morning person

Saying that I am not a morning person may be the understatement of the year.  I HATE mornings.  I have always hated mornings.  In high school my mom would literally drag me out of bed.   Small children, my small children included, LOVE mornings.  And there is the rub.  In the days when I just had Addison we would hang out in our pajamas all morning and change whenever we felt like it.  Some days that was not at all.  Andy was deployed so this was more days than not.  Then the pre-school days crept up on me.  Addison was in pre-school and I went back to work.  I had to get myself and two kids up and dressed and out the door all before 9 o’clock.  This is still the case today minus the fact that I have to look presentable.  I get up, throw something on, pull my hair into a ponytail and if I am lucky enough to have 2 extra minutes, brush my teeth.  You can’t do this with kids.  You actually have to feed them before sending them out into the world.  Who knew?  Coffee is enough for me, why not them?  So here is our current morning routine:  We get up at 7:30 (or whenever the first child harasses us enough to get out of bed).  I know, this is not nearly early enough to get 5 people ready, fed and out the door by 8:30 (my goal, but this is rarely achieved).  We go downstairs, get the kids something to eat (usually processed food on school days because it is so quick and easy), I make coffee for me and a bottle for Allie.  I change her diaper while she drinks her bottle and then I let her lay there and finish while I feed the dog, get the kids a yogurt or something else small to eat, etc.  This brings us to 8 am where I am yelling at them to run upstairs and get dressed.  They run upstairs and start playing.  How dare they?  Don’t they know they are supposed to be getting dressed so we don’t have to speed on our way to school?  I then wrangle the baby and head up the stairs to start yelling at them to get dressed.  I think on a miraculous 2 occasions we actually picked out our clothes the night before so this process would be faster.  We have yet to maintain this routine.  We brush teeth, comb hair and get ready to head back downstairs.  Did I mention that I am still in pajamas so now I need to get dressed too before flying out the door.  Thank God that during this time Andy has packed the backpacks, snacks, etc.  The kids go downstairs to get on coats, gloves, hats, boots, backpacks and anything else they may need and start getting in the car.  I am still trying to get myself and/or the baby dressed at this point.  The two of us then head down the stairs and throw coats on.  As they are all in the car I actually get to use the bathroom for 30 seconds.  I then decided that the 2^nd cup of coffee is more important than the extra 1 minute and make it and run out the door.  I am sure there is a lesson here, but I don’t know what it is.  Better time management?  Get up earlier? Pick out clothes the night before?  Get dressed before we go downstairs.  I don’t know.  I do know one thing… I will NEVER voluntarily get up any earlier than I absolutely have to!  I also know that I will be the mom in her pajamas at the bus stop one day and I am okay with that J