Lent

Gosh, I have been so wrapped up getting to St. Louis that I put Lent out of my mind. I did think about heading in to church for Ash Wednesday, but did not. I am sorry to say that I am not the best Catholic, but I try.

In past years I have given up behaviors rather then things. The way I see it is Lent is to better yourself. I can give up chips, chocolate, tv, but really, I want to give up something I will never never go back to. Quite frankly, I know I could give up things for 40 days, but I know me, I will go back to them. So instead, I have tried giving up behaviors to try to be a better person.

Previously I have given up taking the Lord's name in vain. I was the worst at staying OMG. Now I say gosh all the time. I like it better. So much nicer on the ears and better to hear repeated by little voices.

It took two years of giving up swearing for it to really get there. I am still working on it, but am so much better.

I was driving the boys to school this morning trying to think of what I should give up this year when a car pulled up beside me at the light. The young man had a hand flipping the bird hanging from the rear view mirror. I thought, what a horrible way to start the day! The first thing you see before you even hit traffic is negative and all the cars that see it could send you negative vibes. YUCK!

Then I thought about my morning, and all my mornings. I am NOT a morning person. In fact, I am a night owl. I would much rather stay up until 2 am and get up at 10 am. That works well for me. Of course that does not work with kids. The boys go to bed well and around 7:30. That means they are up early. I have tried changing that, but they are just early risers. They will never be kids to sleep until 8.

So I work on going to bed at a better time, but I am still tired in the morning. Matthew is prone to nightmares and rarely sleeps all night long. In a good week, I get two nights of uninterrupted sleep. On average, I am up twice a night.

That makes for one grumpy mommy in the mornings.

And I thought about that as I saw the hand flipping the bird. I do start out my mornings tired and grumpy even before I get in the car. I need to change that.

So, for Lent this year, I am going to try and embrace the mornings. Smile and be happy for the kids. Give them a boost first thing every day, even if it is 6 am.

Wish me luck, this one could be on the books for the next few Lent's.