At 6.15 on school mornings, I'm happy and alway looking forward to seeing my sons as I go to wake them. It's truly a highlight of my morning. They're generally pretty cheerful when they wake, which is always an added bonus, but everything changes at this point.
The only thing they need to do before breakfast is get dressed, and wash their hands. These are relatively simple tasks, but not for two 6 year old boys. There are too many shiny baubles along the path from their bedroom, to the bathroom, to the breakfast table for them to avoid. Each toy, picture, stuffed animal and dead spider holds the greatest amount of interest to them. It could be something that generally no longer interests them, except for now.
There are countless times where Daddy is saying, "Boys, are you coming down for breakfast?", to which they reply, "Yes Daddy." and five minutes later I'm saying it again only to hear, "I'm not dressed yet" or, "I can't find my shirt". So, 25 minutes after I wake them, one boy is on the step stool with his nose in the pantry and the other has made his first lap of the whole house only to drop a pair of socks in the middle of the Living Room floor before plopping down in his chair and asking, "what's for breakfast Daddy?"
Breakfast is usually a lot of fun because Neal and Matthew have a lot to talk about. It could be about one's dream the night before, or what toy they might take to school for the bus ride, or sometimes, they'll sit and read the cereal boxes and advise me how many grams of carbs their Cinnamon Squirrels (Trader Joe's Cinnamon Swirls) has. I enjoy breakfast time because they are rested and alert. Then breakfast ends and it's time to do the "Morning Trio", which consists making their bed, brushing their teeth and getting their school bags ready to leave. The morning trio usually starts at 6.55 in the morning, and we have to be out the door and headed for the bus by 7.25. That's a nice, big, 30 minute window to get these tasks done and have a little play time before going to the bus stop. Along about 7.15, I give them a heads up, with a follow up at 7.20 that they need to have their shoes and jackets on.
It never ceases to amaze me, and you'd think I'd learn by now, but I haven't. These two couldn't get out of the path of a slow moving turtle. So each and every day, my positive start gets whittled down to getting stressed about getting to the bus on time. In the end, when were waiting for the bus, the positive energy I started with works its way back into my brain, not because I know they are getting on the bus and I don't have to pick them up in 8 hours. It's because Neal and Matthew will always come up, give me a hug and a kiss and say, "I love you Daddy".
I'm a lucky Dad for sure.
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