A post-nursery drink

Getting a child to nursery is no mean feat. In my defence, I’m really not a morning person. But no one is going to take that as an excuse. Certainly not the little chap who I would ideally have given a quick shower-off this morning after he spent the whole night wearing the same nappy.

Fortunately, splashing around in the bath is one of my one-and-a-half-year old’s favourite hobbies, which means the biggest protest comes when I turn off the tap. The reason for the rush this morning? An 8 o’clock meeting. When the little one finally has a clean nappy and is dressed, I make him his muesli while he sits in his high chair with both hands tapping impatiently on the table.

A short while later, I stuff my son into his full-body winter suit. Time to go. My stomach rumbles. We rush along Freiestrasse to the nursery. Chirpy, clean and fed, the little one sits up in his pushchair and admires the world around him. That sets me up for the day. I tell myself that my ‘just-rolled-out-of-bed’ hairstyle might even be the latest trend. I’ve managed to conceal the dark circles around my eyes using my wife’s make-up. All in all, I’m doing just fine.

And it gets even better – after the nursery drop-off, I take myself to the Apotheke. This café bar right next to the nursery serves one of the best ginger and lemon iced teas in the city. Not too sour and sweetened with a little honey. I tell myself that this refreshing drink is healthy and wakes me up in the morning. Those who are trying to quit coffee cold turkey need to find alternatives.

To go with the iced tea, I treat myself to a brie sandwich with fig mustard and rocket. I’ve never been a fan of sweet things in the morning. The young woman behind the counter assures me that the sandwich is homemade – and the ginger and lemon iced tea is too, by the way. Homemade or not, my post-nursery breakfast was delicious. Good food doesn’t always have to be extravagant. It’s true that I could probably conjure up a similar sandwich myself after some experimentation.

But before I start getting creative in the kitchen first thing in the morning, I would prefer to use my few spare minutes to take a shower.