Morning Energy

When is the last time you woke up in the morning and said to yourself: “Yay, I’m awake!! I’m going to go and play now” and promptly ran out of bed to do whatever with great joy and energy? Yes… me too…. when I was 7 years old or so 😉

I was commiserating with another mother today as she was chuckling at her son’s morning energy. She had to wake him for his day camp and as soon as he opened his eyes he expressed that he wanted to play with his cranes. Mom suggested he get dressed and then eat breakfast, but as he bounced out of bed all he could talk about was when would he be able to play with his crane. When does that amazing morning energy end? When we have kids? 😉 Ha ha, unfortunately a little before that. I don’t know exactly when but what I do know is that I have 4 boys over 17 and none of them want to get up in the morning, and if they are up for school or work it is better not to talk to them.

That is why I was floored when my son agreed to go bike riding with my husband (his step dad) today. They were going with another neighbour and were being picked up at 6am! Yes – 6 AM! I saw him hesitate, but he really wanted to go and in this heat it was early or never.

I was always an early riser even through my teens. By early back then I mean 8:30-9am on the weekend. Now I am awake around 6:30am no matter what day of the week it is, sometimes earlier. This is not necessarily by choice but rather a result of my job and years of getting up with young children.

It is not often I see them voluntarily get up early when they don’t have to, but as a personal trainer and active living advocate and mother, I am proud to say that the one thing they will get up for is to do something physical like that. Back when I still had a cottage my oldest son (then 16-17 years old) had a standing arrangement with me that if I woke up and the lake was completely calm I was to wake him no matter what time so he could go for a water-ski. And I did. And he skiid with a smile and then went back to bed 😉

I still love the mornings, especially weekend mornings. Now that all my boys sleep in, I can get up to a quiet house. Enjoy a nice cup of coffee and chat with my husband or have alone time depending on what is going on. When I travel away from my family the morning is always my favourite. I love getting up and having the day ahead of me. I am happy and awake in the morning and have found a way to always wake up feeling positive and excited about the day ahead. Though I don’t wake up wanting to play right away any longer…. That good and positive feeling may get trampled on through the day, but at 7am with my steaming Americano in my hand all is good.

I have lived with all kinds of morning people. My sister was NOT a morning person. If I spoke to her at all I was quickly informed that I was not to speak to her in the morning. All her friends knew the same. You never expected anything but a snarl from her before 11am. My Dad has always been like me. Happy and ready to go and an early riser. He was always up before me, and was often on his way in the door from a physical activity of some sort when I rolled out of bed at 8:30am. What an inspiration! He also knew he could wake me to join him which sometimes he did and other times… well, I guess he enjoyed his solo mornings just like I do now.

Are you a morning person or a night hawk? Are you a bear in the morning or a happy person? Tell me your morning story! What do you love/hate about the mornings?

The worst part of being a morning person is not being able to stay awake past 10pm…. But I have decided that is not all bad 🙂

Elisabeth