I am literally sitting in the dark as I write this, the only light from my laptop. It is not quite 6:30 and I gave up a little before 6:00 having been effectively awake since 5:00. My husband is of course sound asleep – thus the no lights, as he will stir around 8:00. When we are at home, this is an easy arrangement. I slip out of bed at my usual 5:00ish, go into the kitchen, turn on only the light over the stove, make the coffee and go up to my office. When we travel and there is limited space in the motel room, it’s a bit more difficult. The flip side is that I will crash at 10:00 p.m. (okay, I have been known to doze off earlier) as he stays up until midnightish, the bedside lamp and TV not usually impeding my ability to sleep. This is what happens when morning people marry night people. Once you have established that despite this very distinct difference, you can work out a system, it tends to be okay.

A gentleman collegue of mine a very long time ago looked at me bleary-eyed at 7:00 a.m. when we were working on a project that required an early appearance and said, “There is no way you and I could ever be married. You are disgustingly cheerful at this hour.”

Like most morning people, I begin to fade productively around 4:00 and when I am involved in a project that seeps into the evening, that’s when I look to others to carry the load. And late night social events? I am well past when I can party beyond 11:00. So, if you find yourself in a relationship where morning and night  patterns are obvious, accept it as one of life’s quirks and figure out whatever process can accomodate you both.