How do you get up early? - Page 2

[meemee]

in about a week i myself start school so i have to be out of the house by 6:20 am.

the key for me is even though i am a night person there are certain aspects of the morning I LOVE!!! i loooooove day break. so if i can wake up and just do it all that zombiness disappears as i sweep the outdoors and drink a cup of tea in the cool morning air.

i go to bed early too coz when you are up at 5 and dont have time for a nap you are exhausted by 9 pm.

however getting out of the bed is KEY. when the alarm goes off i dont let it get to the snooze button. i dont allow myself to think. NO THINKING. i just push myself up. and yet when i sit with my tea out in the cool air i feel awake and ALIVE!!!!

now if there is nothing that inspires you about the morning -- then i dont know what you can do.

the thing is i was never ever a monring person. then i had to take classes at 7 am. that's when i discovered the morning 10 years ago. its not enough to turn me into a morning person. however at daybreak while i brush my teeth i get excited to do a morning thing. whether it is sweep the yard, or take a walk. but it has to be at daybreak or its not worth it for me.

i also really treasure my morning space. when no one else is up and i have my time to myself. i hate being rushed. i take a while to really wake up. or get going. i HATE, HATE being rushed out the door. i like to spend as much time doing what i want to do.

so all this really plays a part for me.

[3boobykins]

We give ourselves close to 2 hours to get ready, and we need every bit of it. I get up at 5:30, start coffee, make lunches. DH gets up soon after. The kids get up around 6, but I let them sleep until 6:30 if they need it. We take our time with breakfast and getting dressed, and we do our best to get the dishes loaded and kitchen clean before we leave.

Later in the year I might be able to get up later, but for now, I need those 2 hours.

[kayabrink]

RadUnschooler, I'm going to guess, is like me, and DOESN'T have to get up with ds, because when not in school, ds and I get up at 11- or later! and ds goes to bed around 11, which leaves me with time to myself from 11 to 2, 3, or 4 depending on my mood.
When in school:
I do everything the night before, to be able to get up as late as possible: showers, bag packing, laying out clothes. My alarm rings at 8:15. I stagger out of bed, wake child, who independently dresses, pees, then gets me around 8:30. Breakfast is yogourt, applesauce, cereal, muffins, 'sandwiches' of pb or nutella... can you see the theme is ease and survival, not health? I'll admit that, on rare occassions, we've had cookies for breakfast (homemade, that's healthier, right? ). Ds's morning snack (prepacked the night before!) I always make both substantial, and healthy to make up for this.
We leave for school at 8:40, and the bell rings at 8:50. Ok, maybe the key to my plan is living right next to the school. Last year I worked there, but next year I'll be on mat leave and further plans include taking a nap in the pm.
Despite all this, I have to force myself to go to bed around 2 at the latest, but it's ok and I do get used to it around the beginning of October.

[Thalia the Muse]

I am a night person, and yet I have spent my entire life getting up early because I had school, then college, then work. If we didn't have DD, I'd still be getting up early because I need to get to work. You just adjust to the rhythm of the day. It's just not that hard -- and honestly, I'm a giant whiner, so if I can handle it, it really ISN'T that hard!

[amj'smommy]

thank goodness for the automatic timer on the coffee pot This year my preschooler is in the afternoon preschool so it's just getting the 4th and 5th graders ready.... dd's (5th gr) bus stops right in front of our house around 7:40am so she can go right out the front door.... no needing to get her to a bus stop and ds's (4th gr) has an IEP (autism) so he takes special transportation that comes right up the driveway around 7:50.... I put him on the van and make sure he's buckled up but they don't mind me in my pj's and hopefully the younger 3 (4, 2 and 5m) will sleep late so I can crawl back into bed

[ollyoxenfree]

I was always a nightowl - awake until 2 or 3 a.m, and then sleeping in late. A busy life has demanded that I wake up early - and I've discovered how lovely and peaceful the very early morning hours are. I love waking up at 5 a.m., and lying in bed and listening to how peaceful the house is while everyone sleeps. I listen to the birds singing, and watch first light peek through the curtains.

Then it's good strong coffee with some sugar to fuel me up and some sort of nutritious breakfast - it doesn't have to be fancy - and I'm good to go. It helps to be organized ahead of the day - have clothes ready, bags packed with homework and school needs (gym clothes, project supplies etc.), lunches made, notes signed - but it doesn't always work out that way, lol!

Honestly, I'm still a nightowl, but I feel best - rested, healthy, invigorated - if I get to bed early and wake up early.

[Mamax3]

I used to be a night owl. Since having kids in school, I have changed drastically. I had to train myself to go to bed early (around 9pm or 10) because I require a good nights sleep in order to function and not have the people around me hate me. What I did was I forced myself up at the time I needed to get up, and a few days of doing this with no nap....I was exhausted by 9pm and got myself into a routine of going to bed by 9pm. Now it is easy. Also, planning ahead the night before is a huge help (ie. gym clothes, instrument set by the door).

