Morning routines

[TrinMama]

Who has a good one to share? I think I need one. I read this great blog today about mornings
http://www.passionatehomemaking.com/2010/01/2010-goal-establish-a-consistent-morning-routine-maximize-your-mornings.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+PassionateHomemaking+%28Passi onate+Homemaking%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

I'm pretty inspired by it. I woke up at 6:45 today, I think I can make that consistent. Now to plan the moments that come after it...

[abh5e8]

thats an awesome post...thanks trinmama! for us its hard bc dh gets home late (1am, sometimes 2am) from work so he needs to sleep accordingly...and doesnt' have a regular wake up time. now, the kids and icould definatly do it. today i got up at 7.30 with ds and we fixed breakfast. then dd and my little brother got up, i dressed them, fed them and read stories while dh got up and dressed. they were all out the door by 9.30 which is awesome for us. i now have a moment to get ready for school and actually get there on time...wonderful.

i so need to work on a morning routine...i like the idea of just moving it back a few mins each day.

[Happygrl]

I think "good" is all dependent on developing a routine that is a) realistic for you and b) reflects what you really need to do.

For me, I know that I won't realistically get much done in the morning, especially an out-and-about morning (3-4 days a week including weekend). So I do a lot at night. Pack our bags for the next day, lay out clothes, locate shoes/purse/etc., prep for breakfast, etc. is all done the night prior.

My kids don't STTN and, add in the pregnancy, :yawn and no way am I getting up any earlier than necessary. :giggle So that eliminates personal time. I'd love to have it but I'm just plain :yawn

Many times I've developed these involved, idealistic morning routines. Only to have reality hit me in the face. :giggle Devotions, personal care time, etc. seem to always take a backseat to sleep. So I put those into other places.

Our mornings look roughly like:
get up
offer something small for breakfast while we all wake up
TV show for kids/internet time for me
breakfast
get dressed
start the day (looks different each day)

'start the day' is by 8ish. Get up is anytime between 5:30 and 7.

[mum2abby]

That was a really good article.

Perhaps a morning routine would make it less stressful around here.

[TrinMama]

Ideally, I'd want these things in my routine:
prayer time
workout time
email
shower
breakfast

Realistically, it seems I can squeak out 3 minutes of prayer with an on-line daily retreat, chase the kids around trying to feed them and get them dressed, and maybe put on new clothes before jumping in the car to take T to school. :shifty Oh wait, that's because usually I get too distracted with email to do anything else.

So maybe, I should eliminate the email part, and make sure I eat and at least change, too. :giggle

For a workout, I have to be up earlier, and have S still sleeping. Otherwise, that has to wait until he naps.

[SortaCrunchy]

:brownies <----- me eating brownies while you ladies instruct me in the ways of morning routines.

[TrinMama]

:brownies <----- me eating brownies while you ladies instruct me in the ways of morning routines.

:giggle

Are you going to blog your new ideas? ;)

[TraceMama]

:cup

[Mum2Es]

I've just initiated a morning routine this week, and the last 3 mornings have been great, which means my whole day runs better.

I get up at 6am to have a shower before DH leaves for work. If Evie is awake early, she watches a DVD while I get showered and dressed.
When EK wakes (between 7-7:30), we have breakfast together.
After breakfast, the girls get dressed and brush teeth and then have half an hour to do their own thing while I tidy up the breakfast things and clear off the table so it's ready to use for school or craft stuff throughout the day, do a load of washing, etc. It's important to me to start the day with a clean, prepared house.
After that half hour (roughly) the girls watch TV while I have computer time, for another half hour.

Then we're ready to start the day! Either we go out then, or we start some school time. The key for me is not to get on the computer before I do that tidy up, and to restrict my computer time to half an hour.

[LadybugSam]

a couple more things i've found about waking early
http://www.lainesletters.com/letters/blesseddiscipline.html
http://www.lainesletters.com/letters/wakeuptime.html

If i turn the computer on at all, my morning gets sucked into it. Its a real time sucker so I TRY to keep it off until i've done the important things first. Some quiet, bible reading time would be nice but i'm awful in the mornings and bible time is the last thing on my mind. I do have a poem next to my morning routine as a reminder about how blessed I am, in hopes that it would help me have a thankful heart in the morning, but it rarely does. I tend to overlook it.

that being said, i've found that if i lay my bible out (and open to the page i am at) in the mornings when iget my clothes together, i usually do find some time to read it :heart

so on the right hand side is my morning routine. and on the left is my open bible (or if i forget/procrastinate/rebel just the poem about being thankful)

My morning routine is this:
Get UP!

Bathroom

Brush Teeth

Wash Face

Swish and Swipe before you leave the bathroom!

Get dressed (don't forget shoes)



*this is the point where i take my son to school in the morning and i start up again when i get back*


Make bed

Empty Dishwasher

Feed Animals

Make Breakfast

EAT!

Vitamins

Sweep kitchen


Spend 15 minutes doing zone work before you

get online!


At this point though, usually the zone work part gets ignored and i just read the last line "get online!" :giggle If i have my bible open i sit down and read through it while i have a quiet breakfast. If its the weekend i try to get it all done without waking my son up :rockon so i have a nice quiet morning without any rushing around :heart

[SortaCrunchy]

the part about eating brownies? probably. hee hee hee. Really, I do need help with early morning routines . . . We are always rushing around, nearly late for school drop-off, forgetting things. The weird thing is that I more of an early bird than night owl, I'm just not good at organizing. I'm glad to hear these ideas!

[Naxi]

no way am I getting up any earlier than necessary. :giggle So that eliminates personal time. I'd love to have it but I'm just plain :yawn



Perhaps you are just thinking about it the wrong way? Maybe you should just say that you are currently using your personal time to sleep? (Not really fair, I know, because technically you only need the sleep because your kids are living off your body, but maybe that way you would feel better about it.) :heart:heart

(BTW I am impressed about how organised you are at night. Can you come do my place, too, please?)

Me - I so badly need a few routines in place. Any. Morning would be a good start. My problem is that I get tired and the rebel comes out and then anything that is written on the routine is boycotted :hiding Oops! Working on it...