A Morning Routine

Two weeks ago, I wrote about how a made bed works for me. But since then, I have noticed that it's not just making the bed that is important. I have fallen into a pretty good morning routine that has really been working for me and making my days fall into place much more easily.

I am an anti-schedule girl by nature, fighting the tight boundaries I ridiculously feel when operating under a tight schedule. However, I've realized how well my kids do on a schedule so I've been making more of an attempt at following one myself for their sake. And, I'm in a season of my life where mornings are fairly predictable, so this hasn't been too hard.

Now, there is nothing fancy about my morning routine and it doesn't adhere to a strict timetable. (Strict timetables in the morning are unheard of around here due to Eric's work schedule.) Yet even for not being fancy, I have managed to work in enough things during the first hour of my day to make the rest of my run smoothly.

As I've said before, making my bed is the very first thing I do every morning. Then, I check email and get dressed before I walk out of my bedroom. Personally, I've found that staying in my pajamas even for a few minutes outside of the day makes me feel more sluggish and lazy. If I want to get the day going, I have to be dressed!

After that, I get the kids going on their morning chores and help where needed. That means they make their beds, brush their teeth and get dressed. After I get Gracie dressed, and while the other 3 finish up, I start making breakfast. This is super easy if we have breakfast foods in the freezer, or if I have done some prep work the night before.

Isabelle usually finishes her breakfast first and she unloads the dishwasher while I finish feeding Gracie breakfast and get started on making dinner. Once Alex and Olivia are done, they also help out in the kitchen. Alex likes to help with the dishwasher and Olivia likes to help feed Gracie.

By this point, it's usually around 9:30 so Isabelle gets started on her schoolwork while I finish dinner and the other kids have some free time. Even if I've only been up for an hour at this point, which is the norm, I already feel like I have accomplished a lot. That really puts a positive spin on my outlook for the rest of the day.

And of course, no morning routine would work for me if it didn't include my two best friends: Stop by Shannon's blog to find out what's working for everyone else this week.