Friday, February 23, 2007

Pas matinale

NO! I roll over and hit the alarm for the énième fois. (Doesn't that sound better than "umpteenth"?)

Oh, how I hate waking up in the morning. I know I'm not alone in this feeling, but in my case it's a constant struggle on a daily basis. For as long as I can remember, I have NOT been a morning person. The nights never seem to be long enough, alarm clocks are my enemy, and for some reason all I've ever wanted to do is roll over and dig deeper under the covers. Especially in the dead of winter, although this winter I can't exactly say it's been bitter cold -- on the contrary, it's been much milder this year than in years past. But of course the humidity in our bedroom doesn't exactly help.

I am most definitely a creature of the night, although not in the way you might imagine: most times I like using the late hours to read, pore over new recipes, watch a great movie, or catch up on creative things of all sorts. I don't tend to watch very much TV, not here in France anyway, but there always seems to be some distraction or another keeping me away from going to bed. Even household tasks that simply never get done at any other hour...

But then in the morning, DAMN do I regret my nocturnal habits. And I promise myself, once again, that tonight will be different; tonight I will finally get to bed at a "decent" hour, as my mom would say. But what exactly is decent, honestly?

And Saturday mornings? The local market beckons me, with all the wonderful things it has to offer, and if I don't get up early enough, I won't be able to take advantage of it all -- I've been caught out one too many times, with the veal and pork roasts long gone, the fresh cod sold out at the fishmonger's... So I trudge on down the street, and in most cases, by the time I'm there and swept up in the atmosphere, I'm glad I made the effort. Especially when I'm able to reward myself with a small bundle of flowers to brighten up the apartment on my way home.

But those first few steps are the hardest. As is the case with most things, I guess. I remember back in college, my clock-radio crackling on bright and early, reaching over to hit snooze a gazillion times, and my roommate finally throwing pillows across the room to wake me out of my (study-induced, unfortunately, not alocohol-induced!) stupor. It could sometimes take a freight train... And then when I'd wobble out of bed, I couldn't help thinking that a freight train had run over me in my sleep.

Even when I was a little girl, as far back as I can recall I was a little nightowl... I'd sneak back downstairs to watch a late movie on the weekends, after my parents were fast asleep. And snow days? I lived for them as much as the next kid, especially if it meant staying bundled up in bed for as long as possible while all the other kids were out throwing snowballs and building snowmen. If the DJ's voice droned out the name of my school on his mile-long list before 7:00 a.m., it was back to sleep for me -- and I couldn't get there fast enough.

They say old habits die hard -- well, in my case this is one habit that isn't about to die anytime soon. And what of the early bird who gets the worm? Well, you can keep that worm; I'll find something better later on. And I'll keep the marmotte moniker, too, thank you; I have a reputation to maintain!

11 comments:

amy said...

I'm totally the same way, Alice. I actually get stomach aches when forced to wake up before my body wants to! Good thing my lifestyle is of the bohemian variety.

y.Wendy.y said...

You are exactly like me in that way. I am usually late for my morning classes..its rare for me to be on time...I just cannot get going in the morning, but I hate going to bed because I always have so much to do..much as I love sleeping and I love my bed, I just loathe saying goodbye to my day.

Anonymous said...

I, too, am not a morning person. Thanks to you, I could shout "enième fois" when the alarm goes off and not have my 3-year old tell my wife, "Mommy, Daddy's saying bad words again."

Do forgive me if I'm using "enième fois" improperly. I just like how it sounds.


Mike
http://somethingaboutparenting.typepad.com/

The Late Bloomer said...

I figured I couldn't be alone in the "I'm not a morning person" area...

But how many of you out there absolutely hate it (like me) when people go on and on about how much they like waking up and "attacking" the day to get as much done as possible, going on and on ad infinitum (ad nauseum if you ask me) with "rise and shine" blah, blah, blah???!!!

OK, I swear I'm not bitter, but I'm of the opinion that morning people simply don't mesh with night people -- but then again, I guess they do say that opposites attract...

Amy, wish I had that bohemian lifestyle going on myself -- I've had to seriously adjust to the whole morning office routine over the years. But I guess I didn't work hard enough to establish other options for myself, at least not yet.

And Wendz, I had a sneaking suspicion you didn't like mornings either! No matter how hard I try, I still end up running out the door later than I should in the morning. And the fact that I have to "punch in" at a specific time for my job doesn't help.

Mike, glad I could be of assistance in that department! Isn't it nice to be able to shout out words in a foreign language in moments of frustration, particularly to replace those naughty curse words, and have no one but yourself understand them?!

Aralena said...

did you catch the "sleep" article in an "A Nous Paris" of a couple weeks ago? it touched a bit on the importance of going with natural body rhythms. I wish I was more of a night owl- I definitely used to be. now I find myself waking up early on weekends - and gah! - enjoying it. gross, i know. i'll stop now.

The Late Bloomer said...

Well, the funniest thing is, there have been a few (rare!) occasions when I have woken up a bit early on the weekend, and gotten SO much done, and it has vaguely tempted me into becoming a morning person...

But then I can't stick with it! And I'm like, naaaahhhhh, not gonna happen.

Oh well.

Scribbit said...

When I started college I scheduled 8 am classes thinking that after being up so early all through high school it wouldn't be a problem. I had a 8 am statistics class on the other side of campus and when the blizzards were blowing I tended to skip class. Then wondered how I came up with a D at the end of the semester. I learned my lesson though and never scheduled a class before 10.

JChevais said...

I hate mornings. I'm a snooze person... Only now... I've seen a special alarm clock that RUNS AWAY if you hit snooze too often.

That would definitely be my arch nemesis...

JChevais said...

Dude... if Tori A is coming to Paris... Count me in.

Unknown said...

I can almost relate...except that I get really hungry in the mornings and therefore have to get up to eat!

The Late Bloomer said...

I have read that it's important to keep up a consistent sleeping pattern, as in not to sleep in on weekends to make up for time lost in sleep during the week... And yet no matter how hard I try, I still fall back into the pattern of sleeping in a couple hours longer on Saturdays and Sundays. Granted, it's not as bad as back in college -- usually I'm up by about 9:30 or 10:00 at the latest -- but it's definitely not the crack of dawn either.

I have gotten into the habit of waking a bit earlier during the week to better enjoy breakfast anyway, and to allow myself more time for my morning "routine". But I'm still convinced that we're "wired" one way or another to either enjoy mornings or to dread them. And I just so happen to fall into that second category!

And Leeann, it probably doesn't help me either to be getting to bed later, too. But for example, last night I did go to bed fairly early -- literally before 10:00 p.m.! -- which is extremely rare. And in spite of that fact, I still wanted to roll over and stay in bed this morning.

There's probably more going on here, you might say... Maybe I've got an iron deficiency, to top it all off!