Before even the sunshine is awake.

Public school. I don't have too much to complain about just yet....except that it starts at O-Dark-Thirty. I am not kidding. The Oldest has to report to her desk at 7:30 AM. This poses a bit of a problem for us. Actually, this is a problem of astronomical proportions. Usually, my children aren't rolling out of bed until about 8 AM. And I usually don't get to my first cup of coffee until around 9 AM. Even the baby thinks the morning comes too soon... she eats around 6 am and then wants to go straight back to her crib, only to wake up around 9ish

And the issue of getting dressed that early in the morning bothers me. We have been having homeschool in our pajamas for 2 years now, and suddenly I am being stripped of my nightgown and bedroom slippers. I fear that I am going to have wake up at the crack of dawn to dress up like all the rest of the good moms, "slap a coat of paint on the ol' barn" (that means putting on layers of makeup to make myself look like one of those pretty moms that can do it all!), fix breakfast for my children, feed the baby, get everyone ready, and manage to squeal out the door in time to make the 15 minute drive to school.

Are you kidding? Who makes up these hours? Don't they realize that my kid needs about 10 to 12 hours of sleep every night just to function in the morning. That means my kid needs to go to bed at like 6!!!!!! She is going to plop her head down on her desk first thing, in spite of my efforts of putting her to bed early all week and getting us all up early. She will be begging for a jolt of caffeine before lunch, and then she will probably take a nap as soon as school lets out.

Somehow we will manage this. The rest of the world does. I don't know how, but they do.