“One Morning” is a photo essay series that provides a sneak peek into the everyday lives of the Fairfield County Moms Blog contributors. The morning routine is photographed by N. Lalor Photography, and words are written by each mom to tell the story behind the images. It’s a rare and intimate look into each family’s life, one morning at a time.
September through June, my morning routine is timed out to the exact minute.
6:00: alarm goes off
6:08: get in the shower
6:15: get out of the shower
6:27: get dressed
You get the picture.
But June through September is an entirely different story. School’s out for summer! And, since I am a teacher, that makes this mama almost as excited as my 3 ½-year-old daughter, Miss C. I love Summer Ally. Summer Ally says “Hah! we don’t need no schedule!” For the first few days of summer, C looks at me like, “Really, mommy?! I can eat waffles with syrup on the sofa?” This summer, I decided to ditch our normal routine completely. For us, this means going to bed a little (or a lot) later, bathing a little bit less, not always eating at the table, and watching a little more TV in the morning.
Let me just start by saying I was the kid who woke up at 5:30 in the morning. I love mornings! My daughter, however, is a completely different story. My morning routine illustrates one way that having a kid changed my life. Before Miss C’s arrival (B.C.) I would get out of bed, watch some news on TV, maybe go to the gym, take a bath, and do crazy things like eat breakfast all before 9:00 am. A.C., if I get up before her (which I usually do), I sit in bed and read a book. This is probably the only “alone time” I get all day. Once, I tried to get up and go work out downstairs. C woke up the second my feet hit the floor. Since then, I have been scared to get out of bed until I am ready to wake Miss C up.
This morning, Dad was long gone. He had to be at work at 4:30, so it is just us ladies! It’s now 8:00, and it’s time to get this show on the road. Miss C either wakes up extremely happy or highly cranky – there is no in-between for her. Luckily, she seems to be in a good mood today and jumps out of bed to hug me. We head downstairs to the kitchen to start our day! 
Today, we have to get ready for camp. I get C’s breakfast ready in the kitchen; in the interest of time, we shove some frozen waffles into the toaster. C’s not much of a breakfast person, so if any portion of these waffles makes it into her tummy, I consider it a small victory. While breakfast is heating up, Miss C is already busy painting at her table, playing with bubbles on the front porch, and having prolonged conversations with her stuffed animals. I love to listen in on these conversations; she tells them what she dreamt about, what she’s afraid of (currently, it’s monsters), what she wants to do today, and what she wishes (“I wish I could always eat waffles and syrup on the sofa,” “I wish I could have long hair like Rapunzel,” “I wish I could swim like a beluga.”).
At some point, she comes into the kitchen to help me figure out what to put in her lunch box. During the school year, she gets lunch made for herself, so this whole packing lunch thing is a bit new for both of us! She loves her lunch box and getting to pick what she wants in it. I’m not so imaginativeabouto lunches, so PBJ it is! Thankfully, it’s C’s fave (actually, her favorite is “peanut butter and jelly, without the peanut butter.” I’ve tried to explain to her that jelly on bread is not a lunch. And that peanuts have protein, and growing girls need protein. So, I still sneak a little bit of peanut butter on there for good measure. Nine times out of ten, when I empty her lunch box at the end of the day, it is filled with the peanut butter side of the sandwich. Hey, I get points for trying, right?) Afterpacking lunchd, I walk out to the front porch and blow some bubbles for her. I wish I loved ANYTHING as much as this kid loves bubbles (okay, I love my family and stuff, but you know what I mean). Her love of bubbles is so simple and pure. I love it. 
The ding of the toaster announces that breakfast is now ready. I put the waffles on a plate for C, bring them into the living room, and turn on Curious George. We are big fans of George. I sometimes find myself thinking that he is Miss C’s spirit animal, and I frequently find myself wishing that I could muster up an ounce of the patience that the Man in the Yellow Hat seems to have. I mean, really, just an ounce so that when I find my daughter covered head to toe in markers because “it tickled”, I could just take a deep breath and go, “Oh, you silly monkey! Now let’s go take a bath.” Anyway, I digress.
While C enjoys some waffles and George, I run upstairs and quickly get dressed before she realizes I’m gone. I have about three minutes until I hear . ..”Mommy! Where are you?!” I’ve got pants and a shirt on, so that’s something. Brushing your hair is entirely overrated, right? I take a break from getting myself ready and head back downstairs to get C dressed. This sometimes requires multiple trips back upstairs until we both agree on an outfit. And, by “agree,” I mean she is wearing a top and a bottom that is seasonally appropriate. Matching is optional.
Then, it’s back upstairs for the highlight of our morning: brushing our teeth. C runs upstairs ahead of me. I am invited to join her in a game of hide-and-seek. Lucky for me, I know most of her hiding spaces. “Mom! Come find me!”
The next stop on this crazy train is hair. She grabs a seat in my dressing room, and we begin the process of detangling. I will never tell her, but C is a bazillion times better than me when it comes to hair brushing. Brushing my hair involved a lot of crying, name-calling, and running away. Brushing C’s hair consists of some sticker play and reenacting scenes from Tangled. Yes, this makes me an evil witch, but that seems like a small price to pay in exchange for no crying.
One last trip downstairs for shoes and some final bites of waffle
Miss C puts on her “pack pack” (some things are just too cute to correct, right? I mean, she’ll eventually figure out that its a back pack) and hands me her lunchbox telling me its “too big for me, mommy.”
This girl runs a pretty tight ship, but since we made it out of the house in under an hour in a seemingly good mood, I consider this morning a success. Each and every day, she needs my help a little bit less. Her ferocious appetite to grow and gain independence is such an amazing thing to experience. See that smile? Yes, I’m wearing yesterday’s clothes, no make-up, my hair has yet to see a brush, and I’m pretty sure I look like my daughter’s personal valet, but I’m still smiling. I know she’ll spend a little more time at camp next summer and need me a little less. But, until then, I’m just trying not to think about the future so much and enjoy this summer and all the craziness it has to offer.
Images for this project are captured by N. Lalor Photography, a lifestyle portrait photographer based in Fairfield County, CT. To see all posts in the “One Morning” photo essay series view here.
