Mom's Five Secrets for Getting Up Before The Kids

A mom's job is never done. It is most important to do it as efficiently as possible, while taking care of both your family and yourself. Adequate sleep is key and when balanced with wisely spent time can make for a happier day for mom. And everybody knows that when mom is happy, everybody's happy!

Keep a Checklist

Certain things are taboo for doing while your children are awake, depending on their ages. Balancing a checkbook with a two year old on your lap or assembling scrapbook pages with your three year old is often more trouble than it's worth. Start a list of things that you like to get done when you have minutes or hours before your children join you. Chores and work are often in order to free up the time that kids are awake for engaging activities. It makes me have a wonderful morning with my daughter when I have the dishwasher unloaded and the floor mopped before she gets up; my day feels so much more productive.

Promise Yourself a Nap

If your child still takes an afternoon nap or rest, take advantage of this time. When you have had a productive morning, a thirty minute snooze can be a great reward. If your child typically takes a two hour nap, then limit yourself to a portion of that time so that it doesn't eat into your afternoon to do list.

Give Yourself a Snooze Allowance

Maybe Monday is your thirty minute bonus sleep day, after a busy weekend with the family. Then you are up an hour early every other day of the week. Or maybe you set your alarm for 6:30 everyday, but you have given yourself a five minute grace period for actually getting out of the bed. Have a plan so that everyday doesn't turn into official reward day; it will always feel like you deserve it when you are bundled in your bed. Once the time has arrived, get up! Nothing is worse than minutes wasted in your bed when you are not actually asleep and nothing is getting accomplished during those precious kid free minutes.

Set a Bedtime and Keep It

No doubt a mom needs her rest. Look at your day and make sure you get it. Determine how many hours you need and build in a little buffer. Set a bedtime for yourself, and actually go to sleep at that time. Your body will function much more efficiently if you are on a sleep routine, going to bed and getting up at roughly the same time each day.

Spend a Few Minutes with your Husband

Often after dinner, bed, and bath routines, mom is about cashed out. Dad is often no better off. Designated morning time together can be a welcome start to a day, and maybe this is one excuse that spending an extra few minutes together in the bed is the best way to get going.