At 6am my cell phone vibrates and before the first ring completes I press a button that makes it stop. This is so much ingrained in my daily routine that I cannot describe what the ring sounds like or what exactly I press to make it stop. I just know I do. I awake, not feeling rested, never feeling rested at 6am, and shower. Aidan needs to get up soon to catch his school bus so I give a shout out to the room he’s sleeping in … “aidan, need to get up”. Showed, shaved, brushed, and toweled I wake up Aidan before I dress.  Wake up is not quite right. Yang and I cajole him into waking up, first with gentle reminders, then gentle threats, then just picking up up off the bed.

The ayi meets me at at the restroom door as I stand Aidan upright and he goes to pee and brush teeth. After I get my stuff ready for work I find Aidan sitting at the dinning room table, refusing to eat. He is too tired and wants to sleep. Yang comes out and between her and the Ayi make Aidan breakfast and dress him in place. Breakfast for Aidan consists of cereal, a fried egg, and a piece of toast. I stand nearby easting my cereal, not really doing anything but giving aidan gentle reminders. “Aidan eat!” (he does) “Aidan, need to get dressed.” “Aidan, cmon, let’s get moving.”

We head out the door at 6:40am, to the elevator, and down the four floors. It is cold outside, maybe 25F, and Aidan is walking slow. I prod him a bit more and we make it to the school bus stop. Well, it is not really a school bus strop. It is just the street corner. Well, it is not really a street corner, it is just the curb in front of our complex. We wait a couple of minutes silently before we see the short grey bus pull up. The bus door opens, an older woman pulls Aidan and his backpack on board and Aidan settles into a seat. There are another half dozen or so kids on the bus, all quiet in this early hour. I watch Aidan as the bus pulls away from the curb. He never looks my way.

I turn, walk the 100 meters back inside our complex, down to the garage and drive to work. Making sure to stop at Starbucks on the way.