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JSchaaf
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| Posted: Oct 24 2006 at 11:45am | IP Logged
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I want to get up at 5 am. I want to have time to exercise, read Scripture and pray, and have my computer time before the girls get up at 7am. My normal pattern is to get up around 7:30, after they've been up for awhile making messes and are fussy for breakfast. Then I'm crabby, we're behind schedule (I have a beautiful MOTH schedule, but it all hinges on me getting up at 5 am), school is rushed, housework is undone, and I don't get a shower until after lunch. (Plus I feel like I'm on the computer all day long, trying to read email and message boards and blogs)
Why can't I get my behind out of bed? I get enough sleep-I'm usually in bed between 9 and 10. In fact, I wake up on my own between 4:30 and 4:45, long enough to turn off the alarm and go back to sleep.
I'm lazy. That's pretty much it.
Can anyone offer me any encouragement? Is getting up at 5 realistic and feasible? The girls are in bed by 8 and Nick is in bed around 9:30, and would like to see me come to bed at the same time. He also would like to see me up and ready for my day before the girls get up at 7-but he doesn't care if it's 5 am or 6:45 am.
I'm feeling quite discouraged and lazy and slothful and like a bad homeschool mom who really should have her act together, because, honestly, my youngest is already 4 and if I don't get my act together now, what's going to happen when the baby comes?
Jennifer
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Marybeth
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| Posted: Oct 24 2006 at 12:18pm | IP Logged
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Well, I think from 7:30 to 5 am is a big jump! Why don't you try going back slowly? This way you don't think it is 6 am, and I am behind. Maybe you need more sleep than what you are giving yourself on MOTH. Maybe save the computer time for after everything else in your morning routine. I know if I get on to check a blog..bingo..I am late getting the shower,laundry, etc.
I have to do it all before I log on or it won't happen. 
Can you give the girls things they can do in the morning? My sister calls them "no brainers". It consists of getting dressed, chores, books to read, games to play, etc. It limits the messes and helps her kids to focus on their day.
Also, remember the time change is this weekend. Don't be too hard on yourself next week b/c of this!
God bless,
Marybeth
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http://held-together.blogspot.com
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mellyrose
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| Posted: Oct 24 2006 at 1:08pm | IP Logged
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If you easily sleep until 7:30 each morning, I would think you need more sleep than 10 - 5AM. (which is about 7 hours, right?) Personally, I don't fall asleep when I get into bed - I may go to bed at 10, but I usually read for a while and fall asleep closer to 11. And, I wake between 7-8. (actually more now that I'm pregnant. DH is out of town this week and I went to bed with my boys last night at 8:30 and didn't wake until my oldest woke me this AM at 9!)
Maybe you could try waking up at 6:30 and see how your day goes. That still gets you up before the kids, and also gives you another 90 minutes of sleep. After a month or so, you could try moving the time to 6AM.
I would also re-work your MOTH schedule. I know it may look beautiful on paper right now - but it doesn't seem like it's working for you in reality. I know that for some people it works well for them to be up for a while before the kids are up. Personally, that has never worked for me. It has meant finding ways to fit in personal time (for prayer, reading, etc.) into the day, but it has also encouraged me to help my boys have down-time for themselves during the day while I take care of things.
I doubt you're lazy. I think you're being too hard on yourself. (of course, that's coming from someone who loves to sleep and nap . . . and the thought of a 5AM wake up call has me cringing! LOL)
Melanie
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doris
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| Posted: Oct 24 2006 at 1:12pm | IP Logged
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I'm eagerly watching this thread because I'm a lazybones rather than offerer of wisdom. I would agree, though, that it is harder to get up early with the days getting shorter. Even Holly Pierlot allows for a different schedule during the winter :-)
BTW what is MOTH?
Elizabeth
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Maddie
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| Posted: Oct 24 2006 at 1:21pm | IP Logged
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I went to a booksale a few years back that had me standing in line at 3am. As we were in line watching the sun rise, I thought, I need to do this everyday! How much I miss by sleeping in every morning! Of course, I went home and promptly slept in the next morning.
