What A Difference 15 Minutes Makes

Yesterday I read on MotherLoad: The MomAdvice.com blog how important it is to take time for myself. As our lives get busier and busier, we have to carve out small pockets of time for just us. To re-energize. I have had a very hard time finding just where to begin my whittling, much less carving. For years, my husband has told me to wake up earlier. Not so much to find time for me but to get all my chores done. I'm so not a morning person and 6:15 seemed early enough for me. If I couldn't get everything done between 6:15 and 11, it obviously wasn't important enough to me. So why would I wake up earlier than 6:15 to get it done? Well, I'm also not a night person. It's all I can do to hold my eyes open through a 10:00 show. No matter what it is. Obviously, I won't stay up later to get more stuff done. And, I find it difficult to do this stuff while my dear husband is laying around watching TV at night. So for years, things have been left periodically unattended. I say periodically because I do take care of them. Just not on anyone's schedule other than my own. But yesterday's urging was different. This was a coaxing to find time for myself, not my chores. I'm proud to say that last night, I set my alarm for 6 AM, put the coffee on Auto Brew, and hit the sack. No, I didn't make it through the 10:00 show I was watching. All was going well until Porter entered my room at 4:17. He'd had a bad dream. He climbed into bed with me, taking his father's place. (He's in DC this week.) I was left listening to him suck his thumb (yes, he's 8!) throughout my remaining hour and and 43 minutes of sleep. I must have gone back to sleep because when the alarm went off, I jolted to attention. Determined to follow through, I threw on my robe and slipper socks and descended the stairs to kitchen where I had to wait for the coffee to complete it's cycle. Note to self: Set Auto Brew to an earlier time tonight. So, other than waiting on my coffee, how did I spend my extra 15 minutes? I read a magazine. Real Simple. It came yesterday and all I was able to do then was flip through it. I actually read an article. Something I haven't done in ages. At 6:15 I woke Porter and we began our normal schedule. Although I was a bit more bushy-eyed and productive. Then, I took the advice of a fellow reader of the MomAdvice blog. She doesn't allow her kids out of bed until 7:00. Obviously this won't work for all of my kids. Porter's bus comes at 6:45. Jonathan already gets up at 7:00. Millie, however, will wake up around 6:30 and beg for me (not Daddy) to come get her. She's four and quite capable of getting out of bed by herself and walking downstairs to me. But everyday it's the same. "Maaaaahhhhhmmmmmyyyyyyyyyyy!" Today, I walked into her room and told her I'd be back at 7:00 to get her. It was still too early for her to wake up. And, SHE WENT BACK TO SLEEP! So in reality, I had 15 minutes before Porter got up and 15 minutes between when he left for the bus and when Millie and Jonathan got up. That's 30 minutes! Half and hour! One TV show (as I've always explained time to my kids)!
I hope I can continue with this. I'm sure it will take me a little time to get used to waking up so early. I'll probably get tired earlier. But once I get used to it, imagine difference it will make!