Mornings

The other MAJOR change to my morning routine is now being acutely aware of just how 'close' to being late (missing the bus, rushing to get out of the house - so skipping breakfast, etc.) they are. J. is a great Dad (plenty of evidence in this blog to support that). But in the morning, he logs into his 'office' at precisely 6:30AM each morning. Rarely deviates from that. And then, gets his nose to the grindstone and sort of 'blocks out' everything else around him. Including that son #1 is not out of bed yet - and he's due at the bus stop in 20 minutes. Or son #2 is now getting out of bed and will (as is his preference) head STRAIGHT to the shower - which is fine IF son #1 has already showered. But leads to WWIII if son #1 isn't showered yet and happens to get up (FINALLY) and realizes he now CANNOT shower 'cuz his brother is in the shower. The fireworks that explode at this discovery happen EVERY TIME this scenario plays out in this house - and yet, J. is oblivious. He pays no attention to the 'symphony' that is the kids morning routine and therefore, fairly regularly, things are not progressing as well as they could/should.

Before my new job, I never knew any of this was going on. J. did the morning routine - I was out of the house before they were up, typically. But now, I AM HERE, in the house. And am alternating between wanting to rip people's heads off and wishing my wonderful husband would PAY MORE ATTENTION to details vs. leaving the house at my old 'commute' time and heading to Starbucks for a latte and to read the paper.

The boys are typical teenagers. They should set alarms and frequently don't. When they do set an alarm, they use their phones and just shut them off once the alarm sounds - which doesn't work. Family meetings have ensued and we have no solution. I try to 'encourage' J. to not officially log in to work until around 7ish - so he can pay more attention to the 'routine' commencing upstairs and try to choreograph the whole routine more effectively. But he's a man on a mission and with zillions of things to do - and like me, he just wants to get up and get to it.

It never 'bothered' me before because I wasn't IN THE HOUSE to experience the chaos every morning. Now that I am, I have to 'adjust' my morning to accomodate their quirks. I am now attempting to 'plan' the scenario every morning - which son is up, which son should be up, who has or hasn't showered yet. It's quite an orchestration. Next year will be even more complicated, 'cuz H. will be going to high school and either B. will be driving them both (scary thought - not the driving part - just the two of them 'relying' on each other to stick to a schedule) or one will be driving while one rides the bus. H. will need to get to school or the bus stop almost an hour ahead of his current schedule. THAT is pretty scary.

I am investing in two really good alarm clocks. Preferably with ALARMS - vs. radio. B. listens to the radio most evenings as he falls asleep so radio doesn't really wake him up. And we will implement a schedule - and encourage H. to shower the night before, which is what he really prefers anyway.

The morning routine is new for so many reasons. I'm glad I'm home more now, though I wish I was more immune to trying to 'control' the routine. I'll have to work on that, I guess.