I love this post from Kayse Pratt on how they are starting their day in peace:
So, I’ve got a kid who gets up at 6:30 on the dot every.single.morning. (And that’s only because her clock turns green at 6:30, so she’s allowed to get up. Otherwise she’d be waking me up at 5:30 every day.) Fun stuff. My energetic girl is most definitely a morning person.
I am a morning person too; I crave the quiet peace of the early morning hours. But, since Emmy is such an early riser, that means I have to be an earliER riser!
Whether you’re an early riser or not, I think the idea of waking up BEFORE your kiddos and not TO your kiddos is pretty important. At least it is in my own life. If I’m up before the kids and have a little time to myself, I’m a much happier mommy all day. If I wake up to a tiny person staring at me from 2 inches away, I am not so happy.
Keeping my mornings sacred is a HUGE part of keeping our home a calm and peaceful…
Vicki says
It’s so true, it makes a huge difference to my day.
Also, where can I get one of those alarm clocks!!
Paula says
As much as I’ve tried, I am not a morning person. Getting up earlier than 6:30 every day is just not practical for me. 7:00 or 7:30 is a victory for me. I would read all the articles and posts about how important it is to get up early and accomplish a whole list of things before the kids get up, and I was feeling guilty and lazy. I’ve finally accepted that’s just not going to happen. I have gotten a better handle on getting to bed at a decent time, but that doesn’t make me more of a morning person either. Instead, I intentionally leave time at the end of the day for quiet time. If I’m able to get enough done during the day, that can include time for watching something on my DVR or Netflix. Then prayer/Bible, a few minutes to write an update on my day in my journal and hopefully some time left for fiction reading. In the morning, I take 5-10 minutes of quiet before I get out of bed. Before going to bed, I fix a tumbler of water with lemon and leave on my nightstand. I drink that before getting out of bed while I write in my journal for a few minutes, including goals for the day.
SM says
This is great, but it doesn’t work for everyone. Im trying not to be jealous of those who do have a lovely quiet morning routine, one day I hope itll work for me. Whenever I wake up earlier, my kids do too. I’ve tried 6, then 5am and they are always up within 10-15 min of me. I’m sure they have this sense , mommy is awake so I am going to wake up too!
I’m wondering if anyone else is struggling to find a quiet time during their day?
Im often feeling guilty that I do not spend enough time with devotions, prayer etc. With 3 young children, a husband that works out of town, and never ending house and yard work, it feels overwhelming at times. I’ve tried early mornings. I’ve tried afternoons, but it’s usually so busy around here that never works out, and then by the time all the kids are in bed by 8 , you just wish you could go to sleep too but you still have to clean up supper dishes, and tidy up so at least you’re not waking up to a mess…, so you do all that and then end up collapsing into bed and realize once again a day has gone by and you barely had a chance to pray and read your Bible. 🙁
Jessica H says
I need to invest in one of those clocks! My toddler son things 5:15 is the perfect time to wake up no matter what time he goes to bed the night before. I can get up at 5:15 most mornings, but with a baby that is up a couple of times at night, I have a hard time getting up before he does.
Guest says
The timing of this is perfect. Our kids started back to school this week. I work full time and would consider myself a morning person BUT this last year has been really stressful and I (in retrospect) was really pushing the envelope with wake-up time. I’ve started setting my alarm for 15 (some mornings 10 – ha!) minutes before the kids need to get up and I have to say, though we’re only four days in, it has really made a difference. I don’t personally like doing a lot of the stuff she mentioned first thing in the morning but I do like getting my vitamin drink ready lighting candles, putting breakfast on the table and getting my mind focused. Ten to fifteen minutes is plenty of time to do that for me. I have tried to do the 5 AM thing and I absolutely HATE it. It’s just too early, too dark, too quiet. But, hey, to each their own!
Two other random but related thoughts…her blog is lovely! The colors are very peaceful and calming and the photos make me smile. 🙂 Lastly, as the writer mentioned I cannot emphasize strongly enough how important we have found setting boundaries for our kids about waking us up. For awhile we used the clocks she mentions (we bought ours on Amazon – called Teach Me Time) and then once the youngest hit 5 we were like, listen, do not wake us up unless there is an emergency. And we gave specific examples of what an emergency is (primarily, there is a fire or there’s been an accident). Otherwise, they are allowed to play QUIETLY or read in their rooms. I realized after awhile that by doing that we are teaching them several things:
– respecting the needs of others – Mom and Dad *need* sleep. Your sibling who sleeps later than you *needs* sleep.
– entertaining themselves – ultimately when kids (above toddler age) wake us up it’s because they want to be entertained/waited on. No time like the present to learn to find ways of entertaining yourself.
– having their own morning routine – Mornings look different for everyone and by putting the responsibility on them to figure out what they want/need, they’re increasing their own self awareness.
I should say that my husband and I “sleep in” until 7, maybe 7:30 so we’re not asking our kids to hang out until 9. 🙂
Wendy Stoller says
Hello. I would love to take your course and would love a morning makeover however I have one small (huge) factor that I can’t figure out. 🙂 When I sleep – I can easily get up at 6:30 or 6 and our mornings go smoothly and well. HOWEVER many nights I struggle with insomnia and so often my best hours of sleep happen after 6 AM. And when I try to get up any early than 7;30 or 8 on those nights I feel TERRIBLE. So, I have to let nature take it’s course. I can never plan my morning – because whenever I decide it will be different there I lie at night wide awake from 1 to 4 or 1 to 5 or 2 to 6 waiting for sleep to come. I do go to bed early by 10 every night – usually we head to bed at 9:30. I have tried all manner of methods/stuff to help sleep (supplements/orange lights/orange glasses/exercise/diet/etc. I also have a heart condition that contributes -both to need of sleep and the lack of sleep. :/ Nothing helps or gives me any predictability. A couple other factors… my body requires lots of sleep (I have since a child my mother tells me) and insomnia runs in my material side, my grandma had it, my mom has it… my sister has it (however she thrives on little sleep so it doesn’t bother her much to be an insomniac) and I have it….. So, when one struggles with a health issue how do you fix the morning routine? I would welcome any suggestions. 🙂 Thankfully I can say it’s better than when the girls were infants. In those days neither the babies or I slept and my morning often didn’t start until 10… that killed my days productivity. Especially since I often crashed by 9 because I was so exhausted. 🙂 So we have improved by a few hours. I just wish I could predict that I could regularly get up at 6. :/
Cara@TheHomeLearner says
This is such an important concept. I love how it’s worded here – you don’t have to buy into the “morning people are ‘better'” mentality to have a successful and productive day. Waking up on my own and to my own tasks – even just 5 minutes alone – makes all the difference than waking up to the demands of another person.
Thanks for sharing this post!
Kariane says
I totally get this. Getting up first is wonderfully helpful. Yet, sometime that just isn’t practical (like when you have a baby who still wakes you up multiple times a night and insists on rising at 5am for the day). But I’ve still found a way for quiet in my mornings. I wrote about it here: http://everydaymindfulliving.com/snuggle-time-as-meditation/
Tracy S. says
Fantastic post! And so true about getting up before the kids. I’ve been making it a habit for the last 4 weeks and oh, what a difference! And I’ve even been waking up that annoying one minute before my 5:30 alarm this week. Hahaha! It makes everybody’s day easier when I’ve had a cup of coffee, some Bible time, and some time to look at the day before having to deal with the day. And I think I’m about to go through Make Over Your Mornings again to see what else I can get out of it. 🙂
Tamara says
Good post! Practical…and encouraging! I like how you incorporate the workouts in your quiet time, worshipping in mind and body!