My DH and I argue this constantly.My DD comes into the big bed with us in the night and her and I usually get up together in the morning.We snuggle and play.I like the extra sleep and she prefers not to wake up alone.I know this because on the few occasions I have gotten up early she cries for me and then is a little disconcerted getting going that day.

Hubby thinks I should get up first and get showered and make coffee etc.

How do you ladies start your day??

Linda

On work days I usually get up with my DD (who sleeps with us). She nurses a fair amount in the hour or so before getting up, and it's a lovely time for us to snuggle.

On weekends, DD gets up and I put on the TV for her and she watches cartoons and plays while I get to sleep in!! She comes in every now and then to snuggle and nurse, then goes out again to play.

I was just thinking this morning how I should enjoy this b/c when the new baby comes I won't be sleeping in!

Linda: I can't believe the nerve of your husband saying you should be getting up and making coffee. Tell him HE can go make the coffee! Sheesh!

I'm lucky the DS is not an early riser. He usually wakes up between 7:30 and 8 am. So sometimes I actually wake up before him. I actually enjoy the fifteen or twenty minutes of quiet time before DS wakes up. When he wakes up he calls out for me and I go to him right away. I have been lucky in that my not being in bed with him when he wakes in the morning hasn't upset him.
And sometimes he wakes up early and I just can't bring myself to get out of bed yet. Like this morning for example. We have a TV/VCR in our room so we put in The Muppet Movie on and DS can watch the movie as DH reads his book and I catch a few more winks.

dd usually wakes around 5am to nurse, dozes back off until 7, and I'm right there with her! catching every extra minute. I've even been known to say G-d please let her sleep 10 more minutes! ITA with piglet spghh on your husband...tell him to make the coffeee.

On weekdays, I wake up with my dh (around 5:30) to have breakfast & coffee with him and make his lunch for the day. I enjoy being up early before the kids because it gives us a chance to talk & read the paper together. The kids will usually wake around 6:30.

On weekends, we all sleep until ds or dd wakes. Then we all get up and make breakfast together.

No I try to get all the sleep I can. Between the two girls and my bladder I get a number of times a night.

aw- i'd love to get up before dd to have some time to have a shower & have a cuppa tea, before the day begins.
but when dd joins us in bed as the sun rises, it's just so nice to be cuddling and cozying up in bed, that i don't mind giving up my 'me' time so we can have 'we' time- dh is always so busy, so the morning times in bed are really nice.

Oh yes I get up way before the kiddos get up... it is a challenge to get out of bed without waking our co-sleeper sometimes though... :LOL

I like to get up, and be able to drink coffee and surf the net in peace. It's so nice to sit without someone climbing into my lap and smearing whatever on me.

DH wakes me before he leaves for work around 5:45am and I get up... I don't have to wake any kiddos until 6:45am to get ready for school. ONE SOLID HOUR FOR ME ALONE!!! :D Once the school kid is up, I begin gathering the other two kiddos clothes and if they don't wake from our clamoring around, I will wake them by 7:15am latest. Get 'em a bowl of cereal, then get 'em ready and we are out the door by 7:45am.

Weekends I still get up earlier than anyone... I swear with 4 other people demanding a lot during the daytime, it is very very nice to have that time alone and quiet. The only time I really sleep in on weekends is if I have stayed up wayyyyyy late. And then the latest I can manage to sleep in peace is until 8:30am because I hear the cereal bowls clanging and kids going on and on and on and on... :LOL

Most of the time, I get up when ds does. He has never been a great sleeper, and when he is up I am, too.

Luckily, dh realizes that I need more sleep than he does. Before ds was born, I slept at least 9 hours every night. Dh gets up at 7:30 every morning. Two or three mornings a week, ds and I are still asleep when dh leaves for work.

I work on Tuesday mornings, so that is the one morning that I wake before ds.

There are many nights that I have late, out of town rehearsals. I get home at 11:30 or midnight, so ds and I aren't really "sleeping late." We're just getting the sleep that we need!

People who have early morning lifestyles have misunderstood (and misjudged!!) our sleep patterns. I get comments like "you all just sleep your life away!" Maybe I should call them when I get home at midnight and ask how their day is going??

Sorry! This was long and a bit off topic. Can you tell that this is a bit of a sore subject?

There is NO WAY I am getting out of bed one second before I absolutely have to.

We have one of those coffee pots with a timer on it - we load it up before we go to bed and *voila*, coffee in the AM and nobody has to get up early.

I get up first. We got to sleep at the same time, though, so those two morning hours are my alone-time.

Dar

I hit send too soon... the thing is, I wake up about 9:30, and Rain wakes at 11:30, so neither of us wake up "early". We have the theatre thing going, too, so lots of tie we get home at 11 or 12 at night, and don't go to sleep until 1:30 or 2.

The show Rain is rehearsing now does perfomances for schoolkids on Wednesday mornings at 9:30 though, and it's an hour away. That's going to so suck for us.

Dar

There is NO WAY I am getting out of bed one second before I absolutely have to.

