What Time Do You Get Up?

I used to get up same time or minutes ahead and try to rush it or leave the house half ready. Then I started taking vitamins and its much easier to get up and keep up. Never realized what a good night of sleep was. We have 8 kids left at home, daycare (3-4toddler boys) and emergency respite care, but its still a very peaceful home. Enjoy the time with kids but never foreget the alone time!!!!!!!!!!!! and cuddle time with the honey.

Several things came to mind.

- I totally agree. I think that it would be great to get up earlier, and greet my little people with a smiling face, as I am dressed and ready to go.

- I don't do that.

- I think that being "productive" is kind of a trap. There will always be more to do, and without the structure of a traditional job, it is challenging to measure yourself. No formal evaluation, no weekly feedback session with a boss. I try to remind myself that productivity is measured by my kids more than what my house looks like or if I am caught up on all of my things.

- With a little baby, it is really hard to know when to get up. If I knew that it was 10 minutes to baby being up, right now, I would get up easier. But, when you are scrambling to get enough sleep, I think it is wonderful to greet your little people in your comfy pj's, with your hair askew, and start the day together. You may get a few less things done, but you will have plenty of years without young kids, and you can be super productive then!

I am a SAHM and for some reason I love to stay up late and I also love to get up early! Weird I know, but I do just fine on 5-6 hours of sleep. M-F I get up at 6am. I shower first and get ready for the day, have a cup of coffee, throw in a load of laundry, etc. I wake our 6 year old at 7am to get her ready for school. Our 6 month old usually wakes up between 7 and 8 and our 3 year old wakes up around 8. On the weekends, I sleep in (as much as one can with kids in the house). If I didn't get up before the kids, I just don't think I would get much accomplished during the day, including playing and doing activities with the kids. If I decide last minute to go for a walk or to the park, I am ready to go and I don't have to worry about telling them to wait while I shower and such. Being ready for them in the morning gives you more time to focus on your kids because you have already taken care of yourself!!!

Getting up before the kids do is tough :) It takes awhile to overcome that urge to sleep as long as you can (and goodness knows that we could all use extra sleep!). I get up at 6:30, which is about 30 to 45 minutes before I have to get everyone up for the day. I use that time to take care of the dogs, have at least one cup of coffee, start a load of laundry, and empty the dishwasher (it is always loaded and run before bed - even if it isn't full). At least I know then that I can start the day with clean clothes, clean dishes, and a caffinated body! The other things I do to stay on "routine," is each day of the week is assigned a chore: Mondays is all the glass in the house (not windows), Tuesdays is all the dusting, Wednesdays is all the vacuuming, Thursdays is all the hard floors, and Fridays are the tubs and sinks. Each job takes about an hour (after this many years, I am pretty fast) and then at least, as long as I stay on top of the picking up, the house stays pretty clean. I also wash a load of laundry every morning and if I don't have enough to fill a load, I throw in the bath towels or a couple of bed sheets, or the kitchen towels, that way I am not spending all day washing bedding and "non-clothing" one day a week.

Good luck!

Great question! My opinion pretty much follows Anne's response. I've always gotten up when my kids woke up - anywhere from 5am to 8:30am. I figure I'm a SAHM, so my job is to be there for my kids, even at 5am. (Earlier than that, forget it!) I have never gotten up before my kids. However, I usually stay up until midnight, and I can't function well on less than about 8 hours of sleep. So there you go. If your kids go to bed "early" and you have some hours to yourself before bedtime, I'm not sure why you couldn't use that the same way you would use your early AM time.

I agree that having to-do lists, calendars with weeks/months blocked out, etc, are great ways to see if you're keeping up with your goals and expectations for yourself. However, I also don't feel too bad as long as the kids and I aren't too stressed, and the house isn't in total disarray. IMO, the whole point of being a SAHM to your kids is to give them a good experience and build a good relationship w/them.

Follow your gut, and don't feel you need to be a perfectionist. Good luck!

We moms NEED our sleep if we aren't getting enough sleep we can't be productive.

