Thursday, January 16, 2014

When Mom Is NOT a Morning Person

My kids are full of spunk and charisma from the moment they wake up to the moment they go to sleep.  Sounds fun doesn't it, constant entertainment and a house full of gleeful giggles and shrieks of joy?  For the most part it's great but around the breakfast table before 7AM (sometimes before 6) it makes me want to pull my hair out on strand at a time. 

I don't do well with mornings.  I never have but have always tried.  Growing up there were 7 of us in one house with one bathroom, as a blended family all my siblings and I were teenagers at the same time and for one year we were all in high school together.  I had to be up for my 5:40 shower time, missing it meant missing a shower so I did it, everyday.  That did nothing to prepare me for a lifetime of early wake ups.  Somethings can not be taught, some people are just not morning people.

TC was great, sleeping until 7 or 8AM then waking up quietly and all smiles, happy to eat whatever I put in front of her (obviously homemade and organic because she was my first and I was striving to be mom of the year).  We giggled and chatted as we ate and I cleaned up the kitchen.  It was my favorite time of day. 


Addie, oh my little Addie - she has declared war on sleep.  She is up during the night and no matter what time we put her to sleep she is up bright and early.  Recently it has been before 5, in our last house when she did this I would just let her stay in her room but now that she and TC are sharing if I do that I will have 2 kids up, not just one.  So I get up...half a sleep and start the day.  It wouldn't be that bad if I had the ability to fall asleep early but I do not.  When she wakes up she's a screamer, she screams when she's happy, she screams when she's pissed, she's screams when her sister eggs her on (which is almost all the time).

I spend most of breakfast telling them to stop screaming and to eat, over and over and over again.  Will is sleeping because he never comes to bed before 2, I don't want them to wake him up because than he will spend the day sleeping on the couch.  So they scream, literally at the top of their lungs while I tell them to stop, trying to down my coffee as fast as possible.  Each moment what little  patience I have is chipped away at until I start to yell.  Almost every day.  I have tried everything, I don't want to start my day yelling but I can't start my day with them screaming and fighting, and they have to eat.  If they would just sleep a until a reasonable time I would be fine.  Wake me up at 7 and I am a happy girl but a minute before and it takes hours to recover. 

I wrestle with this everyday.  I do not want to be the mom who yells but when it's the only thing that works you stick to it.  They are over any conflict by the time the Nutella jar is returned back to the pantry but I am still wired and shaken from the breakfast battle for most of the morning.  I really hope this phase is over soon, I hate that I dread getting my kids out of bed every morning. 

1 comment:

  1. One of the ways I have been able to control my yelling is whispering. It is hilarious how they will lean in when I whisper, and ask me, why are you whispering mom? I whisper, because if I don't whisper, I shall yell, and I know it scares you when I yell. Their eyes will get wide, and I will talk about whatever is bothering me in a whisper and it is funny how they respond.

    Whispering is my favourite way of yelling, but I can't say I remember it every single time I am going bananas.

    I love early mornings, was always up early before kids, but I can't say I've done them all that well over the past five or so years, so you're double screwed. ;-)

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