On Friday, Niko woke up at 4:45 am, on Saturday, he woke up at 5:45 am, and today, it was 6 am. A bit early for me, so when that happens, I hear him and see the lights being turned on as his bedroom is next to mine. He knows that he can’t grab his iPad till 6 am, but he can grab it and put his audiobook on. Right now, that audiobook is one of the many Percy Jackson books.
One of the first things I ask him when he gets up and it doesn’t matter what the time is, is to shut Nina’s bedroom door and make sure the cat is loose! We let Nina sleep or if she is awake, we let her take her time getting up. As far as the cat, he is usually sleeping in my bed but as soon as he hears Niko stir and open his bedroom door, he goes to him (I mean, he wants cuddles and pets). It’s really adorable to see them together.
Even though I am not ready to get up and be a functioning dad yet, I do tell him that when you are ready to eat, say the magic words, “I’m Hungry!” It’s not like I roll over and close my door, and go back to bed. I am fully aware of everything he is doing. And the dad kitchen can be opened and kicking out food and drinks in a second! When I do eventually open Mark’s Cafe, I have routines. First, the dishwasher gets emptied and then I can make Niko’s breakfast which lately has been ham and egg breakfast tacos. His drink of choice is either lemonade, milk, or hot cocoa! During the week, I make my breakfaster after I get back from dropping him off at school. During the weekends, I make enough for both of us.
Normally, when he does get up super early, I am OK to be in the world, but on Friday, I was exhausted. I logged into work and told my boss I am taking my three morning calls, and then I am logging off.
His bedtimes on Friday and Saturday were a little bit earlier as well. Usually, it’s 7 pm, but we pushed it back to 6:15 and 6:30 pm. For me, my bedtime was a few minutes after Niko’s. It’s a lot of work getting up early, being a dad, being a husband, and packing the house (well, Nina is doing most of it). Yesterday, I did a few minutes of garage packing and I stumbled and put off packing a television and our iMac. I will try again today.
