When I was asked to share a little bit about my morning routines, my knee jerk reaction responded,
“Why morning routines? Please, ask me about living on a budget, couponing or raising kids, but to share about my morning routines…AHH!”
There are so many things I can give advise on, and some of it even really solid advice, but sharing how my mornings actually function? I’m still putting that one into place.
I admit. My free spirit struggles with a consistent morning, and unfortunately, the kids are taking their ques from me.
I am a night owl and I love the peaceful, late hours. But for it to be quiet around here, I need to stay up really late, which leads to a more disorganized morning because I haven’t gotten things ready the night before. Honestly, I know what needs to be done. Quite frankly, I could give a workshop on how to have a perfectly executed, organized morning, and sound the expert, but being honest – I’m still in process. Every day starts with so many variables. but I am making this a priority for 2010.
My goal is to be more consistent with my morning activities. When we start our day too late, mornings are rushed and the stress level rises. Taking accountability for how our day starts is something that I take very seriously, but gee-sh, just watch the video. Getting those teen boys out of bed is an ordeal in and of itself. (Trust me, there are no privileges left to take away). 🙂
Here are a few simple things I can implement immediately to make my day run more smoothly.
- Get up earlier, which means go to sleep earlier. (Easier said than done.)
- Have breakfast ideas thought through – four out of the five weekdays.
- Bring laundry downstairs as soon as I wake up, and immediately start a load (then remember to transfer it over 🙂 ).
- Set the timer for my computer time and adhere to it. If I don’t wake up as planned, then no computer time before kids’ school. Often, that is a determining factor as to whether my morning runs smoothly or not.
So, am I talking to myself? What about you all?
Do you have your morning routines down pat or are there areas which you are working on as well?
If you do, I’d love to hear about them…the good, bad and ugly. You know it’s all welcome.
****Some of my friends have contemplated this very topic.
It encouraged me that we’re all in this together. Watch the video as we share a bit about our morning routines – it’s reality living at its finest.
BlissTV- Morning Routines from Blissful Media Group on Vimeo.
This article about making mornings easier is part of the Kraft Bagel-fuls “Break up with your Breakfast Routine” sweepstakes. Visit BlissfullyDomestic.com for all the fabulous details, and WIN one of three HUGE prize packages just for commenting!
We are morning people ;o) So, I (mom) begin my day at 5:15-5:30am. I finish my devotion as little people (dd 10, ds 11, and ds8) start to wander into the living room. My oldest (ds 14) gets up by 7:00am and prepares everyones smoothie. At 7:15am I leave them to get ready for the day while I walk. When I return, they are ready for me to prepare breakfast. Afterwards the table is cleared and we are ready to begin school. After lunch is when our day falls apart…………..
That video was hilarious! I can so identify with the difficulty in waking your sons up. My almost 12 year old son is IMPOSSIBLE to wake up and it DRIVES ME INSANE. I had actually already planned on posting my latest solution for Works for Me Wednesday this week 🙂
My morning routine usually involves some small amount of panic, scrambling around, and usually a bit of throwing clothes somewhere in my room – but I’m hoping to change that! My husband of just 8 months recently passed away from cancer. I spent the past 6 weeks at home caring for him, which really changed my mornings. Instead of getting up and going to work, I was getting up (from an air mattress in my dining room!) and beginning care. I had to put my needs aside (I usually like my breakfast and coffee ASAP in the morning!) until I had my husband’s needs met. It reminded me that the world doesn’t revolve around my needs. So, I’m heading back to work on Wednesday and I’m hoping to make my mornings a little more peaceful – hoping to include regular devotions and get off to work with a calmer state of mind!
@Jessica,
Wow. I’m praying that you are comforted and strengthened, and that joy is a part of each day for you.
@Jessica, Oh Jessica I am so sorry for your loss. May God’s loving arms be around you. Keep the memories of good times with you– this does help in the loss of loved ones. I have found real encouragement in the Psalms when I have had the loss of a loved one. Also I have found journalling helps. Hugs and God’s blessings to you.
@Jessica, Jessica – my lack of morning routine is trivial compared to what you have been through. Praying for you as you make such a huge life change. I can’t even imagine losing a spouse.
Great post. I actually wrote about routines this week too. It will post on Wednesday. We try to have a routine/schedule to help things run smoother. But you know kids have a mind of their own sometimes 🙂
Wow! It’s encouraging to see people who you think have everything all together; having the very same problem as me. You so described my morning. I really want to change it. I have 3 boys (10, 5 and 2) and home school. School is always late because I’m lazy and playing on the computer.
Thanks so much!
At the present moment my morning routine kinda stinks. I would love to wake up, shower, fix my tea and have a quiet time before my boys wake up but since I have a 10 month old who still doesn’t sleep through the night I have to force myself to get up early and most mornings it doesn’t happen. This post has given me (another) kick in the tail to get to the routine I need/want.
