Morning routine....

I need to revamp my morning routine. However, that would require me getting up much earlier, which I don't want to do but I believe that I'm going to have to suck it up and just make a stronger pot of coffee or see if someone sells a caffeine IV drip that I can start about 30 minutes before the alarm goes off.

The average morning routine with the big boys here and not at their idiot father's house is to start with the oldest child. He has to be at school first so he is the logical first step in the wake up routine. Now if I could just get him to be cooperative with the program, that would be fantastic. I go downstairs and holler, "Son, it's time to get up and get ready, let's go!" No answer. "Son, you've got to get up and get dressed!" No answer. I flip the light on to his room. No response. I need to get that kid his own alarm clock that jolts him out of bed - wonder if I can find one that sprays ice cold water? Finally after cajoling, stealing the blankets and threatening to dump ice cold water on him, he drags himself to a sitting position, eyes bleary and unresponsive.

Second group of risers are the 7 and 8 year old. This also usually includes the 1 year old because these three share a room. I get their clothes for the day out for them and put them on the end of their beds, tell them to get dressed. This inevitably leads to a fight between the two of them about whose shirt is whose, even though I have put them on their individual bunks of their bunkbed and told them, "These are YOUR clothes for the day. Put them on." Punching and kicking commence... The 1-year-old has no issues in the morning, he just wants breakfast. However, he doesn't want to wait for it, he wants it RIGHT NOW AND NOT A MINUTE LATER.

Usually within the chaos of the boys, the daughterling wakes up. Her mission in the morning is to prevent the boys from going to school. She is quite angry that they all get to go to school and inform her that she is not big enough yet. She gets her Dora backpack and princess dress complete with heels and tiara out each morning in anticipation that one of these days they are going to let her go with them too. Poor thing...

Breakfast becomes a hurried mishmash of me playing short order cook. The kids enjoy this because it is the only meal of the day I am flexible on - otherwise around here it's "either you're going to eat or be hungry". While they are eating, I pull the clothes out for the wee ones. When breakfast is done, the tag team wrestling match commences. I tackle the 1-year-old as he tries to dart past me sitting on the living room floor. I wrestle a clean diaper on him and if I have to let go of his leg long enough to reach his clothes, I'm screwed. He's laughing and off and running again...some mornings I am lucky enough to tag his dad in when this is going on. He catches him, brings him back to me and volunteers to dress the daughter, who is generally more cooperative about these things...UNLESS you pick out clothes she doesn't like. If she does not approve of that day's clothing selection, there is kicking, screaming and pouting on the horizon. Does she think I'm running a democracy here??

By the time the morning routine is finished and the boys are off to school and the daughter is forlorn in the window of the screened in porch that she got left behind once again, I am worn out and ready to go back to bed. Maybe I need vitamins? :)