The Shocking Truth

I teach the young women at church each Sunday and we recently finished a series of lessons about physical health. When I received this teaching assignment Justin and I looked through the topics I would be teaching and this was one of the lessons we laughed out loud about. Not because it’s a silly topic, but because I’m one of the last people who should be teaching about physical health. The three areas discussed were diet, exercise, and rest. I have serious issues with all three areas.

During the lesson I confessed that maybe if I were to exercise I wouldn’t have such a hard time getting out of bed at 7 am. One of the other leaders laughed and said “what time DO you get out of bed?!?” If she thought 7 am was bad what would she think if she really knew the truth? She continued by saying “just wait til Abigail has school in the morning.” I told her that I have thought about this situation before and truly believe Abigail could get up each morning, shower, eat breakfast, make her lunch, come give me a hug and a kiss (while I’m still lay cozy in my bed) and head out to school on her own. One of the other leaders thought this idea was hilarious and since this day had brought it up a few times. I was with her again last night and while some friends were discussing the woes of parenting she jokingly said, “And then there’s Abigail who’s going to get off to school all on her own.”

I tried to explain that I really wasn’t joking. The shocking truth is that 90% of the time Abigail does get up on her own. And sadly it’s not because she wakes up early; it’s because her Mom wakes up so late. We actually have a rule that she can’t come into my room unless it’s after 8 am. Until then, and often much later, she quietly comes downstairs, eats her breakfast and reads… sometimes for hours. If Carly wakes up they can play together, but quietly. She doesn’t usually shower before I get up, but she has and definitely would. What five year-old does that? What five year-old should be expected to?

So this morning after feeding Jason, it was 7:45 am and as I proceeded to curl back up in bed, I felt a ting of guilt. I don’t know how often this will happen, but today I was the first one up.

Last week all the young women (and leaders) made a goal for the upcoming year. My goal was to get in better physical shape. If the lesson manual is true then fulfilling this goal could help me rise and shine at a little more appropriate time.

But until then, please continue to wait till after 9 am to call me :)