Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary again.
I’ve become a morning person. Amazingly. Incredibly. I’m sort of addicted to waking up at six every morning. I wrote about my plan to try getting up earlier than my kids every morning here. I wasn’t sure how it would work out when I started. I am happy to report it’s working out quite nicely.
Here are seven quick takes on what I’ve learned about waking up early:
1. Coffee tastes really awesome when it’s hot! How did I not know of this little luxury before? I always thought I didn’t care if my coffee got cold, as long as I was getting caffeine. Wrong, wrong, wrong. So much yummier when hot. And I usually only drink one cup now, because I enjoy that one so much more. Win/Win!
2. Getting up early makes me more likely to exercise during nap time. I really thought I would start exercising during my early mornings, and I do sometimes. But I don’t really have time for both a workout and a cup of coffee before the kids get up. And, well, see #1? Right. So working out is not happening much in the early hours. But, if I get up and have coffee and do some other things that I used to do during nap time, then I am much more likely to make the time to exercise when my kids are napping.
3. It works better to be in stealth mode when I’m downstairs. Sometimes Miss will get up really early to go to the bathroom. If she doesn’t see any lights on, she’ll often go back to bed. If she sees the lights, she comes downstairs, sometimes before I’ve even had a sip of my nice warm coffee. So I go stealth for at least the first 30-45 minutes. That means laptop open with screen brightness turned way down and no other lights on. And tiptoeing too. Sometimes I read by the light of my Kindle only. Yes, I am a grown woman who sneaks around my house in the mornings to enjoy a little quiet time and hot coffee.
4. Speaking of which, I really appreciate how quiet and still it is in the mornings. I never realized how much I crave quiet until embarking on this little experiment. Loud is wonderful, and kids, and family, and joy, and laughter. I love loud because it reminds me how full and festive my life is on a daily basis. But quiet is good too. Quiet reminds me to breathe and pray and cherish. Maybe not everyone needs quiet. But I now know that I do.
5. I know that I do because I am so much more cranky in the mornings if I don’t get it. I rarely sleep past six anymore, but when I do, I just feel kind of off all day. I also feel that way on the days when I do get up at six but so do my kids.
6. I like being awake when my girls get up. I used to sleep as long as possible, not waking until the first of my kids got up, sometimes ignoring little voices playing in beds for a bit so I could grab a few more minutes of sleep. Sometimes Miss would come in my room to wake me up and I’d tell her it wasn’t time to get up yet so she needed to go back to bed for a little while. I usually wasn’t much fun during the process of waking up for the day.
Now, when Miss comes down stairs or I go up to get one of the younger girls, I spend time savoring the moments of seeing them again after 10 or 11 hours apart. I say, “I’m so happy to see you this morning!” and I mean it. We have special morning snuggles and tickles and I am so much more ready to be present with them when I’ve had just a little time to be present with myself already.
7. So, you might be wondering what the heck do I do for 30-45 minutes every morning in the dark? Sometimes I write. Sometimes I just surf around the web and read interesting things. Sometimes I prepare homeschool lessons (but I don’t use the printer or laminator – too loud). Sometimes I read with my little Kindle light. I have even used this light to illuminate a paper book (it works just fine if you’re wondering). Often I pray. I have found that praying the rosary in the quiet and dark is very peaceful and centering. It’s a perfect way to begin my day.
I’m becoming a Catholic and a morning person. Wow.