Me either!! Plus, if I wanted to get up first, I'd have to get up at 5:30! DS has always been an early riser. Also, there is no easing into the morning at our house. It's "Let's get up, mommy. Here, I'll take your covers off. Get up, mommy. Mommy, I'm hungry. Don't you want to make me breakfast? C'mon mommy, get up."

I am totally serious.


~Scout

I get up at 5:30-6:00 a.m. every day (due in part to an alarm clock cat, lol!). Usually dd gets up between 6:30 and 7:30 (dh, too, who is usually awakened by her rolling around in the bed as she wakes). I use my "alone" time to shower and dress, finish a couple of chores, etc. I should also add that up until about 6 months ago, even the slightest stir from me would wake my dd, who HATES sleeping alone.

Sometimes I try to get up before the kids, and it feels so strange, and free. Other times, my son will hear me and promptly get up and start in on me:shrug

5 out of 7 mornings I get up first. DD goes to bed at the same time as dh and I about 10:00 and gets up at 9:00. I get up during the week at 6 so I can do my yoga, get tasks for my herbal practice done and have some time for myself to shower and linger over my coffee a bit. On the weekends I sleep in with her and dh usually. Dh is gone during the week by 6:30.

If it has been a rough night or I am zoncked then I sleep in. DD usually calls for me around 8:45 and I get back in bed to cuddle with her. At first she was a bit shocked I wasn't in bed with her as I slept in with her the first year almost exclusively no question:LOL

She is 28 months now and nursing maybe once if that at night so I get more consistent sleep thats forsure!

I always get up with ds.

But....we have a new baby coming in May and I often wonder how I'll ever get a shower when I have two kids if I don't get up before them.

On one hand, the thought of a shower all by myself while the kids are sleeping sounds fantastic, other than having to get up 30 minutes earlier. I think I would miss that extra sleep, unless I start going to bed a little earlier.

I've thought about this before, but I NEVER remember my parents still being in bed when I got up when I was a child. NEVER. Kind of weird, really.

lisa

To take a shower with 2 kids, I used to use a bouncy seat:o for the baby, or a bassinet in the bathroom with me, and she would either nap, or chill out while I took the oldest one in the tub with me. Then when the baby got older, I would either take a shower at night, or with the baby while my ds played in the other room.

I get up before the kids because I am a naturally early riser. I get up between 6:30 and 7. The kids generally wake up between 7:30 and 8.

Of course, I don't get showered and dressed before they get up... (I use that time to check e-mail and and exercise and stuff - ME time).

I used to get up before the baby so that I could pump an extra time before going to work. But then the baby figured that out and started getting up when I did! For awhile I was letting him play on the living room floor while I pumped. Luckily I don't need to pump quite that much anymore so I stopped doing that session.

These days I get up when he does (between 6 and 6:30) and he plays on the kitchen floor while I do all the dishes from the previous day. I do play with him a little, but not as much as I would like.

One of my best things is, to keep him out of the cat's dishes (:eek) I rearrange his books on the kitchen bookshelf. I do it like I really need to get the books in order, commenting on how satisfying it is that they are finally straightened out. That never fails to bring him over to pull them all off the shelf! Heh heh heh! My son loves books! :love

Then we wake up Daddy at 7:30 and I get my shower while dh makes breakfast. Then we all eat together.

Except for the part about being the only adult who does dishes every day, I am okay with this routine!

I get up around 6:30, sit with DH while he eats breakfast. He leaves for work at 7:00 and then I have about 45 minutes all to myself before DS wakes for the day. I either do some chores, check my e-mail, or just relax with a cup of coffee. I've always been a "morning person" though, so it's not so hard for me to get up when I do. I still shower with DS after he wakes up.

I usually get up when they do- no sense in waking earlier than I have to, especially since I'm pg and get little sleep btw bathroom visits as it is.

The few days here and there I do get up and ready before them, I feel like I've accomplished so much more than other days. Like a head start in a race.

I used to wait for her to wake me... we would have a really slow leisurely morning. Now that she is in preschool I try to get up at least a half hour before she does so I don't have that "hit the ground running" feel all day. I like a bit of time to mope around, sip some coffee, let my face remember it's shape before I have to start responding to caregiving requests.

all your wonderful and varied responses!! My hubby can go suck a bug.However we want to start the dayis fine.He can now see there is no "normal" way. Since when have I been normal anyways??

Lisa>>> your comment about our parents always being up first in the morning is his present argument.I can see his point anytime of day but morning when I am sooooo tired and want to sleep.I have never been a morning person.


Linda

No way do I get up before my ds! I'm a night owl, he's an early bird. Since he was a newborn he's usually been up by 6:00 am, sometimes as early as 5. I am forcing myself to be in bed by 10:30 pm or shortly after so that I can cope with the mornings, but I'm still waking up tired. The past few weeks he's been sleeping until about 7:00 or so, but he seems like he's slipping back into old habits.

We're lucky because we don't have to be anywhere. We don't do much until the afternoon since he also takes a late morning nap. We get up together, go downstairs and snuggle/watch Elmo while mom continues to wake up. Then we make and eat breakfast, and then we get ready for the day in a pretty leisurely fashion.

