these early mornings are long, really, really long. and they seem longer when saxy is home because he gets bothered by the usual sounds of morning preparation, which means he gets cranky because he was sleeping and all this noise was going on, forget that it's normal get up and go noise. and it doesn't help that i'm shushing the kids every few minutes because they (particularly taz) can't remember to keep their voices down. plus, i'm tired from being up all night so i can be sure to get them off to their buses on time.
taz's self talk starts almost as soon as he's up. and he doesn't talk quietly when he does it. he used to get much louder than he does now, but he's still quite loud, especially for so early in the morning. i know he's out of sorts from having to get up so early, but it's aggravating to have to tell him to hush every 5 or 10 minutes. the fact that he has to start up again so quickly is distressing -- it means he's stressed out over something. i know the early mornings still aren't routine, but it is tough to have to deal with this part of his behavior.
as for froggy, she tries to keep things down but somehow always manages something loud. this morning it was yelling at taz to fold his clothes while she was in the bathroom -- and saxy is sleeping in the next room. and dishes. i'm not sure why she has to bang around when putting dishes away, but it really is annoying.
i really do hope these mornings become more routine, that things settle down soon, but right now mornings are one of the hardest times of the day. everyone is off balance and out of sync. no one seems to remember that other people might be sleeping in the house. when jewel was here and we were having the same problems with keeping things down, i always thought it was just her. she tends to forget courtesy most of the time anyway, so not thinking about it early in the morning when she wasn't quite awake just seemed a natural extension of that particular trait. maybe it's just a teenager thing? they have to be up early, and to express their displeasure they must get everyone else up early?
to add to the morning chaos, froggy and i are arguing about appropriate clothing. now that i know is a teenage thing -- i've done that with all the girls. in froggy's case it's a little tougher seeing as how she needs jeans and stuff. well, mostly jeans. so i understand why she picks some of the cutoffs and other inappropriate things to wear, but i really wish she'd wait until she's out of all the good stuff before she chooses to wear them.
really, by the time i get the kids out of the house, i'm exhausted, and not just from being up all night. reminders to keep voices down, reminders to wear certain things (for some reason, despite doing it for years now, we must always tell taz to put on a belt), nudges to hurry it up. it makes me a little crazy to have to keep reminding them of the things they should already know, especially when we need to keep the noise level down so the bear can sleep uninterrupted. we only spend an hour together in the morning -- them getting ready, me reminding -- but it feels like so much longer. by the time they are out the door, i am soooo ready for bed, and not just because of the all nighter. i'm ready for the long morning to end.
who knew teenagers could be as exhausting to parent as toddlers.
~*~
word of the moment: effervescent
giving off bubbles; used of wines and waters; charged naturally or artificially with carbon dioxide; marked by high spirits or excitement
