I wanted to yell. To scream. To grab a pillow and strangle it. My heart started to race. I got out of my chair, and started to pace. Do I react now? Do I wait it out and see what happens? If I do one, will I regret it and wish I had chosen the other??

 WWWWHHHHHYYYYY?????

My son was waking up. And I wasn’t ready for it. 

I love the quiet peacefulness of the mornings. I love to wake up when everyone else is asleep and it is still dark outside. 

I do it because I enjoy it, but I also get up early because I have a list of things I want to get done -- a list of things that I WANT to do that I know I probably won’t get done (or don’t want to do) once the kids are up and about. 

So when I hear the little babbles before I get that list completed, I can get a little crazy. 

The irony is that my early morning, the one that was designed to help me be a more patient, loving, and energized mom, has now made me frustrated, irritable, and a little cranky.

My mornings WILL get cut short. Yours will, too. But I have learned that if I have a plan for those mornings that get shortened, I can react with more love and grace (and start to look forward to the cute interruption )

So here are some tips I am trying to implement so that I stay a little more grounded Hopefully you will benefit as well.

Practical Tips To Stay Sane When Your Kids Wake Up During Your Early Morning Routine

Have Them Do Quiet Time In Their Rooms

If your kids are old enough, let them play in their rooms for a bit first thing in the morning. Use a wake-up light to help facilitate that.

While we are not currently using one, we have used a wake-up light in the past and it was WONDERFUL.

It will take some gentle redirection for the first little while to get your kids into the habit of using it and abiding by it... stick with it because when it works, it WORKS.

Have A Backup Plan

We all have our own morning routine, and activities in that routine, that we want to get through before the kids wake up. Maybe for you it is just a quiet cup of coffee. Or maybe you hope to have a quiet time and finish that drawing you have been working on. Or it could be a long run you want to fit in. 

If your morning goal is to have a quiet cup of coffee and go on a run, figure out another time of day when you might get that workout in. For instance, you could workout during nap time or after your husband gets home. You could even workout after the kids go to bed. It might not be a run that you can get in, but you can still get exercise in some other way. 

Or your child might wake up before you got a chance to read Scripture and spend time praying. Don't use this as an excuse to skip spending time in the Word that day...listen to the Bible on audio while you are washing dishes, or spend time alone with God after the kids go to bed.

When we have little ones at home we have to always be prepared with a backup plan -- we will not get that perfect morning every time.

Stop What You Are Doing - Don't Try And Multitask

Close the computer. Put away the pens and paper. Push that book back on the shelf. Stop what you are doing and focus on your little ones. How you react to them first thing in the morning is going to affect how they view themselves throughout that day.

So stop whatever you have been doing, and love your kiddo. Read a book, cuddle, hug, give kisses. Let them know that you are happy to see them. Be delighted in them. And let them feel your delight.

Re-organize your morning

Some things on your morning to-do list will be harder to do with the kids around, and some will be easier. Re-organize your morning so that those items that are easier to do with the kiddos up and about are last on the list. 

Not too long ago I was getting frustrated because my youngest was waking up before I was done with my normal morning routine (quiet time, writing, workout). I stayed that way for several weeks -- huffy about it -- when I realized that I could just as easily do the workout portion of my morning while he was awake. So I pushed that to last in my routine. 

Now when he wakes up I spend about 15 minutes reading and cuddling with him, then set him up at the kitchen table with a snack while I workout in the kitchen.

Remember your first calling

The entire point of our quiet mornings alone is to give us space, time, and quiet to get prepared to be more engaged and intentional moms. That goes out the window when we lose our minds over an early wake-up by the kiddos. 

So remember, your mornings are important, but your KIDS are MORE IMPORTANT. Don't let your quashed plans ruin your attitude towards them.

SMILE

Physically making yourself smile, even when you don't feel like it, will change how you feel on the inside. There is power in your smile, not just for those around you, but for yourself as well. 

And I can tell you when your little one sees you smiling down at them, they will smile right back. Now really, what is there to complain about?

"...how you spend your morning can often tell you what kind of day you are going to have..." also applies to your kids.

You want a quiet, calm, and peaceful morning because it sets you up to have a more peaceful day. Well the same goes for your kids. You wake up early because you want time to get clear, get energized, be filled by the Word, and prepare yourself for the day ahead. Your little one needs you to help them do the same.

Don't let them sense that their presence has ruined something for you. Just because our morning was "ruined" doesn't mean that theirs needs to be. 

In the past, when my little one woke up early I would say a sweet (but short) "good morning", get him set up with something to eat, then head back to my open Bible or computer to write. But you know what? I would never actually get anything done. He would drop his food, or need some water, or would just be restless and want to play instead of sitting at the table eating. 

Trying to get "me-time" with my son awake caused me to miss out on those sweet quiet mornings with my youngest. 

So I am trying to reorient my mind so that those early morning babbles bring a smile to my face, instead of a scowl. 

I won't succeed every morning (and you probably won’t either), but hey, we’ve got to at least start if we want to ever make a change!

So go on mama, and enjoy those early mornings. Savor them, cherish them, look forward to them. But don’t let them be more important than the little ones looking up at you. Look forward to them. Cherish them. Savor them.

You won’t regret that (and the pillow will breathe a sigh of relief )

I'm rooting for you!