Thursday, November 18, 2010

What Gets You Out of Bed in the Morning?

Sleeping Beauty by Thomas Spence

The clock said 6:14am.  I was avoiding getting out a bed, because I had a migraine.  Hubband was avoiding getting out of bed, because he is lazy.  He may have had some legitimate excuse, but as he offered none, I will go with my assessment.

All three of the children were awake.  They had come to see us several times: first in turn, and then en mass. We had finally managed to get them out of our room, when we heard this:

The refrigerator opened.  A drawer in the refrigerator opened.  A plastic bag rustled.  I recognized it as a bag of cheese sticks.  (Yes, I recognized it.  I have mom-hearing.  It should be studied by the NSA.)  The drawer closed.  The refrigerator door closed, with a couple of hard thumps, because the drawer did not get closed all the way.

Sam:  What's that Catie?
Cate:  My cheese, my cheese.
Sam:  Catie...
Cate:  No, no.  My cheese, my cheese.
Jonah:  No, Sam.  Catie, do you need me to open your cheese?
Cate:  Uh-huh.  My cheese.

A kitchen drawer opened.  Utensils were jostled.

Sam:  No, Jonah.
Cate:  My cheese. my cheese.
Jonah:  Hang on, Catie.  I'm trying to open it for you.
Sam:  Jonah, give me that.
Jonah:  No, Sam.
Sam:  Jonah, I want it, I want.
Jonah: No, Sam.
Cate:  My cheese, my cheese.
Sam:  No, Jonah.  That's sharp.  No, Jonah.  That's sharp.  That's sharp.
Jonah:  Sam, be quiet.  I'm just trying to open the cheese.
Cate:  My cheese, my cheese.
Sam:  No, Jonah.  That's sharp.

Hm.  One of us had to get out of bed, or spend the morning answering uncomfortable questions in the emergency room.  But, it did not have to be me.

I rolled toward Hubband and whispered, "Jonah has a knife."  With that, he lept out of bed, like the super hero that he is.

I take back what I said.  Hubband is not lazy.  He just needs sufficient motivation.

4 comments:

  1. Well I certainly know that feeling - when even a discussion about sharp utensils between one's very small chidren doesn't exactly seem a good enough reason to get out of bed! I've found myself exhausted and sitting watching the kids teetering on something and assessing at which point they're going to fall - or whether they're going to fall at all. And I've done that with Ed who has haemophilia. Exhaustion - or migraines - will do that!

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  2. Hee hee. You know Hubband well.
    I remember those days, too Kate. Soooooo tired-bone numbing tired.

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  3. Ha! Small children do manage to get me out of bed, but not with sufficient motivation. I just drag myself down the hall while mentally pulling the covers over my head.
    On the plus side, next time if you unwrap the cheese sticks before you go to bed... maybe the kids will start getting their own breakfasts! :)
    Please keep passing on the husband motivation tips though, they are sure to come in handy.

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  4. LOL!! TRACEY!!! I have no words. Glad Hubband got out of bed!

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