Two minutes please.....

"The BEST part of waking up? Hitting the snooze button and going back to sleep."

- Anon

- It is 6.45, are you not getting up?

- Mmmm, 2 more minutes.....

- It is 7.00 !!! It is your turn to go early to work, remember !!!

- Yeah, yeah I do........just 2 more minutes please....

- It is getting late, you don't want to be late....

- I know, I know........I am getting up....soon...

This is how my mornings begin, with almost an identical conversation every single day........well and truly I can never boast of being a morning person.

I gather myself groggily from bed and with all the longing a mother has for her newborn, I turn back and give a yearning look at my still warm bed. I envy the slumbering family, their few extra minutes of sleep while I trudge slowly towards my shower. The cold manages to seep through, despite my heavy layers and I shudder at the prospect of getting ready for work. I am tempted to get back into the bed and snuggle under the covers but work beckons.

Even as a child, waking up early used to be the bane of my existence. My dad was fond of repeating the well-worn phrase "The early bird catches the worm". I ended up pitying the worm for waking up early and getting caught but yeah try telling my dad that........as a result, I used to bid a tearful farewell to my beauty sleep every morning and fervently attempted to master the art of sleeping with my eyes open. The moment he stepped away from the scene, I used to sneak back into my bed and slip into an uneasy but nevertheless welcome slumber......my ears sensitively attuned to the sound of the bathroom latch opening, an indication that my post at the study table has to be resumed. Passing years have not made much of a difference......I now sleep with my ears tuned to the alarm tone on my mobile. What can I say, I am totally powerless under the mighty spell of sleep incarnate, Somnus :)

I have come across people who not only have an in-built alarm system but are totally immune to the captivating charms of the snooze button. The concept of a sleep-in on a cold wintry morning under a warm blanket is totally alien to them. Come rain or shine, they are up at the said hour every single day. To these friends, I can only say that they are missing out on something so delectable an experience :) Despite the heavy pounding the snooze button receives every morning at my hands, we are best buddies and it is only fair I elucidate the nature of the tenacious hold the button has on me.

On a deeper and somber note, sometimes I wonder if I am hitting the snooze button on my life too. Am I afraid to step out of my comfort zone..... am I wary of tilting the fragile status quo in my life and embracing change? At the crossroads of life, am I taking refuge in the familiarity of the past, putting away major decisions that I ought to take rather than face the dark unknowns of the future? I am reluctant to find the answers for my question or facing a truth that has been staring in my face too long.......perhaps I ought to put a snooze on this question as well :)

The hot shower wipes away the remants of sleep from my eyelids and puts a spring back into my step. I now proceed to wake up the kids and well no surprise, I hear my daughter giving me "the two minutes" routine as well. Ha ha, there is no escape from my slumber genes, is there? I give her a warm hug, happy to have spawned another "snooze" addict into this world and proceed to wake her up gently to face a new day outside the barricades of sleep.