8 a.m. is just so much more reasonable

(So many of you have asked me about the glow-in-the-dark pacifiers. They are Mams and I found them at Target. When I told Nicole where I got them, she said, “Everything good in the world comes from Target.” And we all said together, “True dat.”)

I decided something this week. I want to be awake before Madeline wakes up. I think my days would be better if I got started on my own in silence, with a shower in silence, with some Bible reading, prayer, tea, toast and faux butter in silence and to make my bed before 4:55 p.m. I think Madeline would get a better mom if the mornings didn’t start with her waking me up, me unable to wake up quickly, me asking for five more minutes and her bouncing around on my bed saying, “You wanna get up?! You wanna get up?!”

So on Tuesday night, I set my alarm to go off at 5:30 a.m. I never set an alarm, especially so early at Awful O’Clock.

On Wednesday morning, it was rough going and I hit snooze until 6 a.m. But once I was up, I really enjoyed it. My morning went smoother. My afternoon went better. And I was tired earlier, which is good considering I can’t fall asleep until midnight or so most nights.

So I set the alarm again on Wednesday night for 5:30 a.m. all excited for the next day. (Who gets excited about waking up early? Me. Because when I’m in, I’m all in.)

Then Caleb needed to eat at 1:30 a.m.

Then he woke up again and again and again needing his pacifier.

And then I fed him at 4 a.m.

And then Madeline woke up crying from a nightmare at 4:30 a.m. and I could barely calm her down and feed Caleb while keeping him from fully waking him up.

Finally at 4:50 a.m., both kids were back asleep. Madeline was well on her way already to her favorite position:

I learned something at 4:50 a.m. yesterday: getting up at 5:30 a.m. is for the birds. The birds who don’t have babies who need to eat for 30 minutes in the dead of night. The birds who don’t have children with nightmares.

So I turned off my alarm and slept until 8:15 a.m. which was when Madeline woke up and began asking, "You wanna get up?! You wanna get up?!"

I can’t deny that my day was better when I woke up first. I want to get up early again. But I’m not going to feel like a failure when I can’t and wind up taking my shower at 6 p.m. once Joe comes home. 

I think worse things could happen in the world.

P.S. Emily at 52 Mantels is the craftiest, most creative lady I know. She's like MacGyver with burlap, felt and a hot glue gun. I'm 99.99 percent convinced she uses magic because she could decorate a banquet hall with gravel and fish eggs and everyone would ooh and ahh. (Please see exhibit A, exhibit B and exhibit C.) For Mother's Day, she created a beautiful free printable with my favorite quote, the one I named my blog after. If you like it, go ahead and snag it. And eat some butter for me while you're at it.