Breathe.

I once read an article that said, you should start each day with at least 20 minutes of meditation.  To clear you mind, preparing yourself for what the day brings.  During those 20 minutes, it’s simple, you BREATHE. 

While that’s all good, in theory, I would like to share with you how our mornings typical go.

WAKE UP!  We are late, again.  At least one of the boys has crept in, at some point in the night and is snuggled in between B and I.  It’s usually H, with his sweet little face and his crazy bed head.  I’ve learned with H, there is only one way to wake him up and that is with humor.  Typically it involves the pincher bugs AND the tickle bugs.  O, on the other hand, is ALWAYS the first one up.  4am on Christmas morning, 5:30 am on his birthday….he loves any/all holidays.  IF, S slept through the night, he typically wakes up singing a little something-something.  Lately, it’s been a sweet rendition of, “chugga, chugga, choo choo”.  Within 25 minutes we are showered, dressed, teeth brushed and headed downstairs.  25 minutes, 5 people, that’s pretty damn good, right?  Oh, but then there is breakfast.  One likes juice, the other milk.  One likes cream cheese ON their bagel, the other, ONLY on the side.  Then, there is the one that doesn’t like bagels, or cream cheese, or juice.  The dog needs to go out, eat, and take his pills.  Coffee needs to be made….and sometimes remade.  Lunches, water bottles, snacks, hats, gloves, homework ….check, check and CHECK.  Out the door we go!  Once that door closes, I can breathe and enjoy my 5 minutes of drinking a hot cup of coffee.  I live for those 5 minutes, those glorious 5 minutes, in a car no less.

 If my math is correct, in about 16 years I will be able to wake up, take 20 minutes to meditate, clear my mind and just breathe.  Of course, at that time, I will have 3 teenage boys and an entirely new set of craziness to deal with.