Welcome to challenge #5 of the Happy Mom series. For more info, click here.
So how many of you have living, breathing alarm clocks? By this I mean, you wake up every morning because the kids are awake. Then you jump out of bed, feeling like you’re already 10 minutes behind on your whole day.
Yup, that used to be me. Then I started working out in the mornings. (I know – shocking. If you had told me two years ago that I would be happily waking up at 5 a.m. just to sweat, I would’ve slapped you.)
I give myself time for a 25-minute workout, a nice, relaxed breakfast, and a nice, warm hot shower all before my kids woke up. If I was really ambitious, I could start dinner (yes, in the morning). My days were so much more calm because I could be PROACTIVE instead of just reacting to things all the time. I could get up early and with a clear head remember that The Boy needs more diapers at daycare and The Girl needs a spare pair of pants. I could remember that today is the day I meet with the designers on a project at work so I need to bring in some sample of other pieces I’ve produced.
By waking up early, I’m ahead of the game and you know as a mom, that rarely happens.
But the best part of waking up before the kids (and I do mean a good hour, hour and a half before the kids wake up) is my morning tea. I just started this ritual but man, does it work for me. Get up early, immediately put on some water for tea. I don’t have a tea kettle so I just use the microwave. Then I let my tea bag steep while I do a few other things. Then I leisurely sip my tea and don’t think about anything at all. Nothing. Nada.
By the time I’m down to the last drop, I’m golden. I’m ready to face my day.
So this is your challenge, if you don’t do this already. Wake up a little earlier. I know your kids might be early risers, so getting up even earlier than they do might hurt a little bit. But try it. I promise you’ll like it. Let me know what time you got up and what you did with this newfound “me time.” *smile*
You know, I’d love to do this. But if I’m out of my bed past 1 am, my son knows it and he’s up too. So I compromise and stay up later, getting things done after he goes to bed and is sleeping heavier, and then I don’t have to wake up until my son’s ready to start the day. Otherwise, he would just get up at whatever ungodly hour I’m up. I can’t even pee at 4 am without him waking up and screaming bloody murder.
So true, it does hurt to get up early, but I like what you said about being proactive vs. reactive. I live in a reactive household! I think I’ll give this a try tomorrow morning. Instead of getting up at 8am, I’ll try for 7am. I’ll be back to give you the details.
this will work wonders for mommies! i do this and i actually go work out, have breakfast, time with the hubby AND computer time before they wake up and it really boosts my energy and productiveness throughout the day 😉 good one youngmommy!
My day always runs smoother when I wake up earlier. I am NOT a morning person, so when the children wake up before me, they’re already going full-throttle while I’m still rubbing my eyes, and this makes me cranky. Getting up earlier allows me time to get a few things done so that later in the day I’m not juggling two toddlers and 5 chores/errands/assignments. It just puts me in a better mood. So why don’t I do it more often? I will start. Monday I’ll wake up at 6:15 instead of 7:00.
@Cee Cee – I’m not a morning person either. It takes me at least 20-25 minutes to get into the swing of things, which is why I started getting up earlier. There was nothing that grated my nerves more than being roused out of a deep sleep by the sounds of crying kids. Oooh, goodness, no! LOL
This is something that I’ve been meaning to do for a while now but have always failed miserably. Well… I guess I haven’t been trying hard enough (after all, who can wake up at 5am if they go to bed at midnight?).
I will try it for real tonight by actually going to bed early.
@Erica – It will hurt at first, but then around 8 or 9 a.m. you will be like, “Would you look at that? I feel well-rested and ready to go!”