Getting Up

Neither Jeff nor I are morning people. I used to think Jeff was, but the truth is, it's just in comparison to me. If I had no job and no kids and no conscience, I would be happy to stay in bed until after noon every single day. The problem is, three of our four kids love to be up early.

So we are trying out yet another new method for keeping them in bed longer in the mornings. I am sure if we had been diligent in teaching them to stay in bed in the mornings when they were younger, this would not be a problem now. But the truth is, we like our morning snuggles with whoever climbs into bed with us. And no matter how many mornings we are woken up at 6:40am, they are worth the snuggles. But we still need a method of letting the non-snugglers know when they can get up and about.

Since we are not about to get wall clocks (their rooms are too dark in the morning to read them, it being the middle of winter) nor spring for digital alarm clocks, I have decided to be their alarm clock for them. I am putting on a CD each morning at 7:30am, which is the latest we can get up and still get Joshua to school on time. I have told them that whenever they wake up, they are allowed to go to the toilet, but then they have to go back to bed, unless they can hear the music. If they can hear our morning song, they can put on their clothes and come out for breakfast. The wake-up signal is easy to recognise, hard to ignore, and difficult to argue with. So far (two mornings down) it seems to be working. This morning, Samuel even stayed in his room!

The first song I play a few times. It is a tune they all know from the BSF Pre-School program: "Good morning, God". The words are very simple:

"Good morning, God. This is your day.
I am your child. Show me your way."

It is a lovely way to begin our day.