Being: Conscious, mortal existence; life.
Every month we welcome two families, two people, two voices to share their stories in whatever way they chose. We hope that you find joy in their daily lives, and their simple habit of just being.
::::::::::::
A few weeks ago, I set out to change my sleeping schedule. Rather than late to bed, late to rise, I wanted to do the opposite. This would mean sacrificing my late night productive hours, and replacing them with early morning hours. I prefer the early morning quiet, watching the light slowly fill the sky, rather than the dark of late night. There’s something hopeful in watching the sun come up, and so much peace in that little window of time before my children start waking up. I know, because I managed to do this for an entire week.
Each morning, Silas woke me up nice and early to nurse as always and after he fell back to sleep I would creep from our room, tiptoe past my sleeping girls in their room, and down the stairs (hoping they wouldn’t creak too much.) Once downstairs, I would quietly grab a snack and then settle into a chair to pray, knit, and wait for the sun to come up. Then in the early morning light, I headed to my garden. The days were hot, and I knew that early morning gardening was they only way that I would have a fall garden. I loved those mornings in the garden. I Loved them.
Each night I collapsed into bed, bone tired. Each morning, I sprang from the bed as soon as I could, eager for the quiet and the cool. By the end of the week, my girls were on to my new schedule, and they wanted to be a part of it. Larkspur would wake and join me in the garden, or Beatrix would crawl into my chair next to me while I knit. I love them so, and I was glad to be with them, but the reason I was waking early, was to be alone for a bit. Silas too caught on, and decided that he actually didn’t want to go back to sleep anymore after his early morning nursing session. That was the end.
I thought about my early morning hours with a bit of sadness: the quiet, the cool. I decided not to count my efforts a failure, but a glimpse at something that I might enjoy during a different season of life. Those seemingly fragile and precious minutes before the day begins, they will always be there waiting, and I will look forward to the time when I can meet them again. For now, I am back to rolling out of bed later than I should, staying up far later than I should to get a bit of quiet, and accepting that this is where I am at right now.
This month we happily welcome Ginny Sheller as a guest in our Being series here on the blog. A mother of six, Ginny keeps her own beautiful blog, Small Things, where she shares her thoughts on everything from knitting and gardening, to homeschooling her six children and keeping bees on the side.
GIVEAWAY: Want the chance to win a brand new Apple iPad? The Rhythm of the Home blog is one of the five hand-picked blogs hosting the details of The Golden Ticket Giveaway from the new Ultimate Guide to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory enhanced ebook for kids. The details of this Rafflecopter giveaway can be found here and we encourage everyone to enter to win before September 23rd!
::::::::::::
Rhythm of the Home is an online magazine for families that focuses on creating with children, nature explorations, seasonal celebrations, conscious parenting, and mindfulness in all that we do. To learn more about us, please visit us on Facebook,Pinterest, and Twitter.
We welcome new submissions for our upcoming seasons. To learn more about submitting, please visit our magazine.
{ 5 comments }
I too have a habit of staying up later than I should in order to be by myself for a bit. I’ve tried getting up before my daughter, but she’s a morning person like her daddy and if she hears me up she usually gets up too. I’m not naturally a morning person, so if I’m confronted with demands before I’ve even had a chance to orient myself for the day, it does not go well. We’re due with another baby in October so I’ll have to figure out something else then, I’m sure, but in the meantime, staying up late seems to be the imperfect answer.
I’ve been pulling late nights myself lately, though I think early mornings are more my style – especially lovely in the heat of summer. It’s smart to remind yourself that even though it may not work now, there’s always another season.
Thanks for sharing.
I’ve been thinking about making an early morning change too so that I could have even just a half an hour to squeeze in some quiet time to exercise. In reality though I already wake at 6am and I don’t dare creep out of bed because my 3 year old would certainly follow.
i stay up far too late but still attempt to get up at 6 a.m. before everybody else… up to now! i like the thought that this is a season, and accepting where we are right now. this is true also with so many other things in mothering!
Ginny, This is exactly where I am right now! Before kids I was always an early riser. Now I find it quite impossible to get up without waking my younger daughter, and equally as impossible to resist staying up later than I should to enjoy some alone time sans kids. Thanks for the reminder that this season will pass, and some day I’ll be able to enjoy my productive mornings again.
Comments on this entry are closed.