It’s wild

 It’s wild how toddlers go from waking up at 5am ready to conquer the world to full-blown school kids who act like getting out of bed is a personal attack.

I remember when they were little and I used to beg for just one more hour of sleep—tiny feet pattering down the hallway before the sun was even up, crawling into my bed with wide eyes and wild bedhead, asking, “Is it morning yet?”
(And it never was.)

Now?
It’s full Olympic-level effort just to get them to lift their heads off the pillow.
Suddenly I’m their alarm clock, personal motivator, therapist, and barista.

It’s “five more minutes”
And “I’m tiiired”
And my personal favorite: “Do I have to go?” (Yes. Yes, you do.)

Funny how it shifts.
How they grow.
How the early mornings I used to dread are now something I weirdly miss.
But I’ll take the sleepy snuggles and the slow mornings while I still can.

Because one day, they won’t need me to wake them up at.