My heart is a morning person, I get so much done if I rise early but it's the going to bed on time that has me over a barrel. When everyone is in bed, I waste time on the computer, or talk on the phone. I also correct papers and plan but I think my biggest obstacle to getting up early, is getting to bed. I need 9 hours to feel good which means I would have to be asleep by 9pm. It's hard to make the change!
I'm trying, it's not an option for me to fail here. One thing I have done, which will sound weird, but I've asked my guardian angel to wake me up, and well he does, I have sat straight up in bed one minute before the alarm goes off and not know why I awoke. Call me cooky, but I really think it was my GA. I need to employ him again...but, like, I know he'll do the job, so...
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Lisbet
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| Posted: Oct 24 2006 at 1:30pm | IP Logged
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Maddie, not cooky at all! If I ask my Guardian Angel to, I wake each morning at 3 am to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet! I also asked my GA and Molly's GA to wake me when she was having episodes of apnea, and a few times I woke suddenly just before the moniter would go off!
Jennifer, I keep trying to get up before the kids also, our day goes much better if I do, but keep in mind that getting up early is hard when you have a new baby, they tend to like to nurse-n-doze in those early morning hours!
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Lisa, wife to Tony,
Mama to:
Nick, 17
Abby, 15
Gabe, 13
Isaac, 11
Mary, 10
Sam, 9
Henry, 7
Molly, 6
Mark, 5
Greta, 3
Cecilia born 10.29.10
Josephine born 6.11.12
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mom2mpr
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| Posted: Oct 24 2006 at 9:39pm | IP Logged
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FWIW-Just Do It!!
My experience with getting up early to exercise has been totally postitive. When pregnant with ds 10 years ago and working full time I was up every am at 5:30 to run. I was on the road by 5:45 and home by 6:30. Stretch, shower, dress and off to work. Staying late was not stressful for me since I had MY time and felt great.
Fast forward 8 years and 2 kids and again, up in the am at 6 to walk to the basement treadmill for a 15-20 minute walk(trying to work up to a jog). I am home, in case they wake(which did happen occasionally), but getting a dose of endorphins and getting it all done before my day "officially" begins. Though those days when someone woke I usually quit.
The thing that motivates me to do it in the am is that my body wakes up for it. Really! After a few weeks I would wake before my alarm, awake and looking forward to going out the door. I was primed and trained to this time and after 4 weeks or so it was not hard. If I was up all night with a child I took it into account and if I didn't feel up to getting up, I passed-but most of the time I was still waking ready to go and would need a nap later in the day instead.
Like others have said: you need to get to bed at a decent time and work up to it gradually.
Good luck!
Anne
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mumofsix
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| Posted: Oct 25 2006 at 7:04am | IP Logged
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MOTH is the acronym for "Managers of Their Homes", a book and scheduling kit for homeschooling mothers written by an evangelical Christian couple, Steve and Terri Maxwell. It is an excellent resource, used with regard to your own needs. Ignore the suggestions for further reading at the back (the Pearls, ugh!).
Look here. Hth!
Here is a quote from Terri Maxwell: "Morning wake up time needs to be something you can live with, a time when you will realistically get yourself up." She also adds that mothers of new babies do need more sleep, and offers the suggestion that to take a short daytime nap can help you manage with less sleep at night.
Other times you can reserve for yourself other than early morning are during afternoon nap times, when little ones sleep and older ones work independently, and at night after they are all in bed. This is what works for me, a night owl. I do get up half an hour before the children, and just that little bit helps.
Jane.
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Erin
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| Posted: Oct 26 2006 at 6:42am | IP Logged
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Maddie wrote:
| One thing I have done, which will sound weird, but I've asked my guardian angel to wake me up, and well he does, I have sat straight up in bed one minute before the alarm goes off and not know why I awoke. Call me cooky, but I really think it was my GA. I need to employ him again...but, like, I know he'll do the job, so... |
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Not weird at all, I use my GA all the time, far nicer to wake up to than an alarm clock. I've even used my GA to wake up my dh. I remember one morning at early morning Mass asking my GA to go wake dh so he wouldn't be late for work, quite a feat as dh is NOT a morning person. When I got home I was most disturbed to find dh asleep as it was not like my GA to let me down. I then discovered that dh had been awakened but decided to go back to sleep as he couldn't understand why he was awake at that time. Next time I'll have to ask GA to keep him awake.