I wake up at 8am. Occasionally at 7 depends on when my 12mo.old's internal alarm wakes her. I also have a 8yr.old daughter school age.

I guess I'm productive somewhat during the day but mostly at the night when my older dd can help entertain the baby or when the baby is asleeep for the night.

Absolutely! I am the first up in my house and it can be as little as 1/2 hour. That is all I need to get ahead and stay ahead of the chaos of the coming day. Honestly, I apply the same theory at work. I get in an hour before most people in the office do and that hour "to myself" is among the most productive part of my day. Because I start work a bit early, I leave a bit early and can have dinner on the table, a load of laundry in the dryer, etc. before the boys get home. Love it.

i'm up at 5:30 am. shower right away!! i have a half hour to myself. and then i get my son up at 6:00 am . he has 45 minutes to eat, brush his teeth and get dressed. my first child arrives at 6:45 am and two other shortly there after!! the three older ones leave for school at 7:30 and the youngest stays with me all day!!

I am a single mom to 2 kids- 1: 11(boy) and 1: 6(girl) I get up at 5:00 am as I need time to get things done before I drop them off at daycare and I can get to work by 7:00- I get the kids up at 6:00. Therefore the need to get them to bed by 8:30 ish. During 5-6 I pack lunches, shower & make sure their backpacks have the stuff they need for the day is in there. This hour gives me time to do these things. I admire the stay at home mom's because they can be with their little ones longer then the working mom's. Thankful my mom & dad do daycare for me. This helps finacially. I hope you can find a healthy balance for you schedule. It takes work to make the schedules work. But mom's are tough and they can handle it. Best wishes to you!

I don't wake up earlier than my son, but I stay up at night. He goes to bed around 7:30-8pm and I stay up until midnight or 1am and then he wakes up around 7-7:30 in the morning. Since I get stuff done at night [and get a little "me" time], I nap when he naps during the day. It works for us--but it works better when I go to sleep before midnight!
Anyway, I wouldn't worry too much about "being productive". Being productive is making sure you are well-rested and able to meet your children's needs. Taking care of yourself [by getting enough sleep!] so that you can take care of your children the best you can is the number one priority. The housework can be put off. I think keeping up with the dishes daily is important, but the laundry and all of the other cleaning can be saved for one day each weekend. I'm sure you do enough already- why add more stress for yourself? "Don't worry. Be happy"

We farm so I do chores 3 to 4 mornings a week.

On my "days off" I set my alarm for 7 am at the latest. Our 2 year old usually wakes at about 7/7:30 and our 4 year old gets up anywhere from 7:30 to 9am. We all go to bed anywhere from 9pm to 10pm. This works for our family because we need family time at night after my husband gets in from chores. I do nap after lunch with the kids almost every day as well.

The best thing I've found to do is MAKE A LIST!!! When I get in a funk where I feel like I'm not accomplishing anything I start making lists again. It's rewarding to cross things off and see your progress.

When I get up I eat breakfast right away. Then I go shower. Once I'm showered I get the kids breakfast and then I clean the kitchen (empty dishwasher if need be), throw a load of laundry in, and start lunch. Lunch is our big meal of the day so it takes me about an hour to make our salads and whatever big meal we're having for the day. I make everything from scratch.

After lunch I straighten up again, do laundry if need be, and sweep.

We also homeschool so we usually do that after nap. The kids get a snack and then we do whatever lesson we're on. And then I help my daughter practice piano for 30 minutes every day as well.

If weather is nice we make sure to get outside right after lunch for a good hour or so before nap. Then after nap we head out again from about 4 to 8 pm. It makes for a short night if we didn't get our piano in yet and need to do that once we come in.

On chore days, we pretty much do the same thing except I am more rushed with making lunch and the cleaning may not get done as well.....

The main thing is PLAY WITH YOUR KIDS. They are only young for a short time. Meet their needs first. You can include them on cleaning, cooking, etc and they will enjoy that quality time with you as well.

Hope this helps....