It’s 6:15 am, and I am waking up. Man, I was having a really amazing dream. Sometimes, it could be even earlier than that as sometimes Niko wakes up first. Most of those times, it’s the middle of the night and he has to pee and afterwards, he goes right back to sleep. One of those times, he went to the sofa and as he was getting in pee position, I screamed softly nope, that isn’t the toilet! Another one of those times, he was in pee position in the hallway outside his door and before I could scream softly, it was too late! Sometimes, he wakes up quite a bit a bit earlier than the alarm, and I have to be up with him. Or, actually, I get in his bed and hide under the blankets and tell him that we can do down at 6:00 am or 6:15 am.
Sometimes,I am awake before the 6:15 am alarm, as our neighbors have super loud cars and the owner of one of them starts his car before my alarm goes off. It always saves me because so loud. I can be in the master bathroom with the door closes and the shower and vent on, and I can still hear that car.
Let’s get back to it’s 6:15 am, and I am waking up. I somehow, have to get out of bed, and make sure not to step on anything that Niko has left out from the previous day. When that happens, I shriek loud! The room is dark, and somewhere in that dark room is a black cat. I can hear his purrs and I think I can see his eye balls, but I have no clue if that fluff of black is a blanket, a pair of Niko sweatpants, or the actual cat. I drift over to pet and get licked. Yep, it’s definitely a cat!
I make my way to Niko’s room, and open the door and say WAKEY WAKEY TIME TO GET UP FOR SCHOOL. A faint boy voice says, DAD, I WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF A DREAM. WHY ARE YOU WAKING ME UP. I AM SO TIRED.
Sometimes, I jump into his bed as I am not awake yet. I hear a faint boy voice that says, DAD, MOVE, I REALLY HAVE TO PEE. CAN YOU GET MY IPAD!
It’s funny, because the first thing he does every single morning is he grabs his iPad, and it goes everywhere he goes; bathroom included. Even when gets dressed, he has to see the screen. We are working on less screen time, with that and TV as well. I am, though, glad that we go out for a meal, Nina and I can amuse him with other things like drawing or finding Waldo. When I see other families dining out, it frustrates me that almost immediately, the electronics come out for everybody; even mom and dad. It’s like they talk to each other through text messaging. We don’t have that problem at all.
We then go downstairs, where he places his breakfast order with me, the dad chef: scrambled eggs in a tortilla and either Orange Juice, water, or hot cocoa from the Keurig. Sometimes, could be a bowl of cereal and a piece of toast with butter.
As I am pulling the chef duties, I am also emptying the dishwasher. I am an excellent multitasker! I even get brownie points from the wife as I put a small mug and a larger mug next to the Keurig, so she can have a nice hot cup of coffee.
I am able to sit down with him for a few minutes, and check my phone to see what I missed since I last looked my phone 10 seconds prior. You know how that is, email, Facebook, Facebook memories, weather, Facebook again, LinkedIn (I don’t know why I check as I don’t do anything on it), and then I finally say enough, put the phone down and pay attention to Niko who is starring at his iPad screen with a video from YouTube kids! I open my Kindle instead, and start reading.
By now, it’s about 6:45 am, and I need to get Niko upstairs so he can use the bathroom again. Sometimes, during this time, I will start a load of laundry as we make a lot. One time, I found a sock behind the television upstairs. One time, he threw another sock and it landed on the fan. He usually drops his clothes at the top of the staircase. It’s me, who has to pick up his dirty clothes and throw them in the wash. I do tell him a lot that he needs to put his dirty clothes in the laundry area. Most of the time, he does that. Sometimes, he puts them in the washing machine. This is when I get dressed for school and when Nina emerges. I let her do do her thing in the morning so she doesn’t have to worry about Niko. She knows how much time she has and is always ready for school. She isn’t the best sleeper in the house, so giving her a little extra time in the morning is something I have always done for her. Even on weekends, she can sleep in a bit longer as she knows all is good in the Niko and dad world. Me, I am a master sleeper. When I am tired and ready for bed, I am out in less than 5 minutes.
A quick tangent…
On New Years Day, and after Niko woke up, I asked him if he wanted to go out for breakfast. I have asked him this same question for several prior days, and it’s always nope! But, on that Monday morning, he said yes! We got dressed. I actually got clothes the night before in case it happened and threw them on the upstairs sofa. We snuck out of the house through the front door, as I didn’t want to wake Nina up with the garage door. Well, I was so caught up on getting Niko in the car, I failed to see Nina waving from the bedroom window. She was awake and wanted t0 come with us, and we just left her alone with the black cat! We ended up meeting my parents, and Niko always loves seeing them. I did text Nina to see I she wanted something from IHOP. She said nope! Niko had hot cocoa and cinnamon bun crepes, and when he was done, his plate was empty.
Finally, Niko has finished with the bathroom, and it’s about 7:10 am. I get him dressed, and we go downstairs too finish accessorizing him. By that, I mean, watch, glasses, and a jacket if needed. Nina or I will get his lunch packed in his lunch-bag and fill his water bottle with water and ice. Then, we throw the lunch-bag and water bottle in his backpack.
Now, it’s 7:20 am, so I say goodbye and start my walk to the school. Nina and Niko leave the house by car at 7:25 am or 7:30 am. The three of us arrive in front his classroom around 7:35, and the bell to go in rings at 7:40 am. Nina and I wait to make sure he goes into the class, and we are home by 7:50 am.
Once home, I make myself breakfast, go upstairs to eat, and login to my work a few minutes after 8:00 am.
Nina and I do what we have to do as we are a team; I take care of him in the mornings and Nina takes care of him after school. After school is 3:00 pm. I take over when I am finished with work at 5:00 pm, and usually he is done eating dinner and either in the bathroom or getting cleaned. I make sure we have a few minutes to play before bedtime. We like to have him in bed and tucked by 6:30 pm.
After that, I do house chores; clean the kitchen, scoop cat litter, and take the trash out. I eat dinner and afterwards, I write words and read a book. By around 9:00 pm, I am ready to be done.
Rinse and Repeat every weekday morning.
