Letting them be

‘Gooood Morning. Wake up. Wake up. It’s mooorning!’

‘What time is it?’

‘6.30’.

‘6.30? Why are you waking me up so early? It’s vacation time. Let me be.’

‘No please. Wake up, pretty please.’

‘Go away.’

‘But you promised you’d take us swimming.’

‘Ow! Okay five more minutes?’

Alllriggght! Five minutes. That’s 300 seconds 1..2…3…4…5…

At that point I just push off the covers and decide to give up on my sleep, whatever’s left of it that is, after all that conversation. Some role-reversal, this!

The other day I woke up to the sound of the doorbell. Darned milkman, thought I. Despite telling him over and over again not to ring the doorbell every morning, somedays he insists on doing just that, deriving some kind of perverse pleasure in disturbing my sleep. I opened the door to see N standing there, dressed in tracks and running shoes, her face bright pink, her grin stretching from ear to ear. I stared at her slightly disoriented wondering what she was doing on the wrong side of the door. ‘I went jogging,’ she explains, ‘You were asleep so I didn’t disturb you.’

 That’s how my days have been starting since the holidays began. The kids, who insisted on sleeping well beyond 8 or 9 each morning, during their entire study leave, have been up by 6.30 am almost everyday, bursting with energy and ready with their lists of things to do. They sleep late, wake up early and want to spend every waking moment either in the pool or at their tabs.

 I can be found reading a book while they splash around happily, or ferrying them around fulfilling their very varied wish lists or carting home tubs of ice cream. I am quite revelling in their freedom, taking a break from being mean mum. It is a relief and a pleasure to simply let them be, at least for the first few days.

 The vacations are here!

22 Replies to “Letting them be”

  1. Aha! The new site is up!! Congratulations Tulika!!

    Hahaha! This is going to be my story from day after. Yes, AG will be back home on 18th as his exams are getting over tomorrow and I am leaving in a short while to pick him up.
    Have a great vacation with the kids and I am looking forward to mine too 🙂

    1. Good luck for the vacations Shilpa. Still struggling with the site, trying out all kinds of variations and not satisfied at all.

  2. 🙂 I know! Going crazy trying to wake them up when they should be up early, and having them bounce out of bed when you want to lie in is hilarious! I’ve been there and done that….now soon I’ll be there again, and do it again! I think it is great to be up early. You are fortunate N wants to go jogging!

  3. Hahaha..and oh I know what you mean, these kids have a secret mechanism that unlocks their sleep schedule, which always works against us. Mine is like the king of crank on every single weekday morning, but is up at the crack of dawn on Saturday and Sunday!

    I am glad you are having a great time with your little ones. Hope the entire summer is as great as the start. Have fun!

    1. Thanks Shantala. Children seem to have an inbuilt alarm system that makes them sleep on weekdays and wakes them up on weekends and holidays.

    1. Good for you. Finally the kids have started sleeping in as the excitement of the holidays is wearing off just a bit.

  4. Haha! Waking up early on vacation days is something I did as well. On school days, it was a different story with mum literally pouring a bucket of water on me. Trueven story!
    Enjoy the break, you deserve it as much as the kids!

  5. Ask me about it! I have been looking forward for my son's study leave so that I could get up a little late since there's no school but as luck would have it, I recently hired a new cook who insists on coming early in the morning. Every morning my reaction to her arrival is the same as yours when your milkman disturbs you with the doorbell. Hope you're enjoying the girls' holidays, otherwise.

  6. Kids are full of energy during the holidays, never want to miss a minute of those those precious days…… by the way I too was like that 🙂

  7. Was waiting for your writeup…I so relate to this! But in my case, this also happens every Saturday / sunday…invariably I am woken up on a holiday at 6.00 by "A"…whereas it is near impossible task to wake her up on a school day!

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