8AM

Three things happen in the mornings around here that make me a very happy mommy. #1 All of my kids are at a fairly self-sufficient age (where at least they can play well together unsupervised without wrecking havoc on each other or my house), #2 Jason gets Eli out of his crib when he goes downstairs for work around 6:45am, and gets the kids all breakfast, and #3 Ali and Logan have afternoon preschool. So, why do these three things make me happy? Added together they equal the fact that most mornings I feel no need to get out of bed before 8am! I do sometimes come down to find the TV turned on, the candy bowl raided, or huge messes, but these occurences are actually quite rare. Most days I come down to find three happy kids, playing nicely. I also often find fantastic forts (for some reason this seems to be a morning activity).

For a little while I wondered if I should feel guilty about this neglect. I quickly decided not to. This is a small, magic window of time that will soon disappear. The kids don't seem to mind one bit, and of course know where to find me if there is a real problem. And this mommy is so much happier with a little more sleep. We all (but mostly me) win!