It's hard being a morning person. One wakes up at dawn, refreshed and ready to party, and then there is no one to play with.
A guy called up to schedule a date.
"So how about 8 a.m. on Sunday morning?"
I was so excited. "Sure!" I burbled with glee.
"Um, I was joking . . ."
Oh.
I am surrounded by night creatures who surface with the advent of the dark, whilst I, the morning robin, nests herself into bed.
"Are you interested in a self-defense class?"
"Sounds cool! When is it?"
"Tuesday nights at 9."
"Sorry, no can do."
It's hard enough being a lonely early bird. Try explaining it.
"What is wrong with you?"
How do I describe the willies that take me over when the evening creeps out? The fantasy that abominables lurk behind bushes? Also that I am dead tired by 10 o' clock since I've been up before 6?
I shrug helplessly instead.
FB bombards me with photos of contemporaries basking in the night life. Doesn't anyone go out for breakfast anymore?
I've noticed how some teenagers force themselves to become night people. My young cousin is still pottering about the house close to midnight despite the fact she has nothing to do, since high school "rules" dictate late hours. My high school tried that on me, but I held firm to my principles.
"Don't call her house past 9! Because she'll be asleep!" they would laugh hysterically.
Ha ha, very funny. You know what is also funny? Sleep deprivation during formative years probably led to your stunted growth. What a hoot.
I found one sympathetic soul who understands what I'm going through. "When I was dating," she told me, "I told the guys I can only do motzei Shabbos or Sunday. I know myself; I couldn't function if I had a date on weeknights. One guy even started yelling at me! We never ended up going out."
By the way, she's long married. Her children considerately tuck her in.
We aren't weird, just different. Can you understand that? We didn't choose to be this way, having alternate time zones to the rest of you.
We just ask for a little kindness and understanding.
I found one sympathetic soul who understands what I'm going through. "When I was dating," she told me, "I told the guys I can only do motzei Shabbos or Sunday. I know myself; I couldn't function if I had a date on weeknights. One guy even started yelling at me! We never ended up going out."
By the way, she's long married. Her children considerately tuck her in.
We aren't weird, just different. Can you understand that? We didn't choose to be this way, having alternate time zones to the rest of you.
We just ask for a little kindness and understanding.
Interestingly enough there's research showing that teenager biological clocks are synchronized to wake up at around 10 am and go to sleep at midnight. The researchers concluded that school should be from 11-5 instead of 9-3. So yes, being a morning person is odd.
ReplyDeleteBut I love it! I love the house being quiet and the chirping of the birds in the backyard and the idea that I'm being productive while everyone else is sleeping their lives away.
I actually chose to be that way. I'm much more of a night person by nature, but I turned it around because it's what works for me at this point in my life.
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, my kids tuck me in.
so THAT is why you're so tall!
ReplyDeleteHey! I haven't commented in a looong time but I have (sporadically) been reading your blog - and I'm also a verrrry morning person!!! And the same things happen to me - I'm always ready to go out at 8am on a Sunday morning and there's no one to party with :( Happy to hear someone else is like that!
ReplyDeleteAre you me? And we did we go to the same high school? Except in my case it was 'don’t call after 8:00 PM' because although I wasn't sleeping yet (that happened between 9:30 and 10 PM) I was already tired and wishing to read quietly in bed, not to talk on the phone.
ReplyDeleteI managed dating by never having a third date except with my husband. Here in Israel first and second dates usually end at a reasonable hour. My husband was interesting enough (and knew to take me to interesting places) to keep me awake, though of course I would sleep in the following day. (my office is quite flexible). HOWEVER, once we got engaged I was constantly shocking his family of night owls by nodding off in the middle of meals, simchas, etc. and I don’t care. When we go to his parents' house I go to sleep directly after the meal even though relatives are coming in, and everybody is having a great time. Even in the Pesach Seder I went to sleep before my father in law was done (my husband had told his parents beforehand that we would come only if we could read the Hagada on our own, to speed things up)
And, nowadays…my toddler is definitely a morning person: raising at 5:00 AM, sleeping at 6:00 PM at the latest. And my husband is more than happy to tuck me in, and then have his chavruta over for night seder
MGI: And shopping in the morning rocks too. No one to fight with!
ReplyDeleteMW: A convert? As I live and breathe!
FG: That's the secret. Although I do suppose genetics helps on some level . . .
LL: Just the two of us alone on Main Street.
Wellspring: My sister-in-law's family starts their sedarim really, really late. One year, as a kimpeturin, she came to us for first days. Exhausted, she fell asleep on the couch. I woke her at 10:30 that the seder was over. There was just this voice from under the blanket: "You're KIDDING."
Ever since then she comes to us for the sedarim. Even her kids are giddy about it.
Same thing for me: I can't have any stimulation past 9 or else it messes up my sleep. I usually read for a half hour or so and turn the light out at 9:45-10.
Soothing reading. Ah.