Coffee is Better Before Kids

I’m a morning person. I haven’t always been; but now that I have kids, I’m a morning person. It didn’t take me long after our oldest daughter was born to realize waking up early meant all the good things for me. I love my kids, but my day is always ugly if I wake up because they come into the master and wake me. Always. I just don’t like seeing their smiling faces in the morning until I’m at least two cups of coffee and a shower into real life. If they wake me up, you can guarantee I’m…unpleasant.

It has everything to do with the fact my kids are starving the second they get out of bed. They are dying to eat. Dying of starvation. So hungry. So starving. Their bellies are growling so loud they can’t believe we can’t hear them. It’s almost like they didn’t have a snack every 2.3 seconds the day before. Almost.

They wake up, they want to eat. There’s no wait period. My kids to do list looks like this:

• Rise like the sunshine but louder and with far more destruction
• Demand food within 3 seconds of rising

They all want a cup of something. They all want a plate of something. And they all want to be the first to give mommy and daddy a hug and a kiss (I will never complain about hugs, kisses, and sweet baby snuggles). The fact that I, too, want a cup of something when I roll out of bed before I have to start being a grown-up with kids and a house and stuff doesn’t phase them in the least. My inner two-year-old wants to scream as loudly as my outer two-year-old twins that I want my cup, too (But guys, most days I only scream that in my head and I’m perfectly nice to everyone around me. Parenting win.).

This is why I wake up early every morning. For coffee. For Peace. For Quiet. And to do my hair and makeup without an audience of touchy-feely little hands who are just dying to see if I’m telling the truth about my flat iron being hot.

I enjoy my day much more when it begins on the right foot. I need a shower. I need coffee. I need to do my hair and makeup. I need to sit down in my office and get some work done, check my emails, check my to-do list, organize my schedule for the day, and bang out a few deadlines before anyone wakes up and demands frozen pancakes (not the Disney movie Frozen pancakes. Mini Eggo pancakes straight from the freezer to a bowl, no heat, no toppings but with a side of salad and some edamame. Seriously).

We’re working on teaching our two older girls to feed themselves in the morning. Maybe laundry next? But I digress. I’ve learned waking early is imperative to the well-being of my entire household as I’ve gotten older, and I’ve also learned is beneficial in other ways as well.

Time To Myself

With four kids, a demanding business to run, a husband, a house, a social life, and all the other little extras, it’s not easy to find time to myself. It’s impossible, really, in a family of six. An hour in the morning to sit on the couch by myself with my coffee and my husband and no responsibilities is the best way to start the day.

Time For Reflection

Whether you’re spiritual or religious or not, reflection is always beneficial. I say a quick prayer for the day ahead when the alarm goes off before I bounce (read: roll lazily and with sorrow) out of bed and into the shower. When I sit down with my first cup of coffee, I read my First 5 App. If you don’t already have this app, please download it. What a spectacular way to start each morning, spending a little time in prayer and reflection learning a valuable lesson in five minutes or less. It’s such a great way to get my mind going.

Time

Need I say more? How many times have you sipped a cold cup of coffee in the morning because the kids need every single thing? I love iced coffee, but only on purpose. The time to sit and enjoy my coffee in the morning is priceless. I am so much nicer when I get to do this. It’s like my brain has a moment to wake up and process things before anyone needs anything. I get to do the things that all for me, and I get to do them without interruption. I get to sit down at my desk and work for a few hours before they all wake up. It makes their wake-up more enjoyable for me. I’m ready to see them, snuggle with them, and take a break from all the me to focus on all of them.

Quality Time

My husband joins me about halfway through my first cup of coffee, and we get to spend that quality time together in the morning. We don’t always converse, but we always sit together. I’m usually jotting down notes in my phone of amazing ideas I have, things to do, things to remember, and things to add to the schedule when I get into my office with my second cup while he reads the news. But we always do it together, and that’s my favorite.

There’s something so sweet about starting each day on a good note with peace and quiet and time to myself. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. Are you a morning person? Do you prefer night? I’d love to hear what you do when it’s time to wake up in the morning!