If there’s one thing that is simply begging to be hated during the winter time, then it has to be getting up while it’s cold and still dark outside.

Such was definitely the case for Matt and me. The impending darkness, despite the gain of an extra hour due to the clock adjustment to winter time, made getting up in the mornings quite an Olympic achievement for both of us. We would clench our teeth and frown our eyebrows at the sudden emerge of the beeping sound of our alarm clock slicing through our brain. And we would hit the snooze button at least five times, only to be annoyed five extra times by that paining sound. Not good, indeed, we concluded.

We needed a saviour. To sooth our tired and tortured brains. To enlighten our dark mornings. Our S.O.S. signs were noticed and there it came to save the day: the ‘Wake Up Light’.

Designed by Philips the Wake Up Light is quite an unusual alarm clock. It’s more of a giant lamp than a clock. Half an hour before you’ve set the alarm to go off the lamp will slowly but surely start shining its daylight resembling light. Your body is supposed to feel like there’s an actual dawn going on. Then, the moment your alarm is set, the light will be at its brightest and the sound effects will go off: twittering birds, ocean waves or excited frogs and ducks. Or for those with less nature loving ears: a friendly bleep or the radio. To the sound of the technical specifics, it seemed quite a phenomenon to me.

And God, what a miracle it turned out to be. Every day, no matter how late we went to bed the night before, we awoke feeling energetic and ready for the day. We definitely needed less sleep per night and less snoozes in the morning to rise and shine happily and effortlessly. On a few occasions, we were so fooled by the sunny light of the lamp that opening the curtains resulted in gasps of confusion: how could it be so dark and cold outside, when we felt so sunny? More than once we had dressed in merely t-shirts without realising the cold world waiting outside. All because of our own personal little sunrise accompanied by those sweet and cheerful frogs.

Unfortunately, all new things are bound to be gotten used to in the end. Now we have had a few weeks time to have our biorhythms become adjusted to the miracle, our sunbeam alarm clock turns out to be a bit of a temporary utopia. The little frogs and ducks have devolved to being mere background sounds, hardly noticeable, especially when the duvet is so nice and warm. More over, we have discovered the alarm clock’s snooze button. So now we do awake quite nicely by the light and sound, but still won’t get out of bed. Because the sound is far less annoying than a regular alarm clock, it has actually become easier to ignore the sound of the alarm and just stay in our nice and cosy bed.

However, the light does help in the mornings. Because of it we never awake during a dream or phase of deep sleep, but exactly at the right moment. This definitely decreases any possible bad morning moods and tempers. Consequently, it also increases the chances of a lot of cuddling and morning sex. Thus, these days we are actually even more late for our work than prior the day we’ve welcomed the Wake Up Light into our home. I don’t know whether to send my thanks or complaints to Philips on this…

Column published by Cecile on Monday, November 19th, 2007.

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