To think i have found a magic way of not having to get up

[QualityTime]

I am not a morning person, never have been. Motherhood has not changed this much. I can just about cope with half6 sometimes but not all the time.

DH and i moved a load of toys into the spare room a few weeks back to clear space downstairs but this has had the unexpevted bonus of meaning that when they wake up, they don't come into us but go straight into the back room and have a play. The toy kitchen/garage, dressing up box, books etc are all in there + they are happy for a good few hours. DH and I are loving it as we get a sort of lie in, i can hear them but can doze as much as i like.
this morning dd2 left her room at about half 5 (the door latch is purposely loud so it wakes me) dd1 got up at 6ish and i got up just before 7.

So AIBU to effectively ignore my children for up to 2 hours in the morning?

:facepalm:
they are 2.7 + 4.4

Not at all. That is a stroke of genius. My ds used to get themselves breakfast from that sort of age, I left cereal and bowls out with a jug of milk on a low shelf in the fridge.

Nope...my 4 year old is an early riser,too, and we taught him how to turn on the telly in the morning, which is set to CBeebies...it means we can lie in till 7 ish on the weekends...and I don't even care if letting him watch an hour of telly in the mornings goes against some huge parenting philosophy...me grouching around at 6 am on a Saturday is far worse!!

Teaching them to get their own breakfast on a weekend at 4 you say..........genius!

Its very clever.

I'd be fine with it, especially since you can hear them. DS1 (6) gets up most days, (still in bed today though...very unusual!) and comes downstairs and watches TV/reads/plays x-box or wii. He has to ask me if he can (I send him back to bed if it's v.early).

At a weekend I'd encourage DS2 (nearly 4) to go down too, but he doesn't like to go down without me. So sometimes I come down, pile lots of 'nice' food and drinks on the table and go back to bed!

Disclaimer: DH is in the Navy and away A LOT... I haven't had a DH-facilitated lie in at the weekend in about two years.

fine with it. in fact, i would actively encourage it by putting their cereal out in there too

I have a stairgate up still as DD2 cannot be trusted with the fridge/telly/downstairs/with a front door unspuervised!

We did try telling them to go back to bed but they know we are up then, any contact is fatal

We used to have a telly in the back bedroom so they could watch cbeebies but they turned our analogue signal off last year so that scuppered it

If its working for you and the dcs are happy - go for in and YANBU.

The first thing I think I taught my children was what 7.00am looked like on the clock. They are allowed in each other's bedrooms before that but absolutely not in mine (barring emergencys). I get up at 5.00am most of the week and am therefore willing to kill anything that gets me up at a similar time when I am not working.

Oh yes, if I go into them too early DD1 points to the cheapy digital clock in the spare room and says 'But there's no 7 on the left!

This week is a late shift week for DH as well, so he is getting in at 11 and does not want to be woken at 6.
On early shift weeks he is up and out by half 6 so he says goodbye and leaves them to it. Lovely

One of my top tips is to leave nickolodeon junior on all night!! quietly! and then when they come in to me on Saturday morning at 6.50am I can mutter, tv's on....

my bad. That is the C word, i know!

Teaching DS1 how to use the DVD player was our method, along with ridiculous amounts of lego. On weekends, we just lie there and listen and to him.

Now he can even get his own breakfast!

Magalyxyz - I did that recently on holiday when DS1 couldn't work the TV! At home he can do it better than me, and can even operate the TV without the remote using the buttons on the side.

My 3 - 5, 4 and 2 know they cannot come into our room till the clock says 7:00 during the week or 7:30 at weekends and they have to be dressed when they do.
Its great they play, watch Hannah Montana (then practice the songs grrrrr) and generally have a great time.
Ive kept it quiet as I thought I was being a very lax parent but I cant do early mornings esp now as Im 35wks with no 4.