I made an insane number of resolutions this year.
I know, the wrong thing to do because they weren’t entirely realistic, and they aren’t completely manageable, and forget about starting small; I’m a go big kinda girl myself.
I don’t know if I was inspired by the fact that the world is slated to end, and so I wanted to make this my best one yet?
Or, if I was just tired of sucking so badly and knew that the only way to get our lives in order would be to kick all of the ugly to the curb.
I’m guessing it’s a little bit of both.
Whatever. Some demon possessed me thing inspired me to give up coffee, tasty treats, yelling before school, and morning Tweet sessions all at once.
And I can admit that it was friggin crazy probably a bit hasty on my part and that it may have possibly resulted in making my life something of a living hell.
No coffee? No sweets? And I can’t even yell about it or complain on Twitter each morning while I go through withdraw?!
Needless to say, mornings at the casa have NOT been awesome as of late.
Not for me anyway.
But, I have noted that things have gotten somewhat better for The Dudes.
Because, as hard as it’s been, I’ve not been getting on the computer in the morning (well I do if I get up early, but I set an alarm so I get off at a certain time and get all of the go-to-school stuff squared away). And I haven’t had coffee (Dude, those caffeine headaches are no joke!). And, I’ve given up yelling (only before 9am, that is my limit) at or around The Dudes.
I mean, they don’t really care about my giving up coffee, but I think it’s important to remind you repeatedly of that little fact so you can understand just what a feat I am performing here; nicer, quieter, more on the ball Dumb Mom WITHOUT coffee is an accomplishment to be worshipped people, believe me.
So, mornings at our house used to look pretty much like this…
And now the look a lot more like this…
And sometimes, even this…
Or slightly less scary and more generally happy.
Not everyday (#2 is still a beast in the mornings and I’m thinking about giving him all of the coffee I’m NOT drinking), but lots of days.
And all it took was me pushing back my work start a bit so it didn’t interfere with The Dudes needing to get to school.
That one little decision is what makes me capable of not yelling at them in the mornings.
Because when I put my mind to it, and really dissected why things were so stressful that I often resorted to tossing back packs on the porch and yelling at everyone including the dog to get to steppin’, I discovered, again, that it was me. Not them.
Well, sorta them too, but mostly just me.
I’d wait too late to get started on the morning routine. And then I’d be upset because I needed them to rush. And then, I’d get more upset because #2 needs his “me time” in the mornings and whenever you really need them to rush, it seems that they deliberately decide that the one thing they are NOT going to do is rush. And then I’d yell. At which point there was no way they were going to rush because they would probably need to spend a good chunk of the morning crying. And everyone knows you can’t rush a good cry.
So it sucked that everyone was upset. And, I HATE seeing The Dudes cry before school.
I feel like it just ruins an entire day if you have to ball your face off before you even really get to start it.
And, I’m no day runiner.
Well, not anymore at least.
Now I like to make sure that if they are going to have their day effed up, it won’t be because I didn’t give them a good cuddle and some reassuring words before they headed out to face the world.
I do all of that now. And I like it.
A lot.
And I try to never forget by putting it on my things-to-do-every-morning-to-make-life-awesome agenda: Give kids a cuddle and tell them they are awesome. Then, shut your mouth and don’t yell at them no matter how slowly they tie their shoes and eat their breakfast.
2012 is coming together quite nicely if I do say so myself.
Now, if the Niners could just win the Super Bowl already we’d be golden!
What life saving routines are using at your house to make things more awesome?
*Today’s post was inspired by the wonderful Mama Kat and her totally should be famous Writer’s Workshop!
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
So much dumb wisdom here. Except for the no coffee. I’ll take it all minus that : )
I might even try getting up earlier. Thanks for a great kick in the butt post.
Dana
Uh. You rock. I actually just wrote this same post, but from the “old Dumb Mom” perspective as the current Texan Mama perspective. I kinda suck.
Not yelling and being more patient and prepared is an ongoing resolution for me. I refuse to set specific goals for the year and tell people about it b/c I inevitably fail around March b/c they were too broad and unrealistic. The realization that I was the issue, not (always) them in the mornings, that I was the slow mover, that I was not preparing stuff the night before, was hard to take (b/c I am perfect). But I’ve embraced it, and like you, our mornings and days are smoother.
And you’re right, bawling and sadness before school sucks. I’d hate if my day started that way and I had to turn around and be normal at work. So, even though they’re smaller than me, I realize that they have normal sized feelings. They need to get through the day too and starting off crying in your Cheerios is just not fun. So, kudos to you for making this work.
*standing ovation* I admire the daylights out of anyone who gives up morning coffee. I wish I wanted to want to do what I know I should in that department.
My fail safe…have no other agenda but theirs until they are underway. That means I do have to have my stuff taken care of or at least in mind, before they are awake.
I am not in love with this.
“I wish I wanted to want to do what I know I should” – Love that and might steal it!
Those are great resolutions to make. I’m still working on the no yelling before going to school part. it really takes a lot of discipline.. to stop myself from reminding them to finish their breakfast before the school bus arrives.
This is tragic. I have found something we don’t agree on. If the 49′s win the super bowl I will hurt myself. Or possibly something in my house when I throw it across the room.
We share many goals my friend, but no coffee and no sweets? That’s cruel and unusual ;P
Wow! Good job! You’ve accomplished a lot; adjusting that morning routine is huge. Good for you for doing what needs to be done.
Totally on board with everything but the no coffee part…just can’t go there. Ever. I myself have also been trying to stay off the computer in the mornings and late afternoons so that I can give more attention to my boys. So far, most days, it’s working and I like it.
This is a great post, packed with so much wisdom. I have also been trying to get my, sometimes, morning beasts under control with less twitter, less blogging, and less DVRed reality TV. I wouldn’t call it a resolution, per se, but I think its a daily commitment to be better. I hated getting frustrated again and again with bad days that began bad at 5 am in morning. I hated feeling rushed and overwhelmed and not really being there for my kids throughout the day because I screwed up my morning and couldn’t get back on track. I started this “journey” last week, and since then, I feel so much happier and I think my girls are happier, too.
Best of luck to you in your continued success with this!
The whole morning multi-tasking thing always turns me into a yeller too. So I set the alarm extra early to get my blog / twitter/facebook checking/updating out of the way before the kids get up. Then I stay off the computer until they are at school. It makes me a much better person.
But ya got one thing TOTALLY wrong here….. GO GIANTS! BEAT THE NINERS!
That is all.
That first picture was LOL! I could never give up coffee. No way.
Oh breakfast is FLY Lookin’ now!!!