Could I Be a Tea Drinker ?

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Let me tell you a little about a day in the life of ME!

This isn't my every day schedule but it's a glimpse into one day.

Everything usually starts around 4 AM when Nora (almost 4 years old) wakes up screaming for me. I run in and she says "Mama, can I come sleep in your bed" and I tell her she can't and tuck her back in. I don't know why this started because we have never had the kids in bed with us. I guess she's just stubborn and hoping we'll give in one of these days.

After I finally fall back asleep, my alarm goes off at 6:16 AM. I know, weird time but it works for me. The kids generally get up at 7, so this gives me a little time to myself to come down the stairs and check on some blog type things. I make sure my post has published and I start promoting on social media. During this time I make my first cup of coffee (start keeping track now). I then head up to wake up the kids and the mad dash to get ready for school begins. I spend about 10 minutes trying to drag Josh off the top bunk, help him pick out his clothes and make sure he's washed and brushed. Once we head back downstairs, we argue a bit about what he wants for breakfast and lunch. I make breakfast. I make and pack lunch, make sure homework is in the backpack and just before heading out to the bus stop, I brew coffee #2.

After Josh is on the bus, I get Nora ready and go through almost the same routine except she gets driven to school. On the way back from dropping her off, I generally stop and grab an iced coffee because I need another boost to get me through volunteering. Oh, did I not mention that after she gets dropped off, I head to Josh's school to volunteer? Yeah, that.

I finish at Josh's school and head right to pick up Nora. I come home, make her lunch, throw in a load of laundry, empty the dishwasher and go get Josh off the bus. Now I do his homework with him, prepare a snack and get either him ready for soccer or her ready for dance or yoga, depending on the day. On the way to whatever activity it is that day, I grab another coffee because by this time I've had a major crash from my earlier cups. It's a never ending cycle. Plus by the time I sit down for dinner, you can imagine I've got a major case of the jitters.

So from my long winded story, you can see I have a love/hate relationship with caffeine. It's a total catch 22. I love it because I definitely need that boost but I really don't love that crash that comes afterwards. After talking to a few friends about it, it was suggested that I swap out some of that coffee for tea. Tea, I say? No way. I always thought tea didn't have enough caffeine to get me going.

Apparently I was wrong. I found out that Bigelow American Breakfast (Black Tea) has Extra Caffeine! Extra? Hmmm, maybe I needed to learn more!

I thought caffeine was caffeine but while I was reading the Bigelow American Breakfast Tea box in the Walmart tea aisle, I learned their tea has Theanine. Theanine is a natural occurring compound which is unique to tea. It works in combination with caffeine so you get a sustained boost and you know that relaxed feeling you get after a cup of tea? You guessed it, it's from the Theanine. After I read that the tea doesn't leave you with the jitters either, I decided to try swapping out that first cup of the day and see where it led. I'm always up for a challenge.

Here's what I found. I brewed my first cup of Bigelow American Breakfast at 6:20 AM and guess what? I wasn't crashing heading to school. I wasn't jittery and I felt better overall that I hadn't consumed an obscene amount of coffee.

So will I give up coffee for good? Probably not but I think I will definitely be cutting back that's for sure. I think on these crazy days I will feel much better having had a nice relaxing cup of American Breakfast Tea rather than a bazillion cups of coffee.

Have you ever tried to swap your coffee for tea? What did you think?

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