Getting through the morning isn’t always a breeze
The alarm clock sounds and you tell yourself just another 5 minutes and hit the snooze button. It sounds again and eventually you get up just to be in a flat spin. For most the morning rush is crazy not to mention a panic. Trying to wake the kids for the umpteenth time, pack lunches, avoid arguments and finally making it out the door only to be stuck in traffic. Leaving you exhausted by the time you get to work. This is what happens in most households.
Not all of us wake up in a good frame of mind. And having a crappy start to the morning, will determine how your day will turn out. Some people loath the morning routine as it turns into total chaos and madness.
In our house things are not perfect in the mornings. I mean who wakes up all cheerful and ready to start the day – ok some mornings the kids do. We also hit the snooze button and wish we can lie in another 5 minutes. Our tone of voice changes from calm to high pitch when telling our kids to hurry up as they are slow happens every morning. Which by the way falls on deaf ears. But there is no real panic or madness happening.
Our morning routine
My husband wakes up at 04h30 and packs in all the lunches according to everyone’s request. I know I am very blessed to have such a wonderful man in my life. He gets himself done then wakes me up at 05h15. Yes, I don’t have an alarm clock, I have a human who wakes me up. How I will survive without this man, I don’t know – but let’s move on.
I then head to the bathroom to get done. It’s all about a quick shower in the morning, there is simply no time to spend hours in the bathroom. Makeup and hair are done once dressed.
We then wake the girls at 05h30 and they head to the bathroom to brush their teeth and wash themselves. We give them 30 minutes to wash and dress as they are slow.
By 06h00 the kids are dressed and their hair brushed. No complicated hairstyles during the week.
06h10 they have their breakfast and 06h20 they give the dogs their Beeno biscuits.
We try and leave home for the latest 06h30 to avoid major traffic.
How we survive the morning rush
The key is to do as little as possible in the morning.
Clean up. We see that all areas in the house are clean at night. Even when we have visitors around. There is no time to clean messy kitchen, lounge or any other area in the house in the morning.
Prep. Establish what everyone want for lunch. Prepare part of the lunches the night before and just finish it off in the morning. Prepare salads (whether fruit, tuna or chicken) the night before. Pack whole fruits that doesn’t require refrigeration in their lunch bags as well as any sealable snacks.
Pack things. We pack everything the night before. Checking school diaries for reminders. Signing school forms. Placing school books, sporting clothes, togbags and school bags in the car boot. These are all things we do the night before. There is no way that we will be running around like headless chickens and getting ourselves into a frenzy to look for a swimming cape, hockey stick , books, files or forms in the morning.
Lay out clothes. We lay clothes out the night before. Do all ironing either over a weekend or the night before. Hang ironed shirts, shoes, pants and school uniforms in front of the cupboards. Should there be a school civvies day, the girls need to decide what they are going to wear the night before. Indecisiveness on what to wear can be a headache if done on the morning.
Get them to bed early. Our girls get to bed early which makes wake up time for them easy. They not grumpy and get out of bed when we call the first time.
Make the beds. Whilst they in the bathroom we make the kids beds. Although they make their beds on weekends, we don’t let them do this during the week. It just saves so much time when we do it in the morning.
Early riser. My husband wakes up earlier than the rest of us. During this time he packs the lunches which saves so much time.
Dress first. We get dressed before the kids wake up.
Get breakfast ready. We do a no cook breakfast during the week. It will either be muesli and yoghurt, bran cereal or a smoothie. This just saves so much time. The kids need to eat before they leave home and this is not optional.
Be out by a certain time. Make sure you leave home at a certain time to avoid traffic congestion.
It just take some organising and planning to get your morning off to a good start. Also just know morning arguments, tantrums and grumpiness affect kids more than what you think. So try and avoid this at all cost.
Hoping that your morning routine will improve and that you have an awesome day!
I don’t have kids but I have a long commute so I need to get out the house early – the hardest part is getting out of bed, once I am out the rest just falls into place.
Author
I know that exact feeling and in winter it’s even more of a struggle to wake up early and make it out of bed. That’s why we organise everything the night before so if we do decide to snooze an extra 5 minutes there is no rush.
Good routine. I find that not rising early makes me late, then it’s like I’m slower.
Author
At least my husband is the early riser and gives me time to snooze still. Having a good routine in the morning determines how your day will play out as well.
I am now in the luxury position of everyone making their own way to school except one and we walk it. So much easier without the traffic to deal with. The bashing on the door to get the oldest teen out of bed isn’t fun tho….#TwinklyTuesday (So my tip is give it time and all the hassle goes away in about 8 years)
Author
There is always one who struggles to wake up. Thanks for reading my post.#TwinklyTuesