Morning and Night

The hardest time for a parent is trying to get your kids to wake up, and then getting them back to sleep. How do you go about this EVERYDAY task? Do you annoy them until they get up and they annoy you until they go to sleep?

Lets slow down for a minute and think about how important these two times are. Every inspirational, motivational instructor I have ever known about talks about starting your day off by making a decision of how your day is going to go. It really works for me. I get myself all fired up and the kiddos slow me down. But why is it important for me to start my day right and not for them? The answer is that they need to start their day right as well. In our home we have tried to focus on a set schedule so they know what to expect. No surprises first thing in the morning. Even the ones that are morning persons do not like surprises before they have had breakfast.

Parents need to adapt to each kids personality to maximize their full potential. Some kids like to sleep in late and stay up late. So does it really hurt you if you cater to that a little bit and allow them to have a later schedule? We have found we just wake our night-owl daughter up at the last possible minute. She functions better and tends to have a better day. With the morning kiddos we do the exact opposite. We set an alarm with them and explain that they are not allowed out of bed until it goes off. When it goes off they get up, turn it off, and go eat breakfast QUIETLY or go to the playroom and play. That way us parents are still getting what we need without sacrificing their schedule.

Getting them to sleep used to be AWFUL! Now they are very good and put themselves to sleep as they are ready. We have bath time, and send the little ones to their room. The bigger kids stay up until the little ones put themselves to sleep. In other words, we separate them.

The biggest and most important thing we do is we treat them in a way to set them up to have good dreams, and feel loved. Putting good thoughts in their mind. We always like to ask them what they are going to dream about and give them more ideas full of nice, sweet, colorful things.

Think about it. If someone woke you up every morning and put you in bed and told you to go to sleep. How would you want them to act?

Single moms keep your chin up. Spend time with your kiddos before you put them to bed and listen to the love they have for you. It is UNCONDITIONAL! Step-dads when you are waking your kids up in the morning and putting them to bed at night, it is not about you! Respect and do not Expect! Love and be gentle and it will pay off. Trust love, not anger. There is hope and it will work out.