Early Mornings

My daughter, Ellie, wakes up early. No matter what time I put her to bed, she'll get up between 5 and 6am. It wouldn't be so bad if she wanted to snuggle or sleep in my bed, or even play toys in her room quietly, but she immediately wants Dad to "be with her" and interact with her. Whether its watching a movie or just sitting in a chair, Dad has to be there. At first I found myself getting frustrated with how I wasn't getting enough sleep, but I realized that one day I'll regret not spending these moments with her.

I resolved to be proactive about the entire problem, and began waking even earlier. I set my alarm clock for 5am, and when it rang, I immediately leapt from bed and started the day on my knees. I prayed for what I wanted the day to be, what I wanted from my children and my work, and poured out my heart in gratitude for the blessings I'd received. Next, I opened my scriptures. 30 minutes of scripture study followed by listening or reading conference talks.

A funny thing happened. Not only did my daughter start sleeping in a little later (she now consistently wakes between 6 and 7am) but I found myself in a GREAT mood when she finally did get up.

I began really looking forward to my early mornings. So much that was getting to bed earlier and earlier. Most guys my age were getting to bed around midnight, and understandably so, it maximizes that time together with the spouse after the kids are in bed. But getting 5 hours of sleep every night was tough, and I found that, with the exception of only a few activities, I was ready for bed at 10pm. So I changed my habits again. Here's a look at my daily schedule:

5:00 am- Alarm rings, get up and pray

5:15 am- Read from the Book of Mormon

5:45 am- Put in my headphones and listen to a conference talk while cleaning, making breakfast, exercising, etc.

6:30 am- Put on a movie for Jake and Ellie, get them a snack while they watch

7:00 am- Get ready for the day (shower, dressed)

7:15 am- Make breakfast for the kids

7:30 am- Family breakfast

8:00 am- Leave for work

Now granted, this schedule doesn't work out perfectly every day, sometimes Ellie wakes up earlier, sometimes there's a sick kid, sometimes I have had a rough night and need to sleep in, but for the most part, I've found that when I stick to this routine, my day goes pretty good.