The last three mornings Emilio has been waking up between 6:15-6:30 a.m. This ultimately results in Gabi also waking up early because he's been too noisy, or complaining about what to do. I feel strongly that I don't want to just put him in front of cartoons right away, so I knew we needed to come up with a plan. You see, this is my "Mommy Sacred Time," in the mornings. I use the time from 5:45-7 a.m. to take a shower and get ready for the day, have a prayer and bible study time, and check my emails too. It makes for a much better "Mommy" through the day (especially since I have my kids from wake-up until bedtime with John being so busy) if I get up early and get these tasks accomplished. When I'm arguing with Emilio about finding something quiet to do during this time, I'm wasting my time to get these things done, and become more frustrated by the minute.
Yesterday I took the kids to the store and we picked out the cheapest, most inexpensive (and on sale I might add) digital alarm clocks we could find. Emilio picked a gray with blue one, and Gabi picked a red one (I figured she isn't too young to start learning the "new" rule either). Emilio was excited about it, as he's starting to recognize most of his numbers and thought it was cool that he has an alarm clock like Mommy & Daddy. I made a little post it and put it on his alarm clock yesterday during rest time (he's long gone given up naps, but I still require him to have a rest time where he can play quietly in his room each afternoon....mean mom, I know). He did ALRIGHT with that, although made several visits to me asking how much longer it would be. Last night, I put on a new post-it that said 7:00 a.m. for his morning wake up time.
Of course, he came traipsing in here around 6:20 this morning, but quickly said, "No Mommy, I just have to pee quick." So, I gave him a hug after he was done and sent him back to his room to wait until 7. Around 6:55 a.m. my bathroom door opened and he said with a exasperated look on his face, "you know what Mom, this alarm clock takes FOREVER!" I silently giggled inside and encouraged him he only had 5 more minutes. At 7:00 a.m. on the dot, he promptly returned to my room with a big grin and said, "It's 5:30!" (he meant 7....I guess we need to keep working on those numbers :) Anyway, we'll see how this tactic works with early wake ups. I really need to nip it in the bud before baby arrives in the next few weeks because I'm really going to need that solitude time, or maybe sleep in time at first, to keep my sanity.
2 comments:
Zechariah has never been a "late" sleeper...waking between 5 and six most mornings. And when he is up, he's up...which means Ains is too since they share a room. I wonder if the alarm clock would work for us? I've also read in a magazine that one mom used a regular clock and she colored from the 5-7 with red and from the 7-9 with green so that her kids knew when they could come out of their rooms in the mornings. The shower was very nice and it was great to see Joann on the opposite end of the shower this time! Hope you're feeling well and having a great weekend!
Thank for your comment to me about my post. I would love to get up before the boys to have some "me" and quiet time, but Caleb has always been an early riser. Right now he's up around 6, so it's hard for me to get up much earlier than that! But, maybe I'll see a difference with the time change. If nothing else, maybe I can try 5:30 (eek!) to at least get my Bible study in. Thanks for your encouragement.
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