Up at the crack of dawn.

Did your mother ever come into your room early in the morning singing in an opera voice, "oh, what a beautiful morning"? Mine did. All the time when we were young. Mostly on Saturday mornings when it was time to clean. Still gives me nightmares. Just kidding Mom. Confession: I do this to my kids now. Because it's funny. I laugh, they don't.

Anyway, getting up at the crack of dawn is a good thing. This school year I set a goal for myself. This isn't the first time I have had this goal, but it's a good one to start again. I want to be up before my kids, dressed and ready for whatever the day brings. Getting five kids ready doesn't leave a lot of time to get myself ready. I don't want to be screaming at them when it's time to go out the door because I feel like a mess. So if I can get up before them, be dressed with hair and make up done I can give my kids my full attention. Help them get breakfast, get dressed and ready for the bus and be ready to leave for my class at the YMCA. My the day will be so much better.

So I've made my goal. Now I'm trying to decide what time to get up. How much time do I need? What do I want to get done before they march down the stairs rubbing their eyes and smelling of a full diaper? I can at least be dressed and ready to go for the day before they come downstairs. I do have some other routines, thing I want to get done right away in the morning. More on that later. So I'm thinking I'll be up at 6:00 AM. I can be dressed, read e-mails and have a few minutes of quiet. My kids will be up at 7:00. An hour to myself sounds so good. We'll see how it goes in the morning.

What is the first thing you do in the morning?