My DS is in middle school. His bus comes at 6:50am. My alarm clock is set for 5:45am but I wake up just minutes before it goes off (so weird), and I get out of bed, get dressed, brush my teeth and then I wake up DS at 5:50am. He is one of those kids who does really well if he is not rushed. He gets right up, gets dressed, and comes down stairs. He watches George Lopez episodes on the DVR while I fix his breakfast. He watches the clock and manages to have his teeth brushed, shoes on and is ready to go out the door at 6:45, so I can take him to the bus stop. During all of that time, I am packing his lunch and drinking my coffee.

When I get back from taking him to the bus, I have a few minutes to read the paper and then I get up the younger three for school. The elementary bus comes at 8:30am. So I get them up at 7:30am, and start the "second morning shift".

After everyone is off to school, I get on about my day with what I need to get done. A couple of days a week I have a few hours to myself before going into one of the schools to volunteer for lunch duty or shelve books in the library, etc.

[bobandjess99]

grumpily, and with much unhappiness.
I hate mornings.
I have to stop myself from pulling dd out of school all year long.

[Drummer's Wife]

This thread is reminding me to set the coffee pot at night. At least when I smell it in the am, it is a bit of incentive to get up.

For me, school days are different. Yes, I have to get up w/my kids regardless, but they are night-owls like DH and myself, so they are happiest sleeping in until 10 am if we don't have anywhere to be.

[Madders]

Originally Posted by sunnmama

lol, right!

dd's bus comes at 8:30. We get up at 8:00 on school days. We get up around that time or earier *every* day, because my 2 yo is up before us!

Same here. I'm going to set the alarm clock for 7:45 this year. It's going to be hard, we all sleep in until 10 a.m. during the summer.

[EviesMom]

As you can see by my sig, I'm a homeschooler like the OP. And my DD used to go to bed at 10ish and get up at 10ish, slowly. However, we're all on an earlier schedule and it isn't from school, it's from earlybird DS. He is up by 8am at the very very latest. It's usually 6:30 to 7am. Believe me, we have tried for nearly 2 years to change this pattern, and it really just is who he is.

I drag myself out of bed. I change his diaper. I start coffee that is set to go the night before. I change my mindset to the fact that this is my chance to have alone time with him, and to remind myself that he's happy and cheerful now, thrilled to greet the day (if DH gets up with him, I get up at 9 or 10 and DS is then tired and ready for a nap and cranky.)

DD had zoo camp this week, and I felt glad that she didn't have to do this for the year, but I can also see how the routine would get familiar and eventually comfortable too. Clothes out in advance, everything packed in advance for lunch and bag in the fridge. It was honestly smoother than our usual slow moving routine-- wait for DS to get up from a nap or get out before he goes down for the nap?, what are we doing today?, kids bouncing off the walls by the time I have everything ready to go out for a day trip.

I guess the short answer is you get used to it, and it has some advantages once you're in the routine/swing of it.

[velochic]

This thread reminds me of my sister, who did it all the WRONG way and never even tried to adjust to mornings. It ended up with her kids not really getting an education and never finishing school. Not that anyone here would do that... just that in my sister's case, she just didn't even try and it resulted in a disaster.

[laurelg]

Originally Posted by velochic

This thread reminds me of my sister, who did it all the WRONG way and never even tried to adjust to mornings. It ended up with her kids not really getting an education and never finishing school. Not that anyone here would do that... just that in my sister's case, she just didn't even try and it resulted in a disaster.

[beanma]

It's hard for me, too. I'm on my 5th year of it and it's still hard. My girls and I would sleep at least until 8 (often 8:30 or 9) if it weren't for school and when they do get up they are not fast-moving. We need to leave the house by 8 (10 til would be optimal) so I try to streamline everything I can. I try to get the lunch as together as I can the night before. I get the kids to pick out their outfits the night before or even let them sleep in their clothes. We eat breakfast in the car on the 20 minute drive (usu eat bagels). My goal for the kids is that all they need to do is pee, brush teeth, brush hair, get dressed (maybe, if they didn't sleep in their clothes) and put their shoes on. The eating breakfast in the car saves us so much time. My oldest dd1, in particular, is not a breakfast person and just wouldn't get around to eating until 2 or 3 hrs after she wakes up if left to her own devices. She's also a really slow eater and dawdles and dawdles over her food. If I give it to her in the car it minimizes distractions and she's got nothing better to do but eat. Works for us, though, I still hate getting up early!

[Mamax3]

I should have added to my post that the key to mornings running smoothly and everyone getting up early is that we have a strict bedtime around here. All of the kids (even the 12 year old) are upstairs and in bed by 7:30pm. They can read until 8 or 8:30 but then lights out. We are strict about this.

I find that many nights, I am right behind my kids going to bed. I am tired after starting my day at 5:40am.