Oh its nice to get up in the morning, but its nicer to stay in bed.

I have had a dream for years of being a morning person.

I would (in my dream that is) get up early before everyone else. Have a cup of tea while reading my bible (or maybe even another book!) in the quiet of the early morning. Have breakfast steaming and ready when the babies and husband wake up, have everyone fed and dressed before nine o’clock.

Right.

I’m beginning to think this would only be a reality if someone came and carried me out of my bed, wrapped me in my fuzzy robe, made the breakfast and maybe even fed it to me too. And I gave up on that happening a while ago. I figured that I would just be forever destined to get a late start to my day. I would just make up for my sluggish morning starts in the evening when I have all that energy.

But in real life I have been blessed with toddlers that think the morning begins before the sun comes up, so I can’t just start late. And by the time I get them in bed at night the last thing I want to do is catch up on all the work I didn’t get done in the morning!

Typically I am awakened at 6 AM by my 2 ½ year old, I stumble out of bed and (after walking into the wall and then the door) make it to the bathroom where I supervise potty break and then drag myself to the couch where I doze after telling my 2 year old to “be nice and quiet”. My 20 month old wakes up by (or before) 7 AM, I am then forced to pull myself off the couch and make juice cups in an inevitable attempt to stem off the pre-breakfast hysteria.

My toddlers seem to have inherited my husbands low blood sugar. If they don’t receive sustenance within a few seconds of waking up they melt down. If I don’t work fast they will be laying on the floor wailing. But, if I take the fast route and give them cereal instead of eggs, they will be wailing 2 hours later when they are desperately hungry again, forcing the need for either a good breakfast or a mid-morning snack.

After feeding the masses, I usually eat something (leftovers?) and then attempt to get everyone changed and dressed. I usually accomplish this by 10, (this is not including cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast) by this time I am feeling pretty awake, I can move on to cleaning and going about the day. I usually get the bulk of my work done in the afternoons and evenings and spend from 8-10 or 11 PM with my hubby.

However, I don’t think this method is going to work much longer. I’m starting to hate the morning, and I hate it even more when it starts with screaming children and a frustrated husband.

I am not sure how to remedy this. As much as I have always dreaded getting up early, I really need to get the morning hysteria under control. The particularly bad mornings seem to affect the rest of my day badly, and I really want to do better.

How can a night owl (who detests getting up before the sun) make the mornings go more smoothly? How can I get my quiet, restful morning ( and maybe even that cup of tea) even if I have to get up and care for my family? How can I get our family’s day to start off in a peaceful happy way?