Although there have been periods of time in my life when I have been a later sleeper, I have always been a morning person. Even if I sleep in a little, I am wide awake once I am up. This is not necessarily the case with my all parents and siblings. Half of us are morning people, the other half are definitely NOT (you know who you are!). It is very difficult for me to understand the the grogginess, the grumpiness, and the crankiness that emerges from night owls. Several times in college, when my sister and I were roommates, I would ask her, "Are you okay? Have I done something wrong?" and she often replied, "Audrey, I woke up less than an hour ago. I am not a morning person." This is unfathomable to me, but I have tried to be less senstive to it over the years.
I married a night owl.
This has been hard in some ways and a definite blessing in other ways. It is hard because I am always tired much earlier than Joseph and so when he is ready to spend time together, I am barely able to keep my eyes open. I am often ready for bed - in all honesty - around 6:30 pm and he could stay up until 2:00 am every night. Then, when I am ready to get up and going, he is not able to function for several more hours. He is extremely thoughtful, however, and almost always goes to bed with me, waits until I am asleep, and then gets up and does whatever he needs to take care of after I am snoozing away. It took me several months of marriage to figure out that he didn't actually go to bed when I did, but I appreciate this demonstration of his love tremendously and don't mind the "trickery" at all. Thankfully, having both an early bird and a night owl in a marriage can be a great boon once children arrive. Joseph is usually awake late enough that if the kids need anything late at night, he takes care of it so I can sleep. Then, at some point during the night, I am able to operate at a much more coherent level than he is when they need help and I am also able to get up with them when they are awake for the day - at quite an early hour sometimes - while he sleeps in for a bit.
Our children are divided in this particular characteristic. Austin, he is a night owl. Matthew, an early bird. When Austin gets up, he is usually pretty cranky for awhile and Matthew can never figure out what is wrong. "Why won't he talk to me, Mommy?" he asks as Austin pulls his blue blankie over his head and snarls at Matthew. I just sigh and know that Matthew will have to figure this one out over time just like I did.
Elizabeth...well...I think she may be an early bird, but it might be too early to tell. I'm not sure you can really know with a 9 month-old. I suppose we will know soon enough which of these behaviors she tends toward, and I will try to be understanding if it is the one I can't comprehend!
3 comments:
I know which one I am!
Interesting to note: one night at book group we took an informal survey of the women in the group. All those who had married the opposite night/morning person than themselves were still married. All those who had married the same, were divorced.
One of my New Year's resolutions is to try to be more like an early bird. It's tough. I have to really force myself to go to bed early. (Being pregnant definitely helps though.)
Being opposite helps with teenagers, too. My husband was always up for early morning seminary and I was always up when they came home late. It was the perfect arrangement.
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