I want to be a morning person!

[MrsBone]

This morning, DH slept in because he's gotten a total of about 6 hours of sleep for the past 2 days..We've hardly seen him, but he's been working, so there hasn't been a whole lot I can do about it. Well, normally saturday mornings are lazy lay around days, but this morning, I decided to take the kids to the library while DH slept, since he was going to have to go in to work right when he got up again. I didn't want to park the kids in front of the tv all morning, so we went out..it was lovely. They were both happy and having fun, and when we left to go home, it was lunch time...I fed them lunch, put the baby to bed, and my son is now watching a movie for quiet time. I get my much needed break, and my son gets to watch TV, and actually enjoy it since I'm trying to limit it some. My problem is, I'm not naturally a morning person. I'd say about half the time, I wake up with the kids, and make my coffee, turn on the tv and let the kids watch tv for like an hour while I play on the computer and wake up with my coffee. By the time I make breakfast it's about 9 am, and we eat, and then at that point we could go out or start the daily chores, but they now want my attention since they've been in front of the tv for an hour. I then get irritated because I want to clean the kitchen, and clean up, but they want me to play. So, needless to say, this routine isn't working too well. I wish I could just get up, drink one cup of coffee, and play with them all morning, and then work on everything else later since I think they do better with that. How can I change this habit I've gotten into!? I also tend to stay up late, so getting up before the kids is hard for me, even though it would help me wake up alone with my coffee and computer before the kids awake, and I'd be ready to spend time with them by the time they got up.. Anyone else not naturally a morning person who has become one?!! Oh and it doesn't help that my 3 1/2 year old DS stays up until around 9:30 and  sleeps until 8. I know this sounds like a reasonable amount, but I'm having a hard time adjusting to the fact that he only sleeps 10 1/2 hours or so rather than the 12 he used to sleep. He also doesn't nap anymore. And DH often works a lot, so I sometimes feel like it's all me!

[MrsBone]

Also, we're having highs of 100 or 105 lately here in Texas, and if we're going to go swimming, go for a walk, go anywhere really, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. By afternoon it's the hottest point of the day, and the pools are too warm to be refreshing. I'd love to have the energy to just get out of the house, or play with the kids in the morning while it's cooler.

[CherryBombMama]

I totally do the same thing in the morning - only the boys watch half an hour of TV.  A full hour brings out the craziness in them, so I never do that!  I also try to get some yoga in as soon as my coffee/computer break is over.

One time, I made myself a note at the sink saying, "Don't do the dishes! Play with your babies!!" and it worked :)  But, that note is long gone, and I mess up quite often...

[TallToriV]

Oddly enough, as a rabid morning person (I literally wake up before 6 am every day in the summer, without ever using an alarm), I've never met a natural morning person!! Everyone I know who is at her best in the morning (or his) got that way because she HAD to wake up early for a prolonged period of time. I was always a night owl in high school and college. After I left college, though, I got a job at Starbucks, and had to get up at 3:15 AM each day. After about 3 months of that, and another year having to get up at 4:30 to work at another Sbucks location, my inner clock was changed for good. Since then, I've had phases where I'd get up as late as 8, but there's always a specific reason for them (I'm in one right now because I'm just coming out of the first trimester of my first pregnancy, soooo tired), and they never last long.

My best advice is to just accept that it will be difficult, make yourself do it, then make sure you schedule a nap either before or right after lunch for yourself. You will probably be tired enough to do that right in the same room where your LO is watching TV by day 2 or 3. Make sure you plan something you either really need to do or really like to do, and do it AS SOON as you've crawled into clothes and had your coffee (otherwise you won't get up). Then on weekends, don't let yourself sleep more than an hour or two later than you want to on weekdays.

If you need more strategy, or a more step-by-step approach, Steve Pavlina did a whole article about learning to get up early on his blog: http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/05/how-to-become-an-early-riser/.
 

Just remember - all the morning people you know more than likely learned to be that way! Even if they assume it's natural, I bet if you ask them enough questions, you'll eventually learn that their parents made them get up super early when they were little, or something.

[astromum]

I hear ya!! I haven't been a morning person since I was about five years old, I think! (I was really excited about kindergarten, okay!) Sometimes I think back to my pre-child days, where on my days off from work I would literally sleep until noon/1 pm. Or later. *sigh* *double sigh* I have to wake up slow, real slow. I'm usually a dang zombie for an hour or two after getting up, but this morning SO woke me up while he was getting ready for work (like, 6:30), and my son was still sleeping, so I just layed in bed and played around on my phone, checking the news on an app, facebook, etc... sounds so silly, but it really helped me to wake up a little bit, (also I could smell coffee coming from the kitchen, which served as motivation to eventually get out of bed). But anyway, just being awake for 30 min before my kid woke up helped a lot, like I could ease into the morning a little bit instead of the SUDDENLY AWAKE GO GO GO which I get from my son.... he wakes up like a bullet, up and out. Where on earth did he get that from??! Obviously, I don't really have any advice, just wanted to let you know that you are definitely not alone and I'm interested in seeing some responses... the only thing I could say is, going to bed just a little bit earlier helps me, like sometimes I'll catch myself just kind of... awake.. not really doing anything, and I'm tired, but just don't go to sleep! So when I catch myself doing that I just force myself to go to bed. Second, is there anything at all that might help your little one go to bed before 9:30? Maybe if she went to bed just a little bit earlier, you would have more time to yourself/your hubs, and would be able to go to bed earlier because you'll be getting your alone time in, earlier! Just a thought, I know how tricky all that sleep stuff can be... when my little dude was staying up that late (and later) before we dropped the nap I was miserable. It's all such a process... good luck, Mama!

Also- that heat sounds brutal, that can't be helping! 

I'm totally checking out that link, TallToriV.

[iowaorganic]

I am the very very same.   What is the best thing for our morning is having the kitchen all clean and the main area vacuumed before we go to bed.  Also I have a coffee pot with a timer :)  Seriously- last night I was lazy and didn't even clear off the table and especially didn't do dishes or vac.  Such a mess this morning and I didn't set my coffee.  So I get up to a disaster which made me grumpy.  really grumpy.  I make my coffee and sit down to wake up and then we have to clean before we can start our day.  Horrid way to wake up.  Unfortunately I was not raised to get the kitchen cleaned every night and I do have a high tolerance for clutter....  ugh.  But tidying at night makes everything so much better...

[MrsBone]

today was wonderul too! We dint get up early but I did catch up on sleep finally and once we were up, I sat at the computer for maybe 15 minutes while drinking coffee and then I just closed the computer and started playing with the kids..we played most of the morning, ate lunch, and I did chores inbetween playing with them. Then we headed out for the mall for awhile. We just skipped the baby's nap and quiet time and got home around 5...the kids played and I built them a fort, then we cleaned up the play room and I told DS he could watch tv once it's cleaned up. We never ended up turning on the tv all day! He didn't even miss it. He was much more well behaved all day because I gave him more attention, I think. And he was more behaved when DH got home, listened better, ate dinner without a fight, got ready for bed without a fight. It was magical lol. Hopefully I can crash early tonight and be up before them. I did wake before the kids this morning, but it was only for about 20 minutes. It helped! I definitely think it will be worth it if I can swing it!

[astromum]

Oh I'm so glad you had such a great day!  And it does sounds like a good day, for real. :)