How I Accomplish Peaceful Mornings

At least most of the time!

I'm a night owl by nature. I really dislike mornings. I'm grateful that I get to have them each day but I really don't like seeing them arrive so early. Truthfully I normally see them come because I stay up so late. Being a mom means that even though I was up until after midnight and I want to sleep in I will always have little one's coming in and waking me up with request for food and entertainment. So I decided it was time to give up my late nights late mornings. I couldn't allow my kids to get up and watch an hour or more of cartoons just so I could get some extra zzzz's. I needed to be a better mom and I needed to be a better wife. So it was time for some changes but where to begin?

I began with this blog and her ideas to have a peaceful morning and then adapted them to my house.

First thing I had to do was stop staying up so late. I needed a way to get myself in bed at a decent time. So at Pam's suggestion headed over to Sleepy Timer and figured out what time I should be in be to wake up at 6:00 am with Hubby. It gave me 9:00pm, 10:30pm, 12:00am, or 1:30am. So I chose 10:30pm because I knew 9:00pm was going to be too early and midnight had proven to give me not enough sleep. Then it was time to do some math. I knew that I wouldn't be able to just stop whatever I was doing and head to bed so I gave myself a 10 minute snooze to my timer. Then I gave myself 15 minutes to fall asleep once I was in bed per the suggestion of Sleepy Timer. Then I gave myself 15 more minutes to get ready for bed. You know bathroom, floss, brush teeth, wash face, etc. So my timer is set for 9:50pm with a 10 minute snooze. Now I'm in bed each night by 10:15pm and I'm asleep shortly afterwards. I have felt rested every night I stick to this schedule.
Full disclosure it's 10:50pm right now while I'm typing so tomorrow isn't going to be one of the fantastic mornings.

A few other small things that I do to ensure a better morning for this night owl.

• Set the coffee maker to brew automatically for the Hubby. I gave up coffee almost 2 weeks ago!
• Make sure the kitchen is at least picked up so breakfast will be easy to accomplish.
• Stick to a bedtime routine: wash face, floss, brush teeth, head to bed. This allows my body to recognize it's time for bed.
• Use doTerra essential oils. Lavender in the diffuser, Balance on the back of the neck and On Guard on the bottoms of my feet before bed. In the morning it's Peppermint in the diffuser, Clary Calm on the back of my neck, On Guard on one foot and Balance on the other.
• Cuddle with my boy for a few minutes when they come to wake me up in the morning! What else could one ask for first thing in the morning but kid cuddles...plus they wiggle so much there is no hope of going back to sleep.
• No TV first thing in the morning. I turn Pandora on a shuffle set up with Praise and Worship, Veggietales, and Garth Brooks. A little something for everyone to wake up to.

So now you have a few tools and ideas to make it so you can become a morning person instead of a night owl! It's made a huge impact on my life. I'd love to hear how you start your mornings and ways that you accomplish peaceful morning.