Why Was I Expecting Dylan To Be Responsible?
Today I went sightseeing in D.C. with Dylan.
We had a reservation to tour the city while riding on segways.
We had to be there at 9:30 a.m. The website made it very clear that if we were even five minutes late, we would lose our reservation and forfeit our tour. It was not a cheap tour. And D.C. is not next door. We had to get up early.
I needed to be awake by 7:15 to get out the door by 7:45. Dylan needed to get up by 7:00 and, if we were lucky, he would remember to eat breakfast before we left. Dylan always takes longer to get ready in the morning than anyone else in the family.
As is usually the case when I am worried, I barely slept. I was worried that Dylan wouldn’t get up in time, and/or that my alarm wouldn’t go off, so we would sleep through the entire experience. I woke up when it was pitch black – twice – then again in early morning light – three times. When I finally woke up for the last time, it was 6:30 a.m. Half an hour later, I gave up on sleep and rolled out of bed.
Several times during the night I thought, If I were going with someone else, I wouldn’t have to worry so much.
I started getting ready for my day. At 7:20 a.m., I stood silently outside of Dylan’s room. Dylan’s bedroom door was still closed.
Do I let him sleep? I wondered. Should I pretend to bang into the door to wake him up? Or should I sit down on the top step and cry? I truly believed that Dylan would sleep through the segway tour, and we would both miss it. Why was I expecting Dylan to be responsible enough to get up and go?
And then I thought, I am NOT missing this! And I threw open the bedroom door with a flourish.
There was Dylan, still in bed … but sitting up, listening to music, and typing something on his iPad. He was wide awake, but hadn’t bothered getting out of bed.
“I’m going to kill you!” I said without thinking.
“Why?” he said, unruffled. “I’ve got tons of time.” He kept typing on his iPad.
“PUT DOWN THE ELECTRONICS!” I whisper-shrieked in a very muffled voice, so as not to wake Shane. “Get ready FIRST!”
“Okay,” he said. He finished typing, plopped the iPad onto the bed and got up.
It was the beginning of a beautiful day.
No, really.
He got ready, made himself a healthy breakfast, took his vitamins and got in the car without any issues. We were in the car at 7:45, arrived early to our segway tour, and had an absolutely wonderful time together. It really was the beginning of a beautiful day.
When we got home, we both took a very serious power nap.