Morningitis: a Severe Debilitating Morning Condition

I suffer from a severe case of morning irritation. I feel grumpy, underappreciated, put-upon, irritable, and short-tempered. I snap at the kids. I grumble at the husband. I hiss at the cat.

I've tried:

• Exercise in the morning
• Read for fun in the morning
• Go to bed earlier the night before

None of those work on a consistent basis. Plus, I have 1001 excuses not to do the above (like, not waking up early enough).
And I haven't figured out if there is anything - anything at all - that can make me a happier and kinder person in the mornings. Maybe its a lost cause and I just have do endure being in a bad mood most mornings?

A number of years ago, my husband was responsible for getting our kids (there were only 2 at the time) up, fed, dressed and off to daycare. I got up extra-early to get my grumpy self to the lab. I was the only one at work at 7:30 in the morning, so no one suffered from my lack of good mood. By the time people rolled in (10-ish), I was back to my normal self.

Now, my husband and I do mornings together, eat breakfast more or less around the same time as our kids, and split the drop-off routine on most days. In some ways, it's working great - we both get to work at a reasonable time, and in theory, we spend some quality time together as a family first thing in the morning. Reality: I am not a good sport on most mornings... All I want to do is whine and pick fights with my family.

Potential solution:
I do feel that if I got up an hour earlier (6 am instead of closer to 7 am), I might feel better by the time kids get up around 7-7:15.

Hurdle to overcome:
I am really, really, really not a morning person. I love night-time: I function great at night and am in a fabulous mood. My most productive hours, when in college and grad school, were between 1 and 3 am. Now, even if I force myself into bed by 10:30, I have a hard time falling asleep (unless I've been sleep deprived for a few days, and then I collapse by 9:30). So, I am fighting my innate circadian preference, in addition to a multitude of other hurdles (stress, fatigue, emotional exhaustion). I am fighting years and years of ingrained grumpy-morning paradigm (since early childhood, I just don't feel happy the moment I wake up).

So how do I find my "happy" on most morning???  Any advice???

What do you do to feel happy first thing in the morning? Do you just wake up happy or is there a routine that you do to put yourself into a good mood?