Hannah over at Cultivating Home has a post up that got me thinking today.
Starting the day slowly and peacefully. How many of us actually do that on a regular basis? I'm not a morning person at all, preferring to 'get my stuff done' in the evenings (which, ahem, sometimes flow on to the very-early-mornings). I've been wired that way since gosh-knows-when. Consequently, my nights are almost always late, and my mornings are generally akin to trying to wade through wet cement, LOL!
Master J gets up first. I don't even know when exactly, but I figure it is around 6:15 or 6:30. He happily amuses himself and then comes in to wake Mum up around 7am. My alarm (on school mornings) is set at 6:45 but between the snooze button and the general "I don't WANNA get ups" I'm rarely out of bed before 7:15, even with my Little Alarm Helper :P More often than not, especially on weekdays, I survive on six hours sleep or less. A few times, MUCH less.
I don't think it is enough, LOL.
I've been wondering for a while now about how easy (translation: how incredibly difficult) it would be to break the habit of late nights and slow mornings. If I had to, I could wean myself off the late nights by 15 mins at a time, but I'm talking about changing my mindset as well. I'd love to be a morning person, LOL! I'd love to get up (willingly! and without a crying child to prompt me!) at 6am, spend some quiet time by myself, start on the housework, eat breakfast and ease myself into my day, and get the kids ready to go to school, without feeling as though I'm being made to walk the plank.
In our house at the moment, school mornings aren't at 'panic stations', but they're not 'leisurely' either. I get up at 7:15 and concentrate on getting Master J ready for the taxi pickup at around 7:45 (his taxi actually arrives more like 7:50 or 7:55 but they're on a tight schedule and can't wait for us to tie shoes or pack lunches, so I give myself a healthy buffer). In half an hour, he's up, fed, teeth brushed, face washed, dressed, socks and shoes, toilet and out the door. Sometime during that half hour, Boofah wakes and will quite often eat breakfast and get ready by the time J leaves as well - but then he has about forty minutes to kill (I'm encouraging him to read books of his own choice during this time, and he's happy as a clam doing that). Miss Moo absolutely, 100% without a doubt, takes after her mother in the 'getting up' stakes. She rarely gets up of her own accord, so I wake her around 7:40 or so and aim to have her finish her breakfast by 8:00. Then dressing, shoes and hair (she has long hair and Mum's rule is, it must be in a plait (braid) for school).
THEN...
Mummy gets ready. It is not uncommon for me to be getting dressed 5 mins before we're due to walk out the door, so you can imagine the lack of a fancy schmancy hairdo and thrown-together outfit, LOL. Ideally, we should be out the door by around 8:40. We live a 5 min walk from the school, and the bell goes at 9:00, so this gives us plenty of time to slowly make our way there, play a little outside before the bell, and then be there, ready, when the teacher arrives at the classroom. Oftentimes we're rushing about and arrive at the classroom after the bell (by two mins, tops, but still...)
I think its about time we do an overhaul of our morning time. But I enjoy my 'kid free' block of time more than a little bit in the evenings (LOL) and I naturally want to have that extend as far as possible. Wrong thinking, I guess. If I I get a head start on my housework by getting up earlier, then there will be more 'free' time during the day while the kids are at school to balance things out, but still.
I read stories all the time about angels that manage to get up at 4:30 and 5:00. Oh. My. Goodness. They must all go to bed right after dinner! LOL. My head would explode by the time the 'school prep' time comes along. I'd be ready for a nap by then!
So what is the general consensus? Do early mornings help or hinder? Do you find your productivity (ie, getting things done) increases with the earlier starts? Were you a night owl in a previous life and have had to wean yourself of the habit? How hard was it? Share your stories...
Please. I'm begging you, LOL.
