Owls and Chickens

As I prepare to ship out for my 25 year anniversary trip, I thought this would be appropriate to share ~

For all of my child-rearing days, I’ve been a night owl. When I worked full-time outside my home, I was more likely to hit the hay when my husband did.  Then I had kids! My whole life was turned upside down – especially my sleep schedule.

After the kids went to bed, that was my time. I would like to say that when the kids went to bed that it was “our” time but, to be honest, my loving husband went to bed with the chickens. I’m not much of a farm girl but my dearest friend does have chickens and when we visit her I have noticed that when it gets dark, the chickens have to be put up in their coop for the night. I think my husband is a chicken. He’s definitely NOT a rooster. Which is good because if he jumped up every morning and started crowing, he’d be stew by now. No, he’s more of a chicken – he goes to bed when the sun goes down.

Then, the night owl comes out. Who? Who? Me.

Once the kids are down and the husband is snoring in his coop, that is my time! It is not time for me to take a bubble bath or watch a chick flick (unless I’m doing something mindless like sorting years’ worth of photos.) This is my time to paint, clean the garage, cook meals for a month to freeze, or maybe read a good book.

I remember a time when my sister called me at 11:00 at night. (She lived in the Mountain Time Zone so it was an hour earlier for her and a good time for her to talk before she went to bed.)

“Watcha doing?” she asked.

“I just started painting ‘oldest daughter’s’ room.  She decided she wanted a new moon and stars themed room so I am painting her walls and then stenciling glow in the dark moons and stars around a border at the top,” I replied.

“You’re just now starting to paint?” my sister questioned.

Thank goodness for headsets because I was on a ladder painting during the hour-long conversation.

I grew up thinking that couples had to go to bed at the same time. But when I had kids, I realized that if I didn’t stay up, I’d never get anything done. Since my husband traveled a lot and we didn’t have family nearby, nighttime became the best time for me to accomplish things.

In marriage, you have to find what works for you as a couple. Some of the best marriage advice I ever got was that I shouldn’t do things the way my mother did them and my husband shouldn’t do things the way his dad did them and expect everything to be heavenly – because my mother wasn’t married to his father! We would have to figure out what worked best for us.

I’m a night owl. My husband is a chicken. He goes at sleep when the sun sets. I sort of wake up when the sun sets.

Owls and chickens. It works for us!

“Hoot!” I mean, “Goodnight.” I don’t want to wake the chicken next to me.

P.S. I’m writing this by the light of my rechargeable night-light – the best gift the chicken ever gave me.