Monday Blues

Luxury is an ancient notion. There was once a Chinese mandarin who had himself wakened three times every morning simply for the pleasure of being told it was not yet time to get up. ~Argosy

The alarm clock sounded punctually at 5.30am.

I gave it a good punch and decided to steal ten more minutes of slumber.

Rachel, the lurking spirit, popped her head through my door and announced,

“It’s five-thirty; time to wake up.”

I flipped over, shoved at Angel and Mervin who were sleeping beside me, persuading them to wake up and get ready for their morning swimming class.

I made a quick mental calculation and decided to give myself thirty more minutes of snooze.

Just five minutes into dozing off, Rachel poked her head into my room again, exclaiming,

“Wake up!”

I peered at the alarm clock, decided to pamper myself for another twenty-five more minutes and drifted off again.

“Wake up!” came the cry from my doorway again.

I grunted in displeasure and tried to redeem my twenty minutes in full.

“Wake up!” came the persistent cry yet again!

Irritated, I sat on the edge of my bed. My head still took some time to clear the fuzziness clouding around it. I drained my entire willpower to drag myself towards the bathroom to wash up for the day.

I reached the school at 6.45am with the kids.

YAWN.

That’s the price for parent volunteering for the morning swimming co-curriculum activity; my precious sleep.

The morning swimming session lasted from 8am to 10am. I stayed at the school till the kids finished their lunch then returned home to wash the wet towels and swimming gears. After I vacuumed and mopped the floor, it was time to head to the school for the afternoon swimming session again.

YAWN times two.

This time, I stayed till 5.30pm and fetched Mervin and Angel from school.

The rest of the evening was spent cooking, washing up, cleaning, laundering, coaching…

Knowing that I can sleep till 10am the next morning seems to be the greatest consolation at the moment.

YAWN times infinity.