Morning wins

I have never been a morning person. Ever.

Now, it’s not that I’m lazy (okay, well, I AM lazy, but that’s beside the point). It’s more that I’m a night person. I am most productive in the evenings and can easily stay up to all hours working on something – often, I don’t even notice how much time has gone by and I really regret my late night the next day.

Hmm. Now that I think about it, that’s probably why I like coffee so much too.

Anyway, the only way I’ve ever really enjoyed a morning is by sleeping through it – or at least staying snuggled up in a nice warm bed with the covers pulled over my head. For most of my life, I had an unwritten rule that the hours needed to be in the double-digits before anyone approached me.

Buuuuut – that all changed when Pumpkin was born. Rarely do I get to sleep in past 6am now. Did you KNOW there’s a 5am? Uh huh. There’s a 4am too! And don’t get me started on the horrible thing that some people call 3am. Around here, it’s known as “hmmreewoordkfgkk o’clock.” I knew nothing of these hours before having a baby. Now, I am all too aware of them.

And, while I am learning to deal with the early mornings, Pumpkin is the only one that doesn’t see my wrath at these forsaken hours. She’s a baby; she doesn’t know any better – and there’s no use trying to reason with her anyway. Hubby, on the other hand has learned to leave me be if he doesn’t want a snarl – or worse.

Of course, that doesn’t mean mornings are always bad. On the contrary, there are certain things that I’ve learned to love appreciate about those pre-10am hours.

Generally, it’s little things that cause me to smile or which make the start of the day that little bit easier – but just a few of them can quickly add up to a morning win, and those little victories are enough to get me through to lunchtime!

A smiling baby

I must admit that we’ve been very lucky with Pumpkin. She almost never wakes up crying. She generally wakes up, starts to stir and then plays a little bit in her cot until her happy gurgles wake me up.

When I stumble to the cot to lift her out, she almost always greets me with a big smile. Maybe this is an evolutionary trait (don’t anger mummy before breakfast) or perhaps it’s just her good nature, but that beautiful grin certainly takes the sting out of the early-morning wake-up call.

A lovely sunrise

Although we have thick black-out curtains, they still let in a little bit of light around the edges (did I do something wrong when installing them?).

This light is normally a standard outsidey sort of colour, but occasionally, I’ll wake up to a room that’s filled with a warm pink glow. This is the sign that there’s an especially beautiful sunrise just waiting to be seen. The reflected colours glimmering of the Thames adds to the effect and it gives my morning an extra boost.

This creativity from Ajanta was quite praiseworthy and got appreciated by many users. levitra prices icks.org So leaving our concentration to catch the reason we should focus on the levitra sales online proper medication to get over this situation as this condition disable a man’s capacity to express his curiosity for his partner by sex.So it automatically drag them apart. Did you levitra sale know that he’s known for proposing to women on the first date? Yes, well good thing I’m here to stop you from making a HUGE mistake! Anyway…”And there you go. It focuses more on the so-called musculoskeletal system, being closely related to joints, tendons, ligaments, knees, and ankles, as well as the back and neck. purchase generic levitra
A tasty breakfast

Let’s face it, with a demanding baby – who’s well on her way to becoming a demanding toddler – a cooked breakfast of sausages, eggs, toast is usually out of the question. And something especially scrummy like pancakes or French toast is as likely to end up on my plate as a unicorn-drawn carriage is to show up outside my door to take me to the supermarket.

At least there are some good alternatives available that are simple, tasty and give me the boost I need to make it through the morning. I recently got to try three new flavours of belVita Breakfast Crunchy Biscuits – and they work a treat… as long as Pumpkin doesn’t steal them (she obviously loves them too and will pull one right out of my mouth!)

A nice cup of coffee

The mornings are generally a whirlwind of bottles, nappies, wipes and baby porridge. And while a quick and easy breakfast is usually enough for me, having just a few quiet moments to indulge in a piping hot cup of milky coffee can be the difference between bear-recently-out-of-hibernation Shannon and somewhat-more-human Shannon.

This often happens sometime after baby has been fed. I’ll plop her down in her playpen for a few minutes and I’ll retreat to the kitchen to sip my coffee and check Twitter and Facebook messages.

A chance to catch a few more zzzzs

While all these little things are nice, I must be completely honest and say that I still think one of the best ways to get through a morning is curled up in bed. I’m a leopard and not liking mornings is one of my never-changing spots.

During the week, Pumpkin and I often manage to squeeze a mid-morning snooze into our daily schedule. Once we get our tummies filled, we’ll snuggle up together in the big bed and head back to dreamland. On weekends, Hubby will normally take her for some daddy-daughter time and I can get some proper sleep.

---

This post is an entry for #MorningWin Linky Challenge sponsored by belVita Breakfast. Learn more at http://bit.ly/belVitaUK