5 am virtue and the 7:05 Bus

Why is it, that getting up early is virtuous, but staying up late is a vice? My DH (dear husband) is a night owl who often gets some of his best work done after 11 PM---why is that less admirable than someone who gets up at 5 AM to be productive...perhaps it is a holdover from our agrarian roots, because it is harder for farmers to be productive at midnight?

Personally, I am a big believer in getting plenty of rest. I think the reason some kids have behavior and attitude problems in school is they are just plain tired. It is also my theory that lots of rest is one of the best illness preventatives (along with lots of hand sanitzer!)

One of the very best reasons for homeschooling is never, ever having to worry about the 7:05 bus! I cannot believe all those poor elementary school kids standing in the dark when I go out to get the paper at 6:59 in the morning...and it's not even cold yet!

I am so grateful that if it is cold and gloomy (or just plain pitch black) or if we had a busy weekend or a late night, I do not have to drag my 2 elementary age kids out of bed, force some breakfast down their throats, search for bookbags and homework and drag them off half asleep to stand in the cold darkness to wait for the bus! Okay, maybe that is a little overstatement, but I am grateful nonetheless. When we have particularly busy weekends, we often have "sleep late Monday" and there isn't anything much going on til at least 10 am. What a perk! I can also allow my high school freshman to read the book he is into until 11:30 if he wants, knowing that he can sleep in the next morning--what difference does it make if he does school (aka reading) from 9:30 to 11:30 PM instead of AM? It just leaves more daytime to practice that complicated Chopin piece. Yes, flexible schedules are just one more way homeschooling is morethanfine.

Barb