One thing I applaud about my daughter is her ability to spread sunshine in the morning.
Okay - some mornings it starts a bit early and could be dimmed a little but compared to the opposite I will take the sunshine every time.
Today I had a taste of that.
We just spent a wonderful long weekend away. I got to stay with my sister and her brood.
'Salina usually gets to stay in Dash's room. This is much loved by both Dash and 'Salina (most of the time) - however there is just one problem with this arrangement. 'Salina got her early morning sunshine gene from her grandfather - Dash did not receive such a blessing. Well, either that or the definition of "early morning" gets skewed.
Either way, 'Salina's habit of rising at the crack of dawn = Dash's rising at the crack of dawn = The Little Woman rising at the crack of dawn = total meltdown in the BushBabe stables.
So we finally did what has been threatened for a long time, and moved 'Salina to another part of the house. Of course, we did it with minimal grief at the outset by having the kids all worn out from too much local show and long drives home in separate cars.
It worked - of course, all three children still woke up hideously early, but they all managed to show us a few rays!
My mother had bought a birthday present for 'Salina and wanted to give it to her early (by about 6 months) as 'Salina is going great guns with reading time and it is very much horse-themed. 'Salina is in LOVE with the new clock.
There are only two drawbacks to it. One is that it is set for the right time, and we know how I love to mess about with the universe in 'Salina's room.
The other is that it has an alarm.
Today we experienced that wonder.
It is an experiment that I do not wish to ever take part in again.
Miss Sunshine was nowhere to be found - an evil time-wasting child came and took her place. As the alarm was set early enough to wave V off for work I had plenty of time to experience this new phenomenon.
V didn't go to work today as he feels the effects of some mysterious lurgy. I hope it is not what my sister had last week.
I also hope that any mysterious lurgy had nothing to do with the gremlin I dealt with this morning.
I was forced into one of the motherhood roles that I truly despise.
I had to NAG.
I had to crack the whip on every single step of getting ready this morning. My wonderful child is normally dressed, fed and ready a good half-hour before the school bus arrives under her own steam.
I had to breath fire to get any steam to appear this morning - and when it did come through, it was entirely misdirected.
Note to the logical part of 'Salina's brain: Saying "I know" in a sarcastic manner to your mother when she has advised you (for the hundredth time) what needs to happen in the dwindling minutes will not change the status quo - but it will change the status of any priveleges in the forseeable future.
And if her logical brain is still not back any time this week - its okay, I have written it in large letters on the whiteboard to remind her.
Sigh.
I didn't get a goodbye kiss or wave this morning. She didn't get brushed hair. I hope that the monster leaves her body by the time I see her again this afternoon, else it will be a very long day.
Monday, April 28, 2008
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13 comments:
Be gone, monster! Be gooooone!
My child is a mix: she greets me every morning with the biggest smile on her face that makes me forget to look at the clock. And after assessing the effect of her blinding smile, she starts her time-wasting routine which makes me turn into the speaking (read: nagging) clock.
My little guy wakes up at the crack of dawn too....on the weekends. And rather than a ray of sunshine I think he channels a drill sargent from a former existence. On school days however, it is another story altogether, suddenly he is too tired for anything.
Morning nagging is my specialty! By the time I get my daughter dropped off at school, I'm exhausted.
Oh dear... I do hope V's illness is simply dagwood dog related and not the flu. That WOULD be too bad!
Salina was quite lovely to have even with the crack-of-dawn risings. Unfortunately TLW and Dash turn into bunyips when they get up too early... and it ain't purty!!
Hugs to V
:-)
BB
My boy too is usually a crack of dawn child. Most frustrating. Talk about emotional blackmail with the kiss goodbye thing.
Oh, gosh, mine were crack of dawn kids until they became teenagers. Then it was daily routine, booting their hinders out of bed. My sister did the worst thing. She had a boy that would not rise from bed. She took a pitcher of water from the refrigerator and dumped it on him. In bed. (I'd have been worried about the mess...) After that she merely had to begin to climb the stairs and the boy was up and out of bed.
Thank god my children like to sleep in!!
Well, the good news is that we survived.
The bad news is the monster arrived home with a new twist in her tail.
The good news is there may be a blog post in it!
The bad news is priveleges and 'Salina are fairly well divided.
Thank you all for your comments.
Lin - great marketing concept - a clock that nags FOR you. Maybe we could program the mobile phone!
Strauss - hmmm, I think it may be time to mess with the whole calendar in his universe. How is he now going at school, by the way?
mama zen - I am unfortunately well out of practice. It has been used in the past but I became complacent.
Bush Babe - luckily not too serious (definitely not as serious as yours was). V says thanks.
Jen - I quite agree, the lack of the kiss goodbye was playing hardball.
Debby - our father used the cold washer technique if the clearing of the throat (extremely loudly) outside our rooms did not generate a stir.
Bettina - oh such bliss! It has its compensations on some days, though. Just not today.
Mornings like the one you had today make me wan to hide under the covers until the next morning.
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww, you're getting a preview of adolecense. My early bird(BBB) used to be the happiest lil thing at 6a.freaking m. Until he was in 8th grade. I can't remember the last time he said good to me. :(
Hope you feel better soon and that your daughter reverts to herself for another few years.
I have a mix of both depending on the day ... never knwoing what monsters I will wake up to too is challenging.
Nagging my speciality too especially with my 14yr old.
I hope she comes home happy today.
Oh no - the great divide!
I hope V is OK and you don't have to play monster tamer for much longer!
Morning is the best time of day in our house. My children are sweet and cooperative and generally delightful while they're still half asleep.
Ouch, Jeanie!
But a note of hope: if she's starting teenager 'tude early, it may just go away early... I had one early bloomer, and one late one. Either way, it passes. Good luck through the storms!
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