5:20AM

All right, folks, I defy you to tell me that any one of you actually desires to get up at the crack of dawn.  I know some of you have to for work or school or some other crazy reason, but no one actually wants to.  No one, that is, except my children.  My children.  Your children probably sleep in nicely until 8am.  But my children prefer to rise while it is still dark (pitch black) and start their ridiculously long day at approximately 5:20am.  It doesn't matter what we do-- pushing bedtime back doesn't make a difference, it just makes our job longer and harder. 

And so, each morning I hear at least one pair of little feet hit the floor and come running to the door.  Into my bedroom, "Mommy, I have to pee."  And it begins.  This inevitably wakes up boy #2 (the joys of a shared bedroom... I could write all kinds of stories on this one) who greets a very sleepy Mommy with a great big smile and enough energy to tackle anything that comes his way, including that Mommy who can barely string together a sentence after the broken sleep she's had that night.  I have enough soundness of mind at 5am to not let them get up and about the house, but after the many trips to the bathroom you can anticipate what happens next.  One silly, giggling, ornery boy can only encourage the other to join in.  So I begrudgingly close their door and crawl-- exhausted-- back into bed hoping they'll be quiet enough that I can fall back asleep for at least another half hour, or even 15 minutes.  Heck, I'd take another 10.  My head hits the pillow, my eyes close.... and then I hear a baby start crying.