KELLY BROWN: Getting out of bed just gets that bit harder in the mornings...

Why? Because not only are you getting back into the morning routine of school, but also the mornings are darker. I mean how rude.

Not that I mind not being woken up at the crack of dawn by brilliant sunshine, but when it is still dark, it feels like you are getting up in the middle of the night.

I’m not a morning person at the best of times, but having two bouncy children at 6am kind of forces you to get up in a zombie-like fashion to meet their needs.

At the weekend this involves getting them a drink and a snack, which they will have in bed while snuggled up with me watching a bit of children’s television or an early-morning movie.

Meanwhile I can slowly drain my coffee to wake up or cuddle up to my monkeys and doze off for a few minutes before admitting defeat to the morning and getting up.

But on school and work days, there is no such luxury.

They still get their drink and snacks and time to wake up while I force myself into the shower and get ready before turning my attention to the little people in my life.

The mornings would be more bearable if the darker evenings were not also making me feel sleepy as well.

By 9pm, when I finally sit down for the evening after doing 101 jobs, it is so dark and getting cold so that all you feel like doing is hibernating.

In the summer it is still bright and cheery which gives you the motivation to do things other than just veg on the sofa.

But over the past couple of weeks, the temptation to just snuggle under the blanket and fall asleep on the sofa is so much greater.

Not that the darker evenings are a completely bad idea.

Like putting the children to bed for instance – after all it is much easier to convince them it is bedtime when it is not streaming with sunshine outside.

So I suppose I had better make the most of the next few weeks before it feels like it is permanently dark!