The trouble with 4am

Some Many of you know that Hank wakes up between the hours of 4am and 4:30am every day, and if you don't, it's because you don't follow me on facebook or Instagram (@mamadurso on IG... if you're interested). I do an awful lot of complaining about Hank's rooster-like tendencies on various social media. At least I used to. Now I'm just kind of used to it. That, and I upped my caffeine intake to five cups of coffee a day.

Even though I'm used to it doesn't mean it doesn't still suck. Yes, four o'clock is early and I do feel tired getting up that early, but there are other reasons why waking up so early is a bummer.

1. The day is reeeeeeeally long. Waking up at 4am and then staying up until Johnny goes to bed around 8 or 8:30pm makes for a 16 hour day. 16 hours of feeding, changing and entertaining children. I love my job, yes, but 16 hours of it is exhausting. And that doesn't even include after-hours clean up time.

2. Nothing is open that early. Typically I like to get out of the house in the morning while the boys are (relatively) rested. It makes for fewer meltdowns and they always get hungry for lunch, giving us a reason to go home. Well, at 4am, or even 5am when Johnny gets up, nothing is open. The indoor playareas we frequent are closed, the zoo is closed, SeaWorld is closed, and all of our local parks are out of the question because it's still FRIGGING dark outside.

3. Morning play dates are rough. Most play dates start around 9:30 or 10am. Well, by that time, Hank and I have been up for nearly six hours and he is jonesing for a nap. So I spend a majority of the play date keeping Johnny from stealing toys from other children (or them stealing from him) while holding a really heavy Hank. We usually leave when Hank starts melting down over something silly from lack of sleep.

So there you have it. The three major issues (besides exhaustion) of waking up super early with your toddler. There is one major positive though, and that's that most play areas (indoor and outdoor) are DESERTED in the afternoon since most normal children take naps at that time. After Hank has his 45 minute nap (unless I can hold him the whole time, then it's 2 hours) we try to get out of the house again to burn some energy before its time to come home to make dinner.

Oh, I guess I should note that getting up extra early with Hank means I get some quality alone time with him.. but to be honest it's not all that quality since I'm pretty much a zombie that early, regardless of coffee intake.