Mornings. What a drag.

I will admit it. I've never been a good mom in the mornings. I'm tired, I'm rushed, I have no patience - even less than normal, which is pretty bad. I often read those "how to make your mornings better" articles in parenting and women's magazines, and they usually say the same things: do everything the night before, get up 15 minutes earlier so you have your own "me time" before getting the kids up, etc. I've actually taken much of that advice to heart. I mentally prepare what to wear and what I'm taking for lunch the night before. I wake up about 45 minutes before I get Bubba up in order to shower, do hair and make up, etc. Often times, he's up before I go to wake him up for the day. So what's my problem?

I'll chalk up 90% of our morning issues to his stubbornness and my impatience. Those two traits go together like tnt and a lit fuse in the mornings. Generally, the goal is to get Bubba on the potty and off (hands washed and all) before Ben gets up. It used to happen with a fair amount of frequency. No longer. And lately, it doesn't matter what mom thinks. Things must be done Bubba's way or no way at all. This causes me much grief. Generally, I walk away for a moment to let us both take a breath. Today, that action caused a tantrum. Ugh.

I suppose an answer to this problem would be to wake up even earlier - myself and Bubba included. I find myself worrying about disturbing Ben's sleep (I know it does), but I mostly worry about the amount of sleep my 2 (almost 3!!) year old is getting. He needs that 15 minutes, doesn't he? I'm sure he does, but maybe not as much as we all need a little more sanity in the morning. With an extra 10 or 15 minutes, we might be able to potty and dress and eat at a 2 year old's pace, while maintaining my usual 8 minutes late for work timing in the morning. I guess there's no time like the present to try.