Best Alarm Clock Ever
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep...fumbling to find the snooze button to silence that annoying alarm only to grab a couple more minutes to sleep before getting up and starting the day. Or, waking up to music playing, which was my choice for years. I'd set up my Aiwa system to wake me up to my favorite cd. Before I had that stereo, I woke up to the radio. Rarely did I get the pleasure of waking up to a good song on the radio. Usually, it was some annoying commercial or the dj rattling on about some meaningless dribble that they erroneously thought was interesting to someone at that early hour.
However, none of these choices were that great. It still meant that I had to get up and hurry to get ready for a stressful day at work or school. Years and years went by of waking up to alarms. I never really allowed myself to dream about a day that I wouldn't have to wake up to an annoying alarm. It was just one of those things that I lived with.
Growing up, my dream was to be able to stay at home with my children when they were young. When I was pregnant with my first child, I gave notice to my school that I would not be returning the next school year. As I always did each summer, I took off my watch and put it in my jewelry box and paused for a moment and rejoiced that I wouldn't be putting that watch back on in a couple of months since I'd be at home with my baby.
However, I don't think that I ever even thought about that annoying alarm clock. I never gave it a moment's thought that I wouldn't have to wake up to it anymore. I never did a victory dance. Nope. I knew that in a few months I'd be waking up at all hours to the cry of a baby.
In the beginning, waking up to a crying baby is like an adrenaline rush. At the first stirring, your feet hit the floor and there's no thoughts of wanting to just sleep a little longer. As time goes on, and the sleep deprivation starts to set in, it takes just a moment longer to get out of bed.
However, the sound of that baby crying is almost like music to a mother's ears. Actually, I should rephrase that. It depends on how long the crying has been going on. If the cry has just started as the baby rouses from sleep, it's like music to a mother's ears.
As the baby gets older, those wakeful cries go away and are replaced with babbles. Talk about waking up to the best sound ever, hearing your sweet baby perfectly happy and content in their bed. Not only is it a sweet sound, but it also allows mommy to slowly wake up and do any must-dos before they get their baby and start their day.
As that baby got older, graduated to a toddler bed, and could get up on her own in the morning, I had a new part of our morning routine. Now, I wake up to my little girl crawling into bed in the morning for a little cuddle as we wake up and start our day. Although I've never been a morning person, I look forward to waking up and cuddling with my little girl each morning, except of course when she comes in a bit too early.
There is nothing in this world like the coos and babbles that come over that monitor in the mornings or the cuddles of an older child. I never thought about the day when I'd have the best alarm clocks ever.
Waking up to a regular old alarm clock after these sounds would be a harsh reality...a reality that I may someday face. In the meantime, I'm going to revel in each day that I get to have the best alarm clocks ever.
Now it's time to continue to build my home-based business so I can permanently throw that alarm clock away (or donate it to someone who still has to use one).