Mornings

Prior to "Stay at Home" Life my mornings were rushed, to say the least.  I do not like to wake up in the morning, but love to get a lot of things off my to-do list before I walk out the door... a catch 22 of sorts.

I would force myself out of bed as close to 7:15 a.m. as I could, rush to work out, shower, get myself dressed and then yell for B to get moving because we were going to be late.  She needed to wake up, get dressed, and eat breakfast while I packed her snack, lunch, and water bottle for school.  We would run around, and often leave the house grumpy because I yelled at her, or she didn't get what she wanted for breakfast because there wasn't enough time to make pancakes or eggs that day.

Some days I would sleep in, not workout, and then still run around yelling because neither of us woke up until 8 a.m., and we had to walk out the door by 8:18 a.m. or we would be late to school...again.

I was in the process of making a change at the beginning of March.  Forcing myself awake earlier, getting my work out and shower in by 7:30 a.m., and then taking the time to sit with B while she woke up.  Doing stretches together and letting the "tickle monster" wake her.  I would have time to make pancakes or eggs, pack her lunch, and even talk about her dreams from the night before.

Then... life stopped.  There was no more school, no more work, and no more need to get moving.  I spent about 10 days in bed.  No working out, no getting dressed, a shower around 4 p.m. if I felt like it.  I was scared - Did I have a fever?  What was that body ache from?  Did someone just cough on me?  With my husband still traveling - what did he touch, who did he talk to, did he bring this home to our family?  

Finally one day, I remembered that I was stronger then this.  I would be fine. Our family would be fine.  We needed to get up and get going.  I started working out again as soon as I woke up, and I made it a point to get dressed - I even put on real jeans!  I immediately felt better, stronger, more like myself.  I have spent the last 6 weeks of being home focusing on how to do better for my family.  I work out almost every day, even if it is just a dance party with B around the house to Frozen Soundtracks.  I make breakfast for both us.  Some days it is oatmeal or cereal, but more often it is eggs, avocado toast, pancakes, waffles, or cinnamon rolls.  We play games most mornings - Candy Land and Guess Who are the favorites this week.  I get to soak in the moments, and create memories that will last us a lifetime.  I get to make myself a hot cup of tea, and actually enjoy it.

Eventually, we get started on school work.  We do the reading, we practice math, we color, we follow the checklist, but we don't do it "on time"  We have our own schedule, and we make it up as we go.  Yes, we will have to return to a regular school day - one day.  And, yes, I will have to go back to work at some point.  At that time we will have to set an alarm clock, and get moving in the mornings, but until then our family needs love, compassion, giggles, and snuggles much more then we need routine.

So, our morning routine is different every day.  If I wake up first I try to get my workout in before anyone else is around.  The last few days, I was the last one out of bed and that's ok too.  I just did a different style workout - a bike ride, long walk, or lifting weights to my own layout.  We read, watch TV, eat breakfast, and play our games.  We will get back to a new normal at some point, but like I posted before.... What part of normal is worth returning too?  

What does your morning look like right now?  How is it different then "normal"?