7 Ideas for 7am

It is cold. It is dark. It is early on a weekend morning, and you could be sleeping in. Except for one problem: your kids are awake. Their biological clocks do not include a setting for “day off”. It’s too early to call friends. It’s too early to go to the library, or the museum, or the mall. But after an hour, they’re bouncing off the walls and your patience is wearing thin. Here are a few ideas to keep the peace.

1. Serve chocolate chip cookies for breakfast. And by serve, I mean leave them somewhere your kids can reach them all by themselves. I’ve only actually done this once, but when I did, my kids entertained themselves for more than an hour – drawing, playing, etc. – while my hubby and I lounged in bed, awake enough to listen, but still blissfully resting. If you make the cookies yourself, you can use whole wheat flour and convince yourself they’re relatively healthy – and really if kids are going to eat chocolate, it might as well be early in the day.

2. Play camping. Set up a small tent in the living room, complete with pillows and sleeping bags. Demonstrate how they are used.

3. Go grocery shopping. In our family this works only if I am awake enough, and if the mellower of our two kids wakes up first. I would never try it with both that early in the morning. At 7 am, the grocery stores are far from crowded, and most of them have coffee shops now. You can have a one-on-one kid date over breakfast, get shopping done, and earn serious bonus points by arriving home with a hot latte just when the rest of the family is waking up. (Tip: cash your bonus points in for an afternoon nap if you need it!)

4. Put them in the bathtub. You might be able to sit next to it and read the newspaper.

5. Polish Silverware. Or some sort of task like that – one that you rarely do, so even though it’s a chore, it’s special. Most kids love to help, and it’s fun to see things turn nice and shiny.

6. Get crafty. Its holiday season. Keep materials for homemade gifts on-hand and get your holiday “shopping” done before any stores open for the day, for a fraction of the cost. (Winter Crafts for Kids)

7. Go out for breakfast. If you’re all awake, go for it. It rarely works for us, as my kids need to eat within 1.3 minutes of waking up. But I’ve heard it’s nice.

If these don’t work or just aren’t possible, remember, there is a reason Saturday morning cartoons were invented. - Jessica Cochran