On another note I am reading Boundaries by Dr. Henry Cloud with my women’s group and in the children chapter it talks about the importance of instilling responsibility in your kids (which I know you do) but one of those responsibilities is having them use their own alarm clock to wake them up and having suffer the consequences of not getting up on time. Maybe you could try it!
There are 5 of us in our blended family and our morning routine changes depending on the week. Our kids live part-time at their other parents (our ex-spouses) so sometimes we have them in the morning and sometimes we don’t. When we have the kids, I usually get up around 6am and we both head downstairs to get breakfast started. I usually check email really quick either from the laptop in the kitchen or from my phone (I can sneak it in easier from my phone). We have an agreement with the kids – if they are downstairs by 6:30am, we’ll make b-fast for them. If they come down after that, we are usually done and they have to make b-fast for themselves. We leave for school by 7:15am and I’m back at the house by 7:30am. Then I shower, get ready, and am on the computer for work around 8:30. I usually do a bit of work from home and then I’ll drive into the office.
On mornings we don’t have the kids, I get up at the same time and go work out in the basement (we have some weights and an elliptical and I can watch the news while I work out). Everything is the same after that!
Sarah – I LOVE Dr. Cloud’s work on boundaries – I have his book on tape and would listen to it in the car. We started the kids on alarm clocks a few years ago and it really helps. They are all teens, which is easier than if they were little kids.
(p.s. Jennifer – this would make a great BlogFrog discussion!)
Oh Jen!!!! I am not a morning person! I soo know what you mean about liking to stay up late. I do not like to go to bed at night, I just want to stay up doing stuff. I do not like to get up in the mornings (well, not to an alarm clock at least). I do not like to hurry to get ready in the mornings. I get bored with the morning routine of putting on make-up, fixing hair, etc. All of your bullet points are things I could most certainly echo that I know would be good to do.
I just wrote a silly “true confessions” on my blog this morning about a shortcut for speeding up the getting ready process.
Right now, for approx. 20 more days I work outside the home and wake up to an alarm set earlier than my natural body clock, struggle to go to bed at a decent time every night and then even though I lay my clothes out the night before, still have to be in more of a hurry than I’d like in the mornings just to get out the door (partly because I don’t set my alarm early enough to take my time more but if I did that would mean less sleep unless I actually managed to force myself into bed earlier . . . you know).
But . . . I am about to transition into a new season of my life. Stay at home mom to a newborn, our first! Whoa! I know I have ZERO idea of what it is really going to be like. I am so looking forward to it and nervous at the same time. I know that at least for a little while, my schedule will not be my own but the baby’s. I do talk to the baby at times and tell he or she that it is much too early to get up (when I’m up for work) and how we’re going to sleep later after he/she is born. We’ll see if it works. 🙂
Thanks for writing about this even though it was hard for you. It’s always great to know we’re not alone in the things we struggle with. Kelly
LOVED THE VIDEO!!! I struggled through morning routines with our three kids for many years (including dd’s 4 am wakeup/poop schedule, til she could read a clock and I explained that morning starts with at least a 6) and am still not a morning person. This will never change. Now that they’re teens and must leave by 7 am (Who planned a high school start time at 7:25? Not a mom.) It is my guilty confession that I now abdicate (is that the right word?) all responsibility for mornings to my beloved husband, who runs mornings. My cue to get up is when the admonishments are reaching a melting point, or a real disaster is in progress. Otherwise, the children hug my dozing corpse goodbye, and dh brings coffee when he returns from dropping them off. I am truly blessed.
Going to bed earlier and waking up earlier– it IS “easier said than done.” I feel like I have finally attained freedom after 8 pm. It is so hard for me to turn in early when I have a great book to read or DVR shows to watch. But then it’s hard for me to get up early and do my Bible study…soooo hard!
When I get up, I make the bed, get showered and all the bathroom stuff done. I too bring down the laundry if I have to get some done. Then I make breakfast and do lunches. I really could do lunches the night before and that would be done already, but it never happens. After everyone is out the door, I set computer blog surfing time and then clean the kitchen…i.e. do the dishes, tidy up. Monday-Wed. I do the laundry and the kids each have thurs. and fri. respectively. Thurs and Fri. I will dust, vaccum and do any other tidying up necessary. Does it always work like clockwork…NO, but I try. Looking forward to reading what everyone else writes.
I work as a teacher so to me I have the morning some what in place. The kids have checklists that are laminated with pictures on it. They do their stuff independently. I also have a rule which has made the biggest difference. If you do not put the clothes on that was decided the night before, then you have to come home and go into your room for a short period of time. Since they don’t want to do that more often than not they put on what was agreed upon. It also keeps some peace because there is no fighting. But the thing that is most helpful is that I get up earlier than everyone else and take that time for myself so when the meltdowns do happen I can handle them much better.
I think we are all working through our morning routines at times… must have coffee… ha! Though I struggle with my devotional/me time, the most important thing is getting the kids started and into their daily routines. Google Cal. has proved helpful to this home-school mom.