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Cheryl
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| Posted: Oct 26 2006 at 8:04am | IP Logged
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5:00 is not realistic for me. I can get up if someone needs me, but I wouldn't like it as a regular habit. I am a night person. My dc used to sleep later, but now they are usually waking me up between 6:30 and 7:00. I am happy to get up 15 minutes before them. I set the alarm for 6:30 and usually get right in the shower. There are always exceptions though. These are the days when I end up cutting something out of the schedule.
I make quiet time after lunch the time for reading, prayer and meditation. As for exercise, that's when I go for a walk with the dc, right?  IF exercise was a priority for me right now, I'd try to do it when my dh was home.
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Cheryl
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Mom to Matthew 13, Joseph 11, Sarah 10, Rachel 6, Hannah almost 4 and Mary 1
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Helen
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| Posted: Oct 27 2006 at 5:00am | IP Logged
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Dear Jennifer,
Whenever you want to begin a new prayer routine, a new discipline, a good way to begin is to pray for the desire to do that which you want. In this case
“Oh Lord, help me to *like* waking up early.”
After praying this for a while, when your heart feels ready to move on to the next level, then begin praying to be able to wake up early,
“Oh, Lord now I want to wake up early, please give me the grace, the strength to wake up early.”
Something struck me when you mentioned that you have a four year old daughter. Motherhood is very physically demanding. Along with the physical labor there is also the mental and emotional demands of caring for young children. If you are expecting or have children under the age of reason, the demands are greater. I find the effort to practice patience significantly drains me of energy which only sleep and prayer can replenish. The importance of sleep for a mother cannot be underestimated.
Another suggestion, I would make is to call upon the graces of your sacrament of marriage. I particularly like to pray for my marriage and all Christian marriages in the second luminous mystery of the Rosary, the Wedding Feast at Cana. But, whatever your favorite prayer, I would suggest prayers for your husband so that you may hear the voice of the Lord in his words. After praying for these graces, I would ask his opinion as to what is a good time for you to wake up and if he can shed any light as to the reason you have had difficulty thus far.
Another thought I have and it is something the world doesn’t seem to think about but married women are different than single women. I don’t think this is “taught” in the mainstream. The normative lifestyle presented in the world is the single life.
A married woman cooks differently, shops differently, takes care of herself differently, cleans differently, exercises differently and prays differently. The difference is we do all these things WITH our children. Just the way you take your children shopping with you or have them around you in the kitchen, a married woman can choose exercises that she can do with her children and prayers that she can pray with her children.
More detailed prayer suggestions
Do we always shop, cook, exercise, pray with our children? No, there are times we do things alone, but for the most part, a married woman shares her life with her children.
Ave Maria!
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Ave Maria!
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Helen
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| Posted: Oct 27 2006 at 5:03am | IP Logged
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On a practical note, it also helps to make waking up early easier by setting the coffee the night before, having your favorite breakfast food in the house, robe and slippers nearby, clothes picked out, and a specific plan for what you will do with the time in the morning.
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Ave Maria!
Mom to 5 girls and 3 boys
Mary Vitamin & Castle of the Immaculate
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JSchaaf
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| Posted: Nov 07 2006 at 12:58pm | IP Logged
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Thank you everyone! I've been getting up at 5am and things are going so much better around here. Our productivity is amazing!
Jennifer
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Wendi DeGrandpr
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| Posted: Nov 07 2006 at 9:45pm | IP Logged
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Jennifer - glad to hear things are going well and the 5am is working for you. Do you have a specific bed time you try to keep to in order to wake up rested and ready to go?
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God Bless,
Wendi
Mom to four blessings
"We can do no great things - only small things with great love." Blessed Mother Teresa
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Topic: Getting up in the morning
