A Better Way to Wake up The Kids

One of my goals this year is to be a “more fun mom”.  I can be quite the drill sergeant . . . I feel like I have to be with 5 young kids.  Everyone has to know what to do and when to do it because I can’t do it all.  When its all working the way its supposed to, its pretty efficient, but its not much fun.  And I want my kids to want to be here, to love their family and the time they get to spend with us.  So, I decided that this year, I want to find ways to add more fun to our routines and maybe some spontaneity, too.

Ever since coming back from Christmas break, the kids have struggled with getting up in the morning.  My normally early risers were struggling to get out of bed and get moving in the morning — on school days only.  Strangely, those same kids manage to get up super early and have tons of energy on the weekends — someone explain that one to me, please!  Anyway, one morning I had this sudden thought that I should sing them awake.  And so I headed to their rooms singing and they woke up a little more chipper, with some silly smiles on their faces wondering what was going on.

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That day, I spent the day searching my memory and the iTunes store for some great “good morning” type songs.  I wanted upbeat, fun, great music to wake up to but not too loud and crazy that it would be hard to talk over.  I found a great short list of songs!

1. Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ by Gordon MacRae (from Oklahoma)
2. Good Morning by Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds & Donald O’Connor (from Singin in the Rain)
3. Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go by Wham!
4. Seize The Day (from Newsies)
5. Good Mornin’ Life by Dean Martin

Over the holidays, we had bought the coolest light bulb that we put in our hallways by the kids’ bedrooms.  It replaces one of our “can” light bulbs.  Its actually a light bulb that doubles as a sound system/speaker that I can hook up to my phone through bluetooth so I can play the music right there in the hallway, loud enough to reach the kids’ rooms.  (It also still has the light, so its just as bright as before, but you can also make it change different colors and pulse to the beat of the music — this thing is awesome!)  See, when I was a teenager, one of my best friends had an intercom system in her house that her mom would play music over.  I always thought it was awesome and that was one of the things I wanted in my house when I grew up!  This is as close as I’ve gotten to having an intercom system and I think its a pretty fun way to do it.  It is perfect for our wake up music in the morning.

And my kids love the new wake up call!  I sing, and sometimes dance, through the morning routine (so I’m a happier mom!), and they’re learning these super fun songs and are singing along (and laughing more) now too.  We could use some additions to our playlist, so if you can think of any great “morning” songs that we need to wake up to, let me know!