Morning - 31 Things

Mornings usually come too fast for me. 

I’ve never been much of a morning person. In the morning I am slow and lethargic and it seems to take me twice as long to get things done. I can always convince myself, as I’m reaching for the snooze button, that just five more minutes won’t make a difference in my routine.

The alarm goes off at 5:20, and after a few pushes from the snooze button, I am finally up. We make the bed, and then I get into the shower. I usually take my shower before Andrés, since the water heater is broken and has to be turned on manually, and he doesn’t mind going outside on a chilly morning to do so. Then he hops in while I get dressed. 

Just about at that time, the kids come into the room. They don’t need a wake-up call. There is a 5:50 plane to Loja that passes over the house that usually wakes them, and if that doesn’t, the sun will, at 6 a.m. They are a little like mini zombies: push open the door (there’s always a slamming door involved), use the bathroom (eyes generally closed at this point), then hop up on our bed and cover up with blankets. Nico likes the blue one and Tin prefers the pink and green one. There’s not much talking yet, but in about five minutes the remote will come out and they’ll be watching Disney Channel (Poppy Cat, Special Agent Oso, and Jake and the Neverland Pirates have been the favorites lately).

If I have to go into work, I go downstairs with Andrés and we have breakfast until Grandma Shushú comes to take over for us. Andrés and I both like to mix it up. One morning it might be scrambled eggs on toast, the next a grilled cheese sandwich or yogurt with granola. I rarely have time on weekdays to eat fruit for breakfast.

I grab some coffee in a mug to go, and we get into the car and head out for our 45-minute commute.

If I don’t have to go into work, then usually I snuggle with the boys when they jump into bed. They fight over whose side I turn to, who I hug, who gets the blankets, etc., and so instead of sleeping in a bit more, I end up tossing and turning and talking to them until 6:30. 

At 6:30 I get up and go downstairs to get their breakfast ready. Agustín loves cheese, so his breakfast usually consists of a piece of toast or bread and a half of a banana (one of the few fruits he’ll eat) with some sort of cheese - a wedge of cheddar or gouda or crackers with cream cheese. It’s important to have a glass of milk ready for him on the nightstand. (They eat in our bed on trays, watching TV - basically their only TV time at home.) Agustín eats quickly, and usually has me go downstairs for seconds. You can always tell what his favorite thing on the plate is - he always saves that for last.

Nicolás, on the other hand, likes to savor each and every bite. He loves cereal, with milk, and usually asks for that in the mornings, but if there is time I might make him pancakes as well, and that is always a big hit. He is the opposite of his brother when it comes to eating: he doesn’t like cheese, isn’t a big fan of bread, and saves the “yuckiest” thing on his plate for last. He is usually finishing his breakfast right up to the very last second. In this sense he and I are the same - always taking our time, and at the last minute rushing around so we won’t be late. I imagine I was the same way when I was little. I remember walking into the kitchen and all of mom’s daycare kids (many my same age) already well into their breakfasts, and me just rubbing the sleep out of my eyes.

After breakfast is finished, the kids get dressed. Uniforms have almost always been laid out the night before. Agustín will dress himself but Nicolás still likes to be babied and will mess around until you get frustrated and get him dressed yourself. My favorite part of the morning is changing their socks. I make a habit of kissing their feet and changing their socks for them each morning. This started because I realized that when they were dressing themselves they were forgetting to change their socks, but now it is a little routine that both boys love and have come to expect.

The TV goes off, the kids finally get up out of bed and go brush their teeth while I wet and comb down their rogue hair. 

Downstairs, the boys get their shoes on while I warm up the car and then we’re off. It takes about 15 minutes to get to school. Sometimes there is music on,  but many times the boys are asking me tricky questions. This morning it was who invented money? and why do we care about money if it’s just paper?