Up Before Dawn? An AmpedUp Take.

It’s 5 AM. I have already been awake for about twenty minutes. Sophie, our Australian Shepherd/Blue Heeler mix had been running around our room, panting her head off. I knew that meant one of two things: a)It was storming outside(unlikely in late November, but not impossible), or b)She really needed to go to the bathroom, and she didn’t know what to do. I am almost 100% positive Chelsea hasn’t noticed this, because she’s still out cold next to me. Fairly normal, and that’s okay. So I, not wanting to have to clean up a mess that hasn’t happened in a diaper, get out of bed, take a minute to put my prosthetic leg on, and I walk out to the back door and let the dogs out. On the way, Sophie shoots out in front of me, but luckily, I know that’s coming. Skylar, our Black Lab/Border Collie mix, is still tucked away into their dog bed in our room, so I call him quietly and he lumbers his way out. His excitement grows as he sees where we are headed. I open the door to the backyard and it’s like uncorking a bottle of champagne. Sophie is out the door and into the biting morning air. It’s 40°(Fahrenheit, for our friends across the pond) outside and the sun isn’t even up yet. Other than the sound of paws against the ground, there is no sound outside. The world is still asleep.

I walk back into the house and slip, as quietly as possible, back into the bedroom. I play on my phone for a few minutes, checking any notifications since I fell asleep on the couch at a respectable 8:30, and then I grab the video monitor for Finnegan and walk back out into the living room. I stand there in the middle of the room for a moment, looking at the video monitor, admiring my son, glad he’s not awake yet, because it would be too early, but also excited, because I know when he wakes up, it’ll be just me and him for a little while. Most days, when Chelsea and I are off work, I am the one who wakes up with Finnegan and that’s okay with me. The moments that he and I get together, just the two of us, are precious. In those moments, he’s so excited to see me, and I am so excited to see him. There is nothing greater than seeing him jumping up and down in his crib when I walk in to get him in the morning. The excitement in his eyes, the smile, hidden under his pacifier, the little feet coming ever so slightly off the crib. These are the things that make everything that’s wrong in the world melt away.

But today, it’s just me, for now. And that’s okay. I am used to waking up earlier than everyone else, most of the time. I take it as my dad time. I do some catching up on my phone, sit on the throne for a bit(you know what I mean), or play video games, just to pass the time. It’s relaxing. This morning, though, I am doing something new. I am working. Not my typical job. Today, I am writing. It’s refreshing. It’s different. Waking up this early has always given me moments of clarity, and today is no different. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that my brain has just woken up, or, more likely, it has to do with the fact that my brain hasn’t been worn down by the happenings of the day. Either way, it’s nice to do something I enjoy that, sometimes, I just don’t have the motivation to do.

Waking up early isn’t for everyone. I know that, and really, I am just speaking for myself here, but I can say this: Waking up early(earlier than my child) really just gives me a chance to just be. I can do whatever I want to do. Not only that, I can do it without the responsibilities of being “Dad.” There are no butts to be wiped, mouths to be fed, or hands to be held. There are no messes to be cleaned! No, early morning wakeups are for the parents that just want to sit and not parent. Now, this doesn’t mean that I don’t want to be a parent. I wouldn’t change that for the world. I am just saying that it’s nice to have a break. That break will be short, but I am going to make it count. I am being productive. I highly suggest we all do it.

Next time you wake up early, try doing something you haven’t done in a while that you used to enjoy. It can be anything. Who knows, maybe you’ll start waking up early more often.

Thanks for reading, and remember:

One foot in front of the other…sort of.

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