Good Morning!

Have I ever told you that I am not a morning person? Probably so. Its a battle that I have been fighting for about the last 5 years, since the birth of my oldest.

I love staying up at night. My mind is going strong. The kids are in bed. I can accomplish all that I am lacking in! It's wonderful.

About a month ago, I decided to lay down my weapons and walk away from the daily battle of getting up in the morning. I began setting my alarm clock back 15 minutes every day, then another 15, and the oh, a half hour... that one was hard. Until I reached 5:45...gulp! I can't believe it, but I am actually rising before anyone else in the house is!

Now, the thing is that when the alarm goes off, I really still want to stay in bed. Oh, I desperately want to curl up and snuggle into my pillows and sleep away the morning. At least for another hour or so. But somewhere in my fogginess, I remember that the kids will be up soon, and the girls will be showering withing 45 minutes, and my husband will be moving around.

And so I do it. I sit straight up fast and then I stand immediately. I stand and stand and stand for what seems like an eternity, but really may be 60 seconds. I stand there forcing myself to wake up.

Sometimes I shower, sometimes I just get dressed quickly. But my day begins with chores.

Okay legalistics out there, don't get on me for this, but I am sorry, I just can not sit down and pray first thing in the morning. Golly, I would be asleep in seconds. I can't sit at all. NO, I must move and keep moving in order to stay awake.

So, I start a load of laundry, I empty the dishwasher and I .... are you ready for this?? I actually make real breakfast in the mornings!!! This is for the history books!

Cultivating Home, I have used some of your ideas too! I turn either classical music on in the mornings or worship music (but nothing to jumpy!). I have lit some candles and I make a pot of coffee. Then I set into making breakfast, something warm and yummy that will give everyone energy for the day. In between I set the dining room up for school for the day and then when I am fully awake and know, without a shadow of a doubt that I won't fall back asleep, I sit and read His letter to me, His word!

Surprisingly enough, I have pleasant conversations with my husband too! This is a huge improvement as our morning conversations have usually consisted of me, saying "ah huh, yep, okay," as I rolled over in bed.

And I am cheerful with the boys too! This is amazing. I don't resent them because they woke me up, because I am actually already awake and I have already accomplished much in the morning! The kids are not to get out of bed until 8 am. If they wake early, they listen to stories on their cd player.

I go into their rooms and greet them, with a real, genuine smile on my face! I help them get dressed, make their beds, and talk with them cheerfully. Then we have breakfast, which is already cooked and waiting for them!

The battle of early mornings is won! Of course, mornings won. But that is okay! In fact, I surrender completely now!

6 comments:

  1. I can so relate. Even though I don't want to get out of bed - my day is so much better when I do.

    With school beginning we got ourselves out of the summer slumber and into routines. My morning routine is very similar to yours - load of laundry, unload the dishwasher. Another thing I do (well, started to do again) is to walk on the treadmill and pray for the day. This way I can't fall asleep! Ha!

    I like the idea of candles with the coffee and music...going to try that addition this week!

     
  2. I am so proud of you!

    I really would like to do this also, but right now I'm not sure what time I would have to wake up to be up before everyone!

     
  3. This was grrrreat!!I'm not a morning person either. When I became a stay at home mom, I thought, "Wow. this is great, now I can start the day reading the Word and praying." That lasted two days. I woke up, showered and then I took a nap, I mean I read the Word. I honestly believe that He doesn't care when we do it, He just cares that we do it. :)

     
  4. I also liked the candle idea. Never thought to do that in the morning...we light candles for dinner a lot. Your post was encouraging - thanks for sharing.

     
  5. Glad I inspired you a bit! I love your comment about making yourself be busy to stay awake. My trick is to wash my face with cool water first thing. Instantly wakes me up!

     
  6. Wow! I would sooooo love to be able to do this. Our house is so open, our kids share a huge bedroom upstairs and it has no doors to it, so if I were to get up & do any kind of chores it would just wake them up ( I really want to sell this hous :))

    But I will definatly remember this. I have the same problem, I try to get up early to do devotions (as that is all I can do before they wake). I can do so good for 1-2 weeks then I fall back to doing badly and falling asleep while praying or doing my devotion. It's so frustrating for me, I just can't wake up. Doing chores & puting on music sounds like an awesome way to great the day & give glory to the lord.

    I havn't been able to blog for a while but have enjoyed catching up on yours :)