Altering the Morning Routine

It’s no secret that I am not a fan of early mornings.  Sleeping til 9 and sipping coffee til lunch?  That’s my jam.  But when I realized I was letting my toddler wake me up, rightfully because he needed to pee, and we were grabbing breakfast on the way to school, I knew I needed to make a change.  Making changes to our morning routine…well, there was no routine.  Our mornings needed an overhaul.

Emily Ley’s book, A Simplified Life, came out at a perfect time.  Emily makes it a habit of getting up an hour before her children to get ready herself—complete to make up and shoes.  An hour before?  Ugh.

Around the same time, the hubs and I were getting our health back in order and attempting a Whole30.  Have you done a Whole30?  It requires a lot of cooking.  Not something I have a problem with, but breakfast can’t be a frozen waffle grabbed out of the toaster on the way to the car.  A hot breakfast got added to the list.  Did I mention my early-bird husband is out the door by 5:45 every morning?  Double ugh.

A schedule was beginning to unfold.

Waking up at 7:30 am was clearly too late to get my Little Man dressed, fed, and dropped off at school.  I wanted to have time with him and not feel rushed.  I don’t want him to attribute urgings like, “hurry, we’re running late!” to #thingsmomsays.  I wanted to spend time with him reading Bible stories at breakfast, to get his days started right.

With a little encouragement from some Facebook friends and talking with a very wise woman at church, I realized I wasn’t alone in figuring out the morning routine.  I didn’t want to feel like I was letting the morning run me anymore.

The new morning routine:

5:30 am Wake up and make breakfast to send with my husband

5:45 am Sit down with my own cup of coffee, breakfast, and morning quiet time

6:30 am Shower, get ready for the day

7:00 am Wake up Little Man for a few minutes of cuddle time

7:15 am Make breakfast and read Bible story

7:30 am Gather Little Man’s lunch

7:45 am Little Man gets dressed

7:55 am Leave for school

I’ve been amazed at the amount I’m able to get done in a short amount of time.  God has blessed the time and I’m grateful for a less hectic start to the day.

Tell me!  How do you start your day with your littles?