Early to bed, early to rise, makes a mom healthy, wealthy, and wise.

I don’t know how it happened, but somehow over the past few months my schedule got all out of whack, and I went from getting up early, hours before anyone was awake, to still being in bed until whichever kid woke up first, came downstairs, got in my face and asked me repeatedly when I was going to get up and make breakfast.

That is not a great way to start the day off.

Not for me, anyway.

Not having any time to myself before the assault of the morning routine makes me a little bitchy.

Ok. A lot bitchy.

It makes me feel rushed and stressed and impatient and frustrated and unprepared.

So my mornings have been less than calm and have not been running smoothly.

I’m waking up late and staying up late.

I am missing out on time with the kids because I am trying to catch up on all the stuff I didn’t get done earlier in the day.

I have gone from writing my post first thing in the morning to not even starting it until 9:30 at night. And then after that I’ve been checking emails and working on e-courses and then it’s 11:00 (or later) and I haven’t gotten any stuff prepared for the next day but I’m too tired to do it at night, so I put it off until the morning. And then I wake up late, the kids want breakfast, I am trying to find the clothes for the gym I should have gotten ready the night before or find my iPod or somebody’s shoe or whatever it is that I wish I had taken care of the night before.

And the cycle repeats itself.

So now my mornings and my nights are rushed and chaotic.

For the past couple months, I’ve kept doing this to myself over and over and over again.

And I’m still tired. Sleeping later hasn’t solved that problem.

It wasn’t until I learned the phrase eat a frog last week that I really thought about it. That I put two and two together and realized this change in my schedule to staying up later and consequently sleeping later was not working for me. At all.

Then yesterday by chance I was flipping through a magazine and the first page I opened to was an article entitled Wake up Happier, and it said that “early risers reap a host of rewards, from feeling more positive to weighing less.”

I knew this already though.

I know I function better in the morning. I know I am more productive and more motivated and more focused early in the day. I know if I leave working out until later in the day, there is a very good chance it won’t happen.

So I’m turning myself back around.

I’m done with the unnecessary chaos.

And you know what?

I already feel better!

It’s 6:33 a.m.,  I have pretty much finished my post, I’ve eaten a couple of frogs already, only three of the kids are awake, and nobody has even asked me what’s for breakfast yet.

No, it wasn’t easy to get up at 4:30 today.

Later I will be tired.

But when I get home from practice with the kids at 7:30 tonight, nothing will be hanging over my head.

All the frogs will have been eaten. I will be able to hang out with the kids, get them into bed, and then have a little time to relax before I collapse.

And in a couple days, I’ll be back in my old routine, and getting up early will be a piece of cake.

If your days are starting off less than calmly, maybe you can give it a try.

You don’t have to be over-the-top like me and get up at 4:30 a.m.

Even if you set that alarm for 15 minutes earlier than whatever time you got up today, I bet you’d see a difference in how your day goes, a difference in your overall outlook, a difference in your level of productivity, and ultimately, a difference in your mood.

Because when there is no crap hanging over your head all day, you feel lighter. And as a result, less bitchy.

Give it a try.

When that alarm goes off, don’t hit snooze.

Get up before the kids. Give yourself a few minutes of calm before the day starts.

And then, let me know how it goes!