I always get up first so I can get dressed and stuff for the day alone. It's also the only time I can exercise, alone. This way is best for me, if there's nothing wrong with what your doing(working fine for you) then why change it?

you know DH actuallly asks me the opposite. He wants to know why I get up so early. He thinks I should sleep more, "just sleep until they wake you up". that's his suggestion, but it's too hard for me to get dressed and fed and stretched that way.

just exactly what is this "morning" thing you speak of???:D :D :D

I have to be truely exhausted to sleep past 7:00 am any morning. My ds, he is still sleeping right now!

On weekdays, I wake up with my dh (around 5:30) to have breakfast & coffee with him and make his lunch for the day. I enjoy being up early before the kids because it gives us a chance to talk & read the paper together. The kids will usually wake around 6:30.
This is us exactly, except for the lunch packing. My husband comes home for lunch, so i make it then.

I need, desperately, the small amount of time alone or with my husband this allows. If i didnt i would be even more grouchy. as it is, i am feeling like a maid and a taxi service.

do you really not know what "morning' is? or are you somehow trying to poke fun at me?

not poking fun of you at all -At MYSELF
I am soo not a morning person at all .....I apologize that it came out the wrong way

I had reread my post from last night and way overused the word morning.I guess I am too used to living with my husband the "king of sarcasm!!"

Linda


we don't know what morning really is either.we stay up late so our morning starts in everyone elses afternoon....

I am the momma known to turn to dd at 11:30 am and bribe with anything in my power for 10 more min of time spent in bed. This has come back to bite me in the form of 30 min "plane rides" and going down the twisty slide until I am ill. I still however think the 10 minutes were well worth the trade. We are however up late dd around 11:30 into bed later to sleep, I am often up until 4 or later. If the day could just start around noon I would be so happy.

It depends on what my needs are at the time. Probably half the time I wake up before the kids and think "ah ha, if I can slip out of here unnoticed I can have a half hour quiet time all to myself!" or if it is very early I might go slip into bed with my husband (he sleeps in another room by himself.) The other half of the time I "sleep in", ha ha, that is, until 7 or 7:30 :D and get up with the kids.

When I do manage to slip off by myself, though, my daughter is almost always unhappy to wake up without me. I go and get her immediately, of course, but there is definitely a trade-off for my precious quiet time. So I completely understand what you're saying about it being a smoother start to the day when you are there when she wakes up. She is a lucky girl and you are a smart mama!

I do think it's a little strange when people think they should have a say in others' sleeping habits! I once had a boyfriend who could not stand the fact that I liked to sleep in sometimes and laze around in bed. It made him really nervous for some reason. I was like, "you are such a freak, go away and let me sleep!" :LOL Now, I am the one who wants to get up early and my husband wants to sleep in, and I'm not about to start nagging him about it. First of all, I don't need him for anything and second, it's really not up to me to decide what his needs are, yk?

I try to get up before the family does because I love to have that time to myself. I have not been going to bed early enough lately so I have been sleeping later than I want to. Oh well.

But we are on the bus at 7am 3 days a week, so sleeping in is around 7 for me. Dh sleeps much later, though. I try not to bug him about sleeping, although it would be nice to have time to ourselves. LOL.

Louise
mama to juniper
wife to ben:love

I soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo wish I could wake up early and have time to myself in the mornings, but a) the earlier I wake up the earlier the girls wake up, which means that I've gotten up early for no reason AND I've got overtired and grumpy girls with me, and b) although I like the idea of getting up early, I am coming to realize that I am NOT a morning person!!! I usually stay up quite late at night, to read a book or write a letter to a friend - worked fine when I only had dd#1 as I slept all night, but now I have 6 month old dd#2, and get woken up too much........so never feel like I get enough sleep! BUt am not really willing to give up my reading time, so I survive on coffee in the morning!!!! And bribe my older dd to let me sleep just a bit longer in the morning too!!!!

I would love to get up before ds and have a few moments to myself. However, A) I hate having to get up when the alarm goes off (I'd rather wake up on my own) and B) when I do manage to roll out of bed early, DS wakes up too so I might as well have not bothered. In fact, I think it would be impossible for me to get up before DS. I love mornings, so I'd love to have some time to myself then, but I guess it isn't meant to be.

During the week, I get up with Dh at 5:30. however, during the week, the older kids all get up between 5:45 and 6:45 too. The little guy will sleep until 7 or 8, and I have some time to shower, do some cleaning, etc.

Weekends, dh and I get up with the little guy, usually around 9. The older kids sleep in a whole lot later than us!

I get up before my kids. I like to have a shower, do my make-up, do a little housework, and have a cup of coffee before they get up. I am usually in bed at night by 12:00 or so and I get up around 6:00 to 6:30am to start my day.

I'm usually the last one up. :LOL Most days it's after the kids have already gone to school. I'll be awake a lot of the times, I just don't feel up to getting out of bed yet. I think if it makes you feel better to stay in bed a little longer then you should. Tell DH he can get up and make coffee, but you're going to sleep. :LOL