I do NOT like getting up early. Never have. I’m much more of a night owl. So in some ways it seems like God has a sense of humor in giving me small children who love to rise with the sun. For many years I’ve fought it, insisting they stay in their beds until I am ready to get up. Finally I just gave in and started getting up with them. But so often I sit in a huddled heap wincing at their bouncy cheerfulness and wishing I could just go back to bed!

One by one, as my children get older, they start staying up later at night and thus sleeping later in the morning. But just about the time one starts sleeping later, the next child comes along who is up early.

I’ve tried to make the older ones go to bed early so that they can rise earlier. But they just lay there, wide awake, for hours until we all despair of them ever going to sleep! And I’ve tried to keep little ones up later so that they’ll sleep longer in the morning, but all that gets me is grumpy early risers. So they might as well go to bed on time.

Just this morning, it finally occurred to me, that perhaps this very cycle of early-bird toddlers and night-owl “tweeners” is God’s gift to me! I’ve often complained that I can’t possibly pay attention to all of my children. I complain of being spread too thin. I complain that my little ones get overlooked while I school the older ones, or the older ones get overlooked while I care for the younger ones.

Maybe God is actually allowing these sleep patterns for my benefit! If I rise early with my younger three children, we can do all sorts of fun preschool activities. We can sing silly songs, eat graham crackers and cheerios for breakfast, read books, and even do some of the learning-to-read school stuff that rarely gets done otherwise.

And then, mid-morning when the big kids start rolling out of bed, we can do our family activities such as BibleTelling, hymn study, and prayer. During the middle of the day, through to the early evening, everyone plays and interacts together. Then, by 7 pm, little ones are going to bed, and my special time with the older ones is beginning. This is a great time to play cards, work on projects, run to the library, or anything else that is bogged down by lots of little people. Also, babysitters are much more willing to babysit SIX children if THREE of them are already in bed.

So I have a new resolve: instead of viewing my early mornings as an inconvenience, I’ll work harder on accepting them as God’s gift.

Next, I’m off to see if I can find a life lesson in the piles of laundry!