My Three Alarms

I have three alarm clocks that wake me up every morning. And neither one requires electricity.

I have an alarm that sits beside my bed, shining the time at me as I blindly stumble past it to pick up my littlest Princess in the early morning hours. I sit there cuddling her, looking at her through half-closed eyes, trying to convince her to stop being so darned cute at me and to drink her bottle and go back to sleep for just a little longer. Then I trudge back to bed, only to hear her crying as soon as my head hits the pillow again, she wasn't done cuddling and decided maybe she was just a little hungry after all. So we cuddle as the sun starts to peak over the horizon and she drinks her formula. Then, I place her gently in her crib and stumble back to bed.

I lay down and will myself back to sleep when I hear Princess Belle knocking on the door and calling out to me way too loudly. I jump out of bed, like I was just hit by lightening. Desperate to make her be quiet before she wakes up both of her sisters, including the baby I just gotten to go back to sleep. It turns out she just wants to watch a movie in her room. I give her permission and lay back down to sleep.

Seconds later, I hear footsteps sneaking down the stairs. I get up and find the eight-year-old culprit. She had paused her movie and has decided she was hungry and wanted a snack to accompany it. I give her some options and she heads back off to bed, loudly making her back up the stairs and closing her bedroom door.

As I sit on my bed getting ready to lay down again, I hear Princess Magpie begin to cry because all this door opening and closing and trudging up and down the stairs has now woken her up too but before I can go up to her, Princess Belle is back at my door, requesting that Princess Magpie come into her room and play and watch the movie with her.

Everybody satisfied, I finally lay down on my pillow, take a deep breath and will myself to sleep. And fail. Now I am laying there, eyes wide open listening . . . waiting . . . expecting some little footsteps to come back down the stairs, listening for someone to cry. I just know that the second I actually fall asleep, I will be awoken.

So, I look longingly at my pillow and my nice cuddly warm bed, turn off the electric alarm that never gets to go off and I get up. I head straight to the coffee pot, hoping for a caffeine infusion taken alone quietly in the early morning before the crowd becomes aware that I am up and comes rushing down the stairs to greet the day.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat . . . way too early . . . every single morning.

It's a good thing they are all so darned cute!