I mentioned earlier today that on the back of a bout of sickness I’m determined to make family life more peaceful and approach how to create an environment which fosters this, by looking at both of my children’s unique needs, as well as my own areas of struggle. There are many many ideas I came up with, and I’d love to get them all done, but one thing I’ve learned is that we can only do so much. The brain, heart, energy levels, well whatever it is doesn’t necessarily keep up with the pace we’d like. So, while there are teeny, tiny things I can do at all hours of the day (for example make sure I’m reminding my children of the clear expectations and breaking up everything into tiny tasks), my main focus this week is my morning routine. This is the area I think we can really improve and at the very least our day will start out right. So, looking at the needs of our family, here is my new routine Mon-Fri (and probably Saturdays as we are up early for my daughter’s music class).
Frugal Trenches Morning Routine:
- Wake up and give thanks
- Brush Teeth, Shower and Dressed (I’ve learned if I head downstairs first, then my shower gets later and later and ends up making us run late!)
- Make a cup of tea, sit quietly with it and my Bible (I haven’t been doing this at all recently, which may be adding to the stress), or at least some verses for the day
- Feed the cats
- Get breakfast ready for everyone
- Wake up my daughter – spend the first 5 minutes with her making sure she is on track
- Do a quick 10 minute tidy (garbage, make my bed, spruce up the bathroom etc.) by which time she needs to have brushed her teeth, got dressed and made her bed
- Send my daughter downstairs and get my son up
- Spend the first 5 minutes with him making sure he is on track to get dressed, brush his teeth and make his bed
- Do my daughter’s very long hair!
- Breakfast for everyone, read the children a story to help everyone stay calm and on task!
- Give the children their medication
- I do dishes while the children brush their teeth again, I brush my teeth again
- Everyone meets at the door and gets their shoes and coats on and we leave the house.
Just having it all layed out here helps so much. As both of mine eat very very slowly, and generally just take a while to “come around” in the morning, it simply isn’t possible for them to rush. I think most mornings I’ll get up at 5:30 and my daughter will get up around 6 and my son around 6:15 – 6:20. He is Mr. Tornado in the morning, so I think as much as we can both get done before he is up, the better it will be for us all. This way he can have more of my attention. And while I still may marvel at colleagues whose children take 20-30 minutes to do everything in the am, I’m finally accepting mine need a good 60-75 minutes before needing to go anywhere. Hopefully Maybe one day that will change, but for now it is what it is! ; )
So Monday is day 1. And I’m hopeful. I’m really hopeful. The tasks haven’t changed, but I’ve tweaked the order and realized who needs to wake up when, and become aware that I need to set the tone as much as humanly possible and if I’m not scrambled, then they shouldn’t be too scrambled either. After all we aren’t eggs! ; )
Do you have a morning routine? Feel free to link to it! I find such things fascinating!
As an educator who works with adolescents and teens with learning disabilities (including ADHD), many of whom are adopted from foreign countries I can say that you are doing a phenomenal job knowing what your kids need in order to succeed. You are patient and see them for who they are, and while you expect them to be able to do certain things and you challenge them to grow, you don’t put too much pressure on them to do too much. You also see your role and how your routine affects them. I know it is easy to get frustrated but from reading your blog I can say that you are doing a fantastic job and your kids are growing up happy, healthy and above all LOVED!! Keep up the great work and thanks for being willing to share your journey!
My son who is a special ed teacher says that routines are important for all children. In fact he laughs now because I had a routine to always get us out the door on time. Plus children who have a set routine are much calmer through the day.
You are doing wonderful and both you and the children are so lucky to have each other
Mornings can be stressful for everyone! These 2 posts reminded me, as well, that I set the tone for the day by how our morning goes…thanks for that! If we have a busy morning or need to be out the door early, and if I’m not too tired the night before, I try to shower and blow dry my hair so that my own routine in the morning can be fast. Also having everyone lay out their clothes the night before, making lunches, being sure everything is by the door that needs to be. Doing a few things before bed really helps me in the am where I’m more likely to forget or, as you accurately put it, get “frazzled”. Thank you for your honesty….sometimes other moms seem so “put together” and organized, when in reality we all have our moments and need to regroup from time to time!
Looks like a great routine that will give both children and Mama too some individual time to get the day running smoothly. Hope it all goes beautifully! I’m so glad to see that you are giving yourself some quiet time with your Bible. My quiet time tends to be the first thing to be dropped when I get frazzled, and then the day goes downhill from there. We “big kids” need time with our parent too!
What a wonderful idea to have it planned out so well and good to take your families abilities as the basis for your plans. My kids get ready fast but I have had visiting children who just stroll through life and cannot be hurried. When they come I simply adapt my plans to take in their different personalities.
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I enjoy reading about your routines, as I’m trying to establish routines as well. I haven’t tried this yet, but have you thought about crock-pot or make ahead breakfasts? If you do ever do something like that, please post quick/make ahead recipes since mornings always seem rough.
Hi Bethany
Great suggestion! I do, yes, occasionally. I’ll try to post some recipes soon!
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