Life becomes dramatically different when your youngest becomes a teenager. Teens are loud, not in the way they were when they were young, a new kind of loud. Mostly this comes in the form of loud music, and in my house big groups of boisterous boys. They yell, push, shove and generally abuse each other in any way they can. This takes getting used to but overall it’s not to hard to do.
Teens eat a lot of food, really, more than I could have ever imagined. This takes getting used to as well, but once you have adjusted your shopping and your budget it’s not too bad either.
The one that is taking me longer to adjust to is that teens don’t really want to sleep at night. Not only do they not want to be asleep, they want to be with each other. So they stay out late and need rides home at ridiculous hours. I’m not a night person and would rather be tucked in with a good book than picking up a pack of teens from an all ages show or late movie but I do it anyway. Why? Because your only young once and within reason everyone deserves to have fun.
One unexpected benefit of having teens is that they like to sleep in, and quite often they aren’t even around in the morning. Not being a night owl, means that I generally get up pretty early in the morning and like most people we get up early on week days. But I have to admit, I have been catching some extra winks in the morning due to our new routines.
I have been able to do this thanks to a clever little idea I had the other weekend. I call it the weekend curtain. In our bedroom we have a light colored curtain that lets in the morning sun, this is nice when you need to get up as you are awakened by the light. It is really annoying when you want to sleep in. Where I live, the sun comes up at 545 this time of year and it’s pretty bright in our room by 630. Perfect on a weekday, not so much on the weekend.
Enter the weekend curtain. Our is just a basic dark sarong that we hang up on Saturday and Sunday, if we don’t have any commitments. Yours could be something more fancy or expensive. I have seen some lovely combinations of lighter and heavier curtains and also curtain and blind combinations. But we don’t have the money for that right now and I’m sure some of you who are entering the world of teens don’t either, because teens are expensive. So don’t let the lack of money for the perfect look stop you, hang up what you have and you too will remember that blissful feeling, long forgotten, of lying in bed past sun up.
When you finally wake up, rested and refreshed, you may like to return to your bed, cup of tea in hand, and enjoy a book or newspaper. You can do this because most likely your teenagers are either still asleep or self-sufficient. Yes, they can get their own breakfast and even go to the store and get what is needed for breakfast and pick up the paper while they are there. Not every weekend morning is a luxurious lye-in but it sure is nice that it is happening much more often then it used to.
All rights reserved by Kelly Sauer (♥ a restless heart)
1 comment:
Sleep deprivation is always the suspect here but I agree on having curtains that will allow sunlight to pass through. Soon, you'll get accustomed to it and your body clock will be active once again.
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