Morning Glories

I’m a morning glories type of person.

There’s a beauty in the morning.

A freshness as the day awakes. A quietness that seeps into your soul, bringing hope and anticipation for the new day. The extraordinary beauty that bursts across the sky at sunrise – always different yet breathtakingly glorious – floods my heart and soul with thankful joy at the incredible gift of another day.

However, when I married I discovered that, while I may be a morning person, I don’t wake up quickly.

I need to hatch. I need to slowly “come to” before anyone speaks to me or I to them. While the eyes may be open and I’m standing up, I’m really not awake. My tender husband understands this about me and lets me hatch.

Then we were blessed with children…who woke up early.

Real early. And in the summer really early. Now what?! My friends’ kids would sleep 12 hours from when they were put to bed. So, put them to bed at 8 and they’d sleep until 8 or even 9. Great! I tried that. My kids were up at 5! Not fair!

My morning glories were gone. My kids were awake before I was and my quietness was interrupted.

Our oldest child woke up happy and talking at 6 a.m.! Every. Day. Like. Clockwork. But, that’s my time to wake up and hatch and enjoy the quiet of the morning, not listen to someone else chattering away, needing something from me, expecting me to be awake and happy to see them. Now what?

I quickly learned that to be a pleasant wife and mom I had to get up at least 30 minutes before my children.

I needed that time of quiet to start my day. If I would adjust my schedule to get up at 5:30 a.m. instead of 6 a.m., then I was much more pleasant. Period.

Ugh, that was a tough adjustment. Is there life at 5:30 a.m.? Really? It’s so early! Even for a morning person! But the reward of this adjustment in my schedule was staggering.

A beautiful sunrise.
Bird songs that taught my heart to sing in quiet praise.
Quiet moments with my husband.
Enjoying a whole cup of tea uninterrupted.
Quiet

And as each child woke up, I could enjoy their morning hugs, their delight at the new day, and even some morning snuggles with the child that woke up needing to hatch. Just like me.

And I discovered an extraordinary truth—every morning is glorious even at 5:30 a.m.

Are you a morning person? An afternoon person? A night owl? What adjustments have you made to accommodate the needs of your family? I’d love to hear from you. Email me at Kirsten@KirstenDSamuel.com

Kirsten D. Samuel
Aftershock Recovery Coach
8-week Program, Custom-paced Coaching, Remote, or In-person Sessions