Why I'm a Morning Person

"Maaahmaaa! I hear your caaaahfeeee!" She dances around the kitchen in her favorite pink pajamas, the ones that are decidedly too small.

"I think I taste coffee on this banana," says the boy. "Uh oh, I think I'm gonna turn a little crazy at school today!"

Mmm, I taste the sound of morning. Gurgling mixed with giggling, the seconds drip one upon another until we have a whole pot of minutes swirling.

I drink them in, wishing only occasionally for the quieter, smoother blend of years long gone. But mostly I savor the scent and steam that rises from these warm, bold hours, the rapid pouring of daily duties--lunches packed, socks hunted, backpacks zipped, hair braided, tummies filled, foreheads kissed. When their cheeks are still warm with waking, when my coffee is already cold.

A new day percolates, smelling of sunrise and fresh starts.
And so it begins, again.