Early morning, when the sun is still slowly climbing, is my favorite part of the day. No, I’m not one of those crazy people who likes to be up at 5 AM, dashing around in the dark while every sane person is still sleeping. But that peaceful, quiet, gentle time, before the alarm goes off, is the best part of my day.
The house is quiet, chilly, but I am snuggled under the warm covers. The room is still dim, but I can see the sun starting to peek around the curtains. I roll over to my husband, who is still crashed out, but who reaches out and wraps me up tightly in his arms, pulling me in close to him.
Sometimes, it’s only a split second before the alarm goes off and shatters the moment. Sometimes, though, on the best days, I have several minutes, just relaxing in the happiness and comfort and calm, half asleep and half awake, with the whole world shut out and nothing but me and my husband and our family…and, of course, a hungry and demanding cat who leaps up beside me and tucks into the small of my back, impatiently waiting for his breakfast. Just us.
For just a little bit every morning, at risk of sounding like a cliched 80s love ballad, I am in heaven. The whole world screeches to a halt and just lets me enjoy being comfy and snuggly and happy.
When the kids were younger, that time of morning (or even earlier) is when one of them would peek around the door, then clumsily climb in beside their daddy, letting him wrap them up like a mummy in the covers. Some mornings, one by one, they would all end up piled on their dad, and I would laugh and get up to feed the cat to give them room. I would hear him say something about needing to get up to start breakfast, then one or all of the kids saying “no” and holding onto him even tighter.
Now, the kids usually prefer to sleep in, but I still wake up early, and I still slide over to cuddle up close to my husband during that little bit of quiet in the morning. Eventually, the alarm will go off, we will hit snooze as many times as we can (and then one more time, just to make sure we are late). And we will have to reluctantly let go of each other, emerge from bed, start the day. There are places to go, appointments to keep, bills to pay, work to get done.
It was hard getting up this morning, hard to let go and head off to work. My husband, who is a bad influence, tried to convince me to call in sick, but I have a lot to get done.
In a few more hours, I can turn off this computer and head home, where my mind has been all day anyway. But for now, it’s back to the grind, wishing I was still curled up in bed, in the early morning, and the entire world was nothing but us.
Sweat & Sparkle 