SOLS Challenge Day 3

The room is dark except for the dim light of the butterfly nightlight. It is quiet except for the sound of the rolling waves coming from the machine that helps her sleep. It is time now, time to wake the girl that is entangled in the sheets and blankets. I wait for my eyes to adjust before I try to find her face, covered by the untamed hair that seems to grow an inch every night.

I begin the way I always do. I turn off the sound machine, pull back the curtains, and begin my song. It changes daily, depending on my mood. “Good morning to you, good morning to you, good morning, sweet girl, good morning to you.” She is usually anything but sweet in the morning, and this is the reason for the carefully choreographed morning routine. My mission is to make the transition from peaceful slumber to the daily grind a smooth one, for I know how my little girl feels. (I am not known for being a morning person myself.)

I turn on her clock radio and I sit on the side of her bed for a moment, listening to the weather as I pull the nest of hair from her face and coax her eyes open. The covers then get tugged off and I turn my back to her. “All aboard!” I say as she struggles to get up for the piggy back ride that will take her to get washed up and ready for school. She smiles as I deposit her at the bathroom door. “Thanks, mom,” she says as I turn to walk away. I flash the “I love you sign”-- thumb, index finger, and pinky extended. Mission accomplished.