P.S. Doesn't the bed above look gorgeous? I can't even remember where I found this picture but it's an actual bed you can buy somewhere, and I believe it is wrought-iron. It's like something straight out of Narnia. Miss Moo would go bananas for it :)
Cheers,
Lizzie
Starting the day slowly and peacefully. How many of us actually do that on a regular basis? I'm not a morning person at all, preferring to 'get my stuff done' in the evenings (which, ahem, sometimes flow on to the very-early-mornings). I've been wired that way since gosh-knows-when. Consequently, my nights are almost always late, and my mornings are generally akin to trying to wade through wet cement, LOL!
Master J gets up first. I don't even know when exactly, but I figure it is around 6:15 or 6:30. He happily amuses himself and then comes in to wake Mum up around 7am. My alarm (on school mornings) is set at 6:45 but between the snooze button and the general "I don't WANNA get ups" I'm rarely out of bed before 7:15, even with my Little Alarm Helper :P More often than not, especially on weekdays, I survive on six hours sleep or less. A few times, MUCH less.
I don't think it is enough, LOL.
I've been wondering for a while now about how easy (translation: how incredibly difficult) it would be to break the habit of late nights and slow mornings. If I had to, I could wean myself off the late nights by 15 mins at a time, but I'm talking about changing my mindset as well. I'd love to be a morning person, LOL! I'd love to get up (willingly! and without a crying child to prompt me!) at 6am, spend some quiet time by myself, start on the housework, eat breakfast and ease myself into my day, and get the kids ready to go to school, without feeling as though I'm being made to walk the plank.
In our house at the moment, school mornings aren't at 'panic stations', but they're not 'leisurely' either. I get up at 7:15 and concentrate on getting Master J ready for the taxi pickup at around 7:45 (his taxi actually arrives more like 7:50 or 7:55 but they're on a tight schedule and can't wait for us to tie shoes or pack lunches, so I give myself a healthy buffer). In half an hour, he's up, fed, teeth brushed, face washed, dressed, socks and shoes, toilet and out the door. Sometime during that half hour, Boofah wakes and will quite often eat breakfast and get ready by the time J leaves as well - but then he has about forty minutes to kill (I'm encouraging him to read books of his own choice during this time, and he's happy as a clam doing that). Miss Moo absolutely, 100% without a doubt, takes after her mother in the 'getting up' stakes. She rarely gets up of her own accord, so I wake her around 7:40 or so and aim to have her finish her breakfast by 8:00. Then dressing, shoes and hair (she has long hair and Mum's rule is, it must be in a plait (braid) for school).
THEN...
Mummy gets ready. It is not uncommon for me to be getting dressed 5 mins before we're due to walk out the door, so you can imagine the lack of a fancy schmancy hairdo and thrown-together outfit, LOL. Ideally, we should be out the door by around 8:40. We live a 5 min walk from the school, and the bell goes at 9:00, so this gives us plenty of time to slowly make our way there, play a little outside before the bell, and then be there, ready, when the teacher arrives at the classroom. Oftentimes we're rushing about and arrive at the classroom after the bell (by two mins, tops, but still...)
I think its about time we do an overhaul of our morning time. But I enjoy my 'kid free' block of time more than a little bit in the evenings (LOL) and I naturally want to have that extend as far as possible. Wrong thinking, I guess. If I I get a head start on my housework by getting up earlier, then there will be more 'free' time during the day while the kids are at school to balance things out, but still.
I read stories all the time about angels that manage to get up at 4:30 and 5:00. Oh. My. Goodness. They must all go to bed right after dinner! LOL. My head would explode by the time the 'school prep' time comes along. I'd be ready for a nap by then!
So what is the general consensus? Do early mornings help or hinder? Do you find your productivity (ie, getting things done) increases with the earlier starts? Were you a night owl in a previous life and have had to wean yourself of the habit? How hard was it? Share your stories...
Please. I'm begging you, LOL.
P.S. Doesn't the bed above look gorgeous? I can't even remember where I found this picture but it's an actual bed you can buy somewhere, and I believe it is wrought-iron. It's like something straight out of Narnia. Miss Moo would go bananas for it :)
Cheers,
Lizzie
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