Oh, what a beautiful morn...oh, just shut up!

Little M. has developed an annoying habit of waking up before 6:30 on Saturday mornings. Last weekend Mr. EM got up with him, so today it was my turn. And in the mature, cooperative, marital-compromise kind of way, I'm cool with that. Neither one of us should have to be the one that gets up with him at the butt-crack of dawn every single weekend. Mr. EM actually gives me more than my fair share of sleeping in on weekends on a regular basis, so if he wants to take a Saturday morning to sleep in a little bit every once in a while then he should.

However...

In the pissy, whiney, immature, bitchy, super-tired kind of way, I HATE GETTING UP ON THE WEEKENDS AT THE SAME TIME I GET UP FOR WORK DURING THE WEEK. It's one of my "things". Weekends are for sleeping in and that's just the way of the universe, for pete's sake. Now that neither of my children rely on me as a food source, I should not be required to wake up any earlier than, say, 8:00 on a Saturday morning. See, I'm not a teen-ager. I'm not asking to sleep until noon. 8:00 am isn't that absurd, is it? Huh, Little M.?

In general, I don't like to do anything on a Saturday morning other than sip on some strong Sumatran coffee, throw some laundry in the washer and read...maybe make a grocery list, do some tidying up. I do all of this in my pajamas and in my own time. It's not unusual to find me still in pajamas and/or a robe at 1:00 on a Saturday afternoon. If I'm not going anywhere, I see no reason to put on clothes. I long ago stopped deluding myself into thinking that Saturday morning yoga classes were a good idea for me, I long ago decided that garage-saling would not be the hobby for me and I regularly thank the powers that be that Big M. is not interested in baseball or soccer, therefore keeping me from having to attend games at some ungodly hour on Saturday mornings. Actually, Big M. seems to be following in my footsteps with the whole sleeping on a Saturday morning thing. (*sniff* I'm so proud...) He also prefers to make a mellow start to his weekend, lazing about in his p.j.'s, playing video games, eating breakfast in front of the TV, reading...until very late in the morning or sometimes even carrying into the afternoon. I'm not embarrassed to admit that on occasion in the winter, we'll stay in pajamas all day. Seriously, if we have no intention of going anywhere, what's the point in getting dressed? It's not as if we're adverse to going out, but we're not going to initiate contact with society either. Pajamas are comfortable, people!

I have a sinking feeling that Little M. is going to be different from his brother on this topic...as he is in regards to practically everything else. Not only was he awake at 6:15 this morning, he was also fully dressed for crying out loud. "It is good moaning, Mama," he practically screamed in my ear. (Or he just said it at a normal volume, whatever.) I quickly shuttled him out of our room to keep him from waking Mr. EM and attempted unsuccessfully to explain that it was too early to wake up. "No, Mama! Silly! I want some soup and then go outside and play bubbles." (He always asks for soup on Saturday mornings, despite the fact that I always say soup is not breakfast food.) Needless to say, he had to be satisfied with some peanut butter toast and carrots, in addition to blowing bubbles in the house rather than out in the front yard. The boy has a lust for life and wants to get his day started ASAP. In his humble opinion, sleep is for the weak.

Consider me weak, Little M. Mommy's tired.

Something tells me that he will be my child that plows head-first into any and every activity that's offered to him...and that many of these activities will involve me shuttling him around at some ridiculous hour on Saturday mornings. I see rain-soaked October mornings on soccer fields and hot, humid June mornings at baseball diamonds in my future. While it fills me with joy to think about the kind of person Little M. will grow up to be, it fills me with dread to think that my blissfully empty Saturday mornings will be a thing of the past sooner than I'd like and that will continue until Little M. is driving.

I know some people who get up bright and early on Saturday mornings (on purpose!) and actually prefer it that way. They do their errand-running, clean their houses, do yard work, whatever, all before noon. WTF? They make the point that getting everything done early leaves them the rest of their day to relax...ok, I guess I can understand that logic, in an alternate-universe kind of way. "The stores are less crowded and it's so peaceful in our neighborhood early in the day." Um, yeah...that's because the sane people are still SLEEPING!!!

And believe me when I tell you, it's certainly not as though I'm up partying into the wee hours on Friday nights. I almost never go out on Friday nights...I'm too freakin' tired from working and momming all week long. Last night consisted of making the M.'s some dinner, futzing around on the internet, paying some bills and watching "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" with the M.'s until they both fell asleep around 9:00. I got them into their beds and then ate a bowl of ice cream, flipping channels on TV until just after 11:00. Nothing wild and crazy going on around here that requires me to need a lot of rest...I just enjoy sleeping. Is that so wrong? Huh, Little M.?

I'm not much for napping however. I used to be...when Little M. was a nursing baby and sleep was a precious and much-eluded commodity, I'd snuggle up with him on weekend afternoons and snooze for as long as he allowed. However, naps have always messed with my nighttime sleeping, regardless of how short they may be. I nap when I'm sick and that's about it. Mr. EM digs napping, but he's gluttonous in his approach. If he can't get at least 2 hours, it's "not a nap". I know...ridiculous, but that's how he feels and he's damn crabby if he heads upstairs for a nap and isn't granted his full amount of time. Little M. naps most of the time at his day-care, but I have a theory that the only reason is because everyone else is napping. Around here, he's way too interested in what Big M. may be doing or what Mr. EM has going on outside or what I'm cooking or cleaning. A nap is very, very low on his list of priorities at home. There are occasions when I'll realize I haven't heard from him in a little while and I'll find him asleep on the floor in front of his toybox or sprawled on the loveseat with a Power Ranger in each hand snoring away, but those are few and far between.

And so, this Saturday began for me at 6:15 am (dammit) and I've had enough coffee now that the cobwebs have cleared from my mind and I'm already planning my day. One load of laundry has already made it into the dryer and another is washing as I type. There is a little cleaning to do and then I'll be taking Little M. to Borders to meet up with some other moms (it's a new thing I'm trying, may be a blog post in there somewhere). At some point I'll need to pull together a grocery list for shopping tomorrow and tonight I'm taking Big M. to see "The Wiz" at our local high school. Maybe I'll get to spend a little quality time with my husband somewhere in there? That remains to be seen...

Sundays are a somewhat different story for me. I like to sleep in a little, but not too late because it will keep me up too late that night, which then creates the vicious cycle of being sleep-deprived on Monday morning. I'm every bit as adverse to getting dressed and going out on Sunday mornings (we're not church folk), but I'm much more productive around the house. I like the house to be clean and tidied up before I start another work-week, so there is much scrubbing, dusting and vacuuming going on Sundays. Laundry gets put away, clothes for Monday get set out and a big dinner is cooked so I have leftovers for my work lunches. Sundays just aren't as lazy as Saturdays...maybe that can be switched around as the boys get older and our Saturdays get busier.

DISCLAIMER: I'm not such a freak that every single weekend of my life follows this pattern. This is just a general outline of what weekends can be like in the Land of Earth Muffin.

So, how do you feel about sleeping in on Saturdays? Are you a normal person who enjoys waking whenever you wake or are you one of those bizarre freaks of nature who actually gets up at some abnormal hour no matter what day it is? Not that I'm judging you or anything...