Morning routine? Ummm….not what I wish it was but yet not really willing to do what it would require to make it what I want it to be! We all run around like chickens with our heads cut off scrambling to get dressed, fed, teeth brushed and backpacks ready before the bus pulls up at 8:10am! I always thought I would be the mom who had an apron on with fresh fruit and homemade pancakes served! Instead we are a cereal, toast or poptart family most mornings! Gonna try to start making ahead some things muffins, etc. to have ready instead of those other quick breakfast ideas! Thanks for letting me know I am not the only one!
this post was like a warm summer breeze to my spirit. i do not do mornings well….and i especially don’t adhere to routines well. i am consistently telling myself to go to bed earlier, but i just get a burst of energy everynight around 1op:)
it was comforting to read this post because although i’ve come to firmly believe that God designed me this way, it doesn’t make me feel better knowing how many others love mornings and love routines and accomplish a great many things before 10a.
i can’t wait to meet you at relevant….you and i are alot alike…loving coupons, frugalness and night owl stuff! now i know i have at least one person that will stay up late at relevant:)
I, too, am such a late night gal…I love to think when all is quiet and uninterrupted. However, my morning with 3 (under the age of 7) is full of interruptions and happy noise (most of the time!). I do allow a video which gives me a 1/2 to shower and check email. Sometimes breakfast items are out at the table which make for an easy “serve yourself” however not all of those morning ideas am I proud of, they are just what is working for us on most days. However, I am lacking in the get up and get going for the Lord, with a cheerful heart and motivated spirit. My kiddos need a more solid morning rountine is my guess…I look forward to hearing what others are doing. Jen, thanks for sharing! ~Connie
Me and mornings do NOT get along. Thankfully, my 8 yr old son and 9 yr old daughter think making breakfast for their siblings is such great fun. Go figure!!! So, while I make breakfast 5, okay 4, out of 7 mornings, I at least know that in desperate times, I can rally the troops and get it done.
Right now we have a good morning routine. I love quiet time at night when the kiddos are in bed, but the last few years I’ve been too tired to do that. I love quiet of the morning to have Bible/prayer time alone. BUT, as we all know, little ones do not sleep late, and we have a bunch of them.
From the time our oldest was able to sit and look at picture books, I trained him to sit for the time I wanted to read my Bible. He couldn’t sit for an hour at first, but slowly worked up to it. Now, four children (2, 4, 6, 8) all sit mostly quietly for the 40-60 minutes I want to read my Bible in the morning, looking at books.
After that, the hoorah begins. Some hand-size laminated chore lists have been a relief to my nagging and checking that everything is getting done (pjs away, hair brushed, CLOTHES on!, a morning chore, starting school work, etc). “Hug Mama” is on that list after their morning chore is done so I get to give a nice hug and get one and know where they are in their morning routine.
Breakfast, then continue school work/reading with the littles, 30-60 minutes of play before lunch depending on how the morning went. Lunch.
If I check the email in there, it eats up precious minutes and allows precious little people to do not-so-precious things, so I keep from computer time in the morning. My computer time is leisure time usually, and HAS to be put aside for the others in my family.
I like you am a night owl and during my work week Monday- Thursday I often get 5-5 1/2 hours sleep a night. I get up in the morning try to have a bit of worship. I have tea and hot lemon water. then the rush is on to get my lunch ready and eat breakfast running around as I do the rest of getting ready to go. Sometimes my problems get worse if i go on the computer. Showers in the morning mess me up too. I need to get up earlier. I don’t even have kids to cause me confusion. My girls are grown up and on their own.
My mornings …hmmm…..I get up at the last possible min ( 6:30) to get my older 2 boys up , dressed, and out of the door by 6:50a.m. Then I hope that they younger two are still asleep. If they are I climb back in bed until the wake up about 8a.m. if I am lucky. When we do get up I hit the ground running. LOL I get them breakfast and take care of other things that need to be taken care of. I am also 8 mos. pregnant at this time so some mornings there is no hitting the ground running. I may get breakfast and then it’s Pj’s and couch the rest of the day. I know it’s horrible but it’s the truth. I hope to get better in how I run my house. I have been Menu Planning and trying to come up with a regular schedule for house cleaning and a daily routine. I know it will make my life much easier if I stick to it. I too have fought the idea of a routine but I have come to realize that the more kids you have the more necessary it becomes. So, wish me luck on my journey and feel free to pass along any tips you might have.
Loved the video…maybe because I am a mom of five boys and one girl and been through the teen years four time and on the fifth….too funny….so glad to see it wasn’t just me.
My mornings have always been different with the fact we home school each day was so different. With a four year old who now will met me when I start getting up early, I still have the challenge of rising first.
When I do raise first, have my quiet time with the Lord, then mornings go smoother and somehow I seem to extend my days.
I stay with about four things we rotate for breakfast and that makes the decisions easier.
I am still giggling at that precious boy with his crazy morning bed head! I can feel for his mama. My six-year-old recently told me “I’m never gonna brush my hair again.” He, like the boy in the video, wakes up with horns.
I LOVE the little girl at the end of that video. She is singin’, swayin’, and doin’ her thing! Cute 🙂