When I check Facebook I am constantly confronted with funny jokes about how horrible life is in the morning. Here is one that I actually shared to my timeline:
I shared it, not because I feel this way, but because this is a very accurate description of the way my husband is in the morning. I thought it was funny because I am the opposite. I get up ready to engage in in-depth philosophical debates. Sometimes I'll start talking, and I'll say all kinds of interesting things, and my husband won't even hear me. His excuse? He hasn't had his coffee yet.
If what I see on Facebook is any indication, I must conclude that most of the world is like my husband. They need just a little time to get going in the mornings. Because I never see any funny posts about actually being happy in the mornings, I thought I'd share that here.
Not a Night Person
The way most of the humorous Facebook posts describe mornings is how I normally describe evenings. My brain starts to shut down at around 7:00pm, and by 8:00 I'm pretty much useless. I also can't handle a lot of noise and activity at that time of day.
My children are older and quieter now, but I still shudder when I remember evenings with toddlers. Their bedtime was 8:00, and I allowed very little wiggle room because I knew that if they stayed up much later than 8:00 I would start to get extremely irritable and it would result in a miserable time for all. Sometimes it was a true effort just to endure their childish activities until bedtime. There were days when I wished they could go to bed at around 6:30, but I knew what an insane rule that would be, so I bravely toughed it out until 8:00. And at 8:00, the bedtime ritual began. Of course by this time of the night I was pretty much comatose, so getting the kids into the bed was an interesting process, especially considering that my husband is a night person.
Here's what would happen. After spending at least half an hour miserably counting down the seconds until the kids were in the bed and the house was peaceful and quiet, we would finally go into their room and help them into their pajamas. At this point my husband would get into a playful mood and start picking the kids up and throwing them around, or grab one of their toys and make it talk in a silly voice, or any number of things that the kids loved. And of course, because the kids loved it they would start running around the room shouting and laughing. I would be standing in the corner with my hands over my ears waiting for it to all be over. 8:00 at night was just not an appropriate time for that much activity. I was frequently convinced that my brain was going to literally explode.
Morning: My Alert Time
While I complained grumpily about the kids making noise at night, my husband would frequently complain about them making noise in the morning. I, not being bothered at all by morning noise, would shake my head and say, "They're kids. Making noise is what they do." The fact is, in the morning, after a full night's sleep, I feel ready to take on the world. In fact, if there's a task that I need to finish, and I start to get tired at night, I will frequently set my alarm a little earlier the next morning so that I can get up and work on it when I'm feeling fresh and energized. Which I don't feel at night. Ever. But in the morning...aahh...in the morning...nothing stresses me out. I can do anything...in the morning.
Not Necessarily an Early Riser
Maybe other morning people experience this differently, but I at least do not jump out of bed as soon as the alarm goes off. If I'm awakened from a deep sleep, the only thing I want in that moment is to return to that blissful state. I do not want to get out of bed. That is not what being a morning person means to me. And it also doesn't mean that I'm up before sunrise every single day. I occasionally sleep late (and by late I mean 8:30). But when I do get up, all it takes for me to be completely awake and ready to start my day is being upright for about five minutes. I don't even need coffee. I drink it, but only because it is part of my morning routine and I like the taste. I could easily switch to decaf and still be able to function perfectly well in the morning. In fact I do drink decaf quite a bit because it prevents insomnia.
Any other morning people out there? I would love to hear from you. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know about your personal experience.
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