The Boss

I love my Saturday and Sunday mornings with Aria. Somehow I always end up in their room either sleeping in Roland's bed or sleeping with her. Aria can sleep-in, like 8:45 sleep-in. And while I wish we all could do that, it's so peaceful to rest with her and watch her wake up. She sleeps the longest if she can touch someone while she sleeps. Roland wakes up pretty much ready to go, but Aria very slowly eases into the day. She almost always wants to first - find Seahorse or Mickey, second - read a counting book, and then get dressed. This is where you can literally watch Aria's personality wake up: The Boss.

Before you know it she's demanding only pink panties and has them on backwards and while I'm just quietly folding what seems like the largest two loads of little people clothes Aria's first argument of the day with me is over whether or not she can wear her brother's underwear. And so it continues till the Boss is fully awake and there's been a handful of clothes tossed around the room, and then cleaned up, and her favorite phrase, "No [person or parent], I do it my own self!" has emerged only to be said maybe 200 more times throughout the day often followed by, "I need your help."

But that first hour or so...ah...