I woke up at 5:45am to be out the door at 6:10am. And when I worked a desk job and had to be at work at 8, I woke up naturally with the sun except for the shortest days of winter when I would set an alarm to be sure I was up by 7am. I like taking my time in the mornings, but if I have to set an alarm and wake up before the sun then I will get ready in as little time possible. Aaaanyway, I'm so glad to hear that mornings are so much smoother now that you aren't having to juggle all the breast feeding/pumping things! That's definitely a bonus. :)

Maria said...

HUMANLY possible. Obviously, did not get enough sleep last night. Please don't judge me.

Nadine said...

What a fun idea for a series! I love it! I am a morning person too! I wake up at 4:35 am and get my workout on, shower, do my hair and make up, pack lunches, do a few things like iron or unload the dishwasher from the night before, blog, eat breakfast, walk the dog and head to work. I would much rather not rush around in the mornings too, hence the wake up time. I find myself waking up naturally between 430-630 on weekends now too and I cant say that I hate it. I feel like I have much more of a day and it isn't wasted.

Tracy said...

Love it! I get up earlier than Ben and always bother him in the mornings. He just...doesn't respond, lol. I'm neither, honestly! But if I had to pick I would say morning person. I do love slow early mornings...after I've actually pulled myself out of bed and gotten some coffee. Now that I'm not Ironman training anymore my wakeup time is a couple hours later than it has been ;)

Amy @ A Desert Girl said...

I just love the imagery of you and R when she wakes up. Those little hands reaching through the crib rails - so sweet. You're such a great mama!

Kevin is like you and I'm like Jordan. I love sleeping in and Kevin is so disciplined about getting his morning time.

StephTheBookworm said...

I commend you for waking up that early. I go into a work a bit later so 7-8 is my usual wake up time. Caleb's been getting me up at 5:30 this week though and it is ROUGH! Haha.

Kristen @ See You In A Porridge said...

i am definitely a morning person.. i mean, when my alarm goes off, i almost always think something along the lines of no, i'm warm, i don't want to, but i am a sucky sleeper and even if i did turn off my alarm, i wouldn't get back to sleep easily. KC and I get up roughly the same time - he has to for work, i get up early so we can at least start our days together, i just go to the gym first. but he's the same as jordan, doesn't like to talk in the morning and i accidentally annoy him more often than not, but then later he appreciates it hahaha.

Julie | A Hopeful Hood said...

Ahhh, I can imagine how much easier the mornings are without nursing! Aiden is 9 months and I'm ready for it to be over just so I can hand him a cup of milk instead of being anchored down to having to nurse him! Haha.

Sara Oss said...

I'm a night owl who works an early shift. I'm up at 5:45, but I am on autopilot until I get to my desk: I shower, put on the clothes I selected the night before, pack the breakfast and lunch I assembled the night before into my work bag, grab the travel mug of coffee that L has made for me (he's a morning person) and stumble my way to work. I know a lot of people hate feeling rushed in the morning, but if I move any more slowly than warp speed I either take longer to feel awake or fall back asleep. I guess the adrenaline rush of moving so quickly works for me.

Erin LFF said...

What a fun way to write, love the 12-minute idea! I'm not a morning person and neither is Jared... makes for a greeeeat combination most of the time ;) I truly applaud you and every other full-time working mother out there. I cannot imagine the amount of work it takes to get you and a little one ready and out the door for a day.

Kayla MKOY said...

I love this idea! How cool?! I'm totally not a morning person. not to say that I'm grumpy at all, I just enjoy sleeping in until my body decides to wake me up. Caleb and I are both total night owls which results in late evenings which we both swear we will stop, yet never do. Oh well! Life will look a lot different, I'm sure, when kids are in the mix! So until then, we'll continue on!

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