The Morning Routine
This morning, I woke up late.
Well, every morning lately I have been waking up late, despite my alarms being set for 6am through 7am, every 15 minutes.
Our morning routine is hectic and it doesn’t have to be, but I have brought on extra stress for myself and my family by being tired and sleeping that extra few minutes. Is the extra few minutes worth all the fighting, yelling, and whining that goes on? Well, no, but I keep doing it and it needs to stop now!
This is how our morning goes.
I wake up and either go get the boy from his bed or jiggle him a little to get him moving and waking up. I turn on SpongeBob SquarePants to get his attention and usually his eyes flutter open and a gentle little smile flashes over his face. I then wake up Howard and tell him that I’m getting in the shower and either he gets Benjamin’s clothes or occasionally I will pick out the clothes and bring them to the boys so they can start getting ready while I shower.
Usually when I get out of the shower nothing has been accomplished except the two of them are awake and watching TV together, sometimes cuddled up in the bed, sometimes just laying there. When they hear the shower stop, they will start moving a little.
I hear Howard letting the dogs out and if we aren’t super late like today, he will go have a cigarette. The boy…keeps watching TV, not getting himself dressed…because what 5 (about to be 6) year old dresses himself? I mean, come on…
By the time I’ve brushed my teeth and hair and headed into the bedroom to get dressed, Howard is arguing with Benjamin to get dressed or get over to him so he can dress the boy. This is when it really gets crazy.
Benjamin is tired. He wants to keep sleeping. I turn off the TV. Howard begs and pleads with the boy to get dressed. Quickly, tempers are flaring and I’m either scolding the boy or occasionally popping his behind to get moving. Today, there was yelling (it happens about twice per week now) and I’m not proud of it.
The fight continues through getting dressed, through Howard fixing Benjamin’s lunch, through brushing his teeth, through getting his jacket, his lunch, his backpack, and out the door.
Apparently our front yard with all the nuts on the ground are a constant wonder to our boy because he has to kick a few nuts, walk backwards, slow poke his way to the car, and whine the entire time he is climbing into the car. He HAS to be FIRST out the door and in the car, but he won’t move fast enough so there is usually whining involved and probably more yelling.
Finally…finally…we are in the car, all three buckled in (and at this point I have no idea when/how Howard got dressed and ready to go with us, but I know we are going to be late) and we head to the Kindergarten drop-off line.
Most days Benjamin is ready to get out of the car, but today (when we were running super late and we were in the last wave of cars before the tardy bell) he wasn’t ready. He leaned on Daddy’s arm, wanted to kiss my hand and hug me and get a kiss from me and a kiss from Daddy…all while the drop-off lady was coaxing him out of the car.
It’s just so hard to be angry with that sweet, lovey boy when he stalls getting out of the car because he’s trying to give out kisses and hugs over and over.
So, in the way of taking ACTION this year, I am going to set a goal for tomorrow (and then the next day until I get it right) to wake up earlier, give us more time to slowly get ready, and enjoy each other’s company (without all the frustration and yelling and being late to school) during our morning routine.
I’m linking up with Pour Your Heart Out.
I find it funny that they usually start moving when they hear the shower turn off. That’s when I start moving, too. (But, I have zero kids to get ready for school. I just have a breakfast and lunch to make and when he turns off the shower, I know I best get moving. However, my final warning bell is the hairdryer. But – the hair dryer gets turned on twice. Once to clear the steam off the mirror and the 2nd time to dry his hair. My final warning is the 2nd time.)
Funny thing, this morning Howard had to get up first and shower and I totally waited until I heard the shower turn off before I got out of bed to get clothes for Benjamin. That extra 6 minutes of sleep was definitely worth it!
You’re right – those extra minutes are definitely worth it
I never take showers in the AM because while I can count on my 10 yr old daughter to stay up after I wake her & (usually) cheerfully get herself ready, my 14 yr old son does not like to get up early. I have to sit on his bed and coax him to a wakened state. Once he’s out of bed, I’m good to let him be, but getting him out of bed can be a real challenge. Taking a shower (or bath) at night is difficult for me because once dinner’s done I’m spent and just want to lay on the couch and watch some TV, read or be on my laptop. But, sometimes I force myself to bathe at night (if I have to be somewhere early the next day). It seems to help because I can get up, throw a comb through my hair, brush my teeth and throw my clothes on and then get the kids up and out the door. Less stressful for me. PLUS, my hubby takes a hot bath every morning before he goes to work & let me tell you … his baths are so hot he will literally use every drop of hot water in the hot water heater. No joke! LOL
I set multiple alarms, too. But, I found that when I set 3-4 alarms and hit snooze that I tended to lose track of how many times I’d hit snooze. Now I set only 2 alarms, 10 minutes apart. It seems to work better for me.
I totally hear you on that. It is actually easier for me when my husband isn’t home because I know that *I* am in charge of everything and there’s less hoping things will get done while I’m getting dressed, etc
That said, I’ve found that making a to do list for my kids (I laminated it so they can check it off as they finish each task and then erase for the next week) makes them WANT to get stuff done because when they’re ready early, they get to do something they want to do, though of course that doesn’t exactly happen all the time. It helps though. Good luck with your goals – it’s hard, isn’t it!
Michelle recently posted..Why I Don’t Play Trivial Pursuit With My Mother
Mornings can stress me out. What has worked for me is getting as much done the night before as humanly possible. On the days that I don’t, our mornings are way too hectic.
Shell recently posted..About That “No More Yelling” Resolution: Pour Your Heart Out