I have heard it said, “I am a morning person.” Waking up before the sun rises, bright and chipper; ready to start the day.
That person is not me.
However, I have found certain benefits to rising with the roosters that have given me cause to leave the warm embrace of my cozy blanket – and you may too after reading this.
As a mom, you may have gotten used to waking up to the pounce of your little cubs in the bed, clawing at you playfully while they beg for cartoons, cereal, or any other strange desire they wake up with.
I know I did.
But after taking my brood to the kitchen, that’s when the chaos began.
Scrounging to set breakfast on the table, I desperately would try to make the morning coffee so I could catch up to the children’s morning energy I am so envious of.
Before you know it the morning is gone.
The kids have all managed to get dressed, but I am here stuck in my pajamas picking soggy cereal pieces off the floor until it’s time to start school.
Being a homeschool family there is no time to “catch up” on the morning after you send the kids off to the bus stop, so you just keep going.
After I have warmed my coffee up for the hundredth time, I realize I have lost myself in my children’s world.
As Caila Smith said when writing for Scary Mommy, “[I was] struggling to prioritize myself in the hustle and bustle of spreading myself among so many.”
I realized that if I was to ease into a slightly less busy morning routine I would need to get up earlier.
Nooooooo!
At first it seemed entirely too crazy to set an alarm when I had three perfectly good ones tugging on me every morning, but I decided to give it a try anyway.
The first morning is the hardest.
It seemed cruel and strange to leave the comfort of my bed when I was still so tired from building forts and having tea parties the night before, but I had to see if it made a difference.
I decided to begin with a simple moment of meditation – mom style – thinking on my goals with the children for the day.
How I was going to try and be patient when my toddlers want me to hold them both while I did math with my older son, or how I was going to be patient with myself when I only completed half of my to-do list because the demands of being a mother took over.
Then I started coffee while I laid out breakfast for my mini-army, imagining their precious little faces smiling at the spread.
While I sipped on a hot cup of coffee all the way to the bottom of the mug, I checked emails and completed some work I hadn’t finished the night before because I fell asleep on the keyboard again.
Turns out these things can be done quickly without the screams over whose bouncy ball it is echoing in your ears.
Who knew?
I even incorporated my fitness routine into the morning so I don’t have to do it while keeping the kids out of the street simultaneously.
And here is the kicker…I am out of my pjs before lunch time!
This all startled the kids the first morning, but then they got used to running in for their morning hugs on the couch rather than the bed.
Best of all, breakfast is spent talking about our plans for the day, eating together, and basking in the beautiful light my children bring to my life.
The day may still have the blunders and joys of parenting, but now they are faced with new sense of self I had lost over the years.
Would I say I am a morning person now?
Nah.
But as Caila said, “We all need that time, those moments of mindfulness that better prepares us for yet another chaotic day of motherhood.”
So for now I will continue tip-toeing around the house with the rising sun, knowing that I am better for it.