I know of quite a few people, particularly mothers, who start their day before the rest of their family.  Now, rising before your children and significant other seems like a pretty doable task, dare I even say easy?  For the last month and a half or so I’ve adopted a totally new morning routine doing just that – waking to an alarm an hour before the rest of the house is awake (dog included), so I can start the day on my terms.

I was inspired to do this from a few women that I follow on Instagram.  The thing that has kept me doing it every single day is the idea of thanking myself.  My goal each day is to do one thing that I will be able to thank myself for later that day.  Lately that has come in the form of a religious 6 a.m. wake up, followed by immediately making the bed, heading downstairs for hot coffee, chugging 20 oz of water, and plopping on the couch to read.

This has been the best thing for me as a mom who is with her kids everyday, all day.  I love starting the morning at a pace not set at a speed chosen by a toddler.  I’ve made a pact with myself that this time is to be spent doing things for pleasure.  I will not use my hour in the morning to do dishes, laundry, or anything of the like.  This is easy for me because at night after the kids go to sleep we do all of the dishes from dinner, wash  bottles, clean up the play room, etc.  I really, really dislike waking up to a chaotic looking house because it sets the wrong tone for my day.  Anyone else with me?!

Originally when I started this morning “me” time, I intended to wake up an hour earlier than everyone else only on the days my husband went to work.  Well, I continued the wake up trend on the days that he had off as well.  Now the thought of not having the early morning to myself makes me me cringe.

If you already wake up before your kids to do something nice for yourself, or simply to get ready for your workday in peace, good for you!  I should have started this practice when Gia was a baby, but we all know hindsight is 20/20.

During the quiet of the morning I’ve also revisited my love for reading and tapped into things I’m passionate about.  I’ve read a handful of personal growth books, many pertaining to motherhood, and realized I need to keep writing and also start pushing myself more.  I want to challenge myself and pursue things that make me feel good outside of my number one job of mommy.  I’m setting new goals such as reading X amount of books by year end, writing X amount of blog posts, and I’m even trying to educate myself on how to start a podcast.

I’m not sure what the immediate future holds in regards to my goals, but I know I will keep pushing, and for that I will certainly thank myself later.

Xx, Ashley