Merry Christmas – Go Back to Bed

“Mommy! MOMMY! MOM-EEE”

I half opened one eye to peer at the alarm clock. It read 6:30. SIX THIRTY?! We have a standing policy that you pretend to sleep until seven. In an effort to stop this early wake up from spreading, I staggered to the Littles’ room to see what was the matter.

“What!?” I growled, discovering my throat was a dry and sore.

“When’s it going to be morning? It’s taking sooo long,” said the four-year-old.

“Sooo long,” echoed Little.

“Not for thirty more minutes, you need to be quiet in your bed.”

As I turned to go back to my room I saw that Big’s light was on. Great, another one up early, just going to pretend I don’t notice.

I snuggled back into my still warm bed and try not to think of my to-do list. Less than ten minutes later:

“No, YOU stop it!”

“Stop it.”

“No, YOU stop it.”

I stomped in quiet rage back to the Littles.

Through gritted teeth I told the four-year-old, “Santa won’t be bringing you presents if you aren’t quiet now. It’s too early.”

“Kay,” replied Little.

Once again I snuggled in for just twenty more minutes. Moments later I heard the steps of Big creeping slowly to my side.

“Leave. Mommy. A. Lone.” whisper-yelled Bearded Husband (my hero).

Five minutes later Littles started bickering again, probably about who stole the toddler’s belly button this time.

My sweet husband, who knows I’m not a morning person, got up to face the day. That’s when Big returned and quietly said:

“Your clock is wrong, Mommy. Every other clock in the house says that it’s 7:45.”

I am the proud owner of a plug-in alarm clock radio. To reset it you have to hold down multiple buttons. We’ve had a lot of power outages due to a recent ice storm. It flashes 12 until you fix it. Around midnight the night before, I changed the time. Turns out I set the alarm for the correct time, not the clock.

If anyone is looking for a last minute gift idea, I might be in the market for a battery operated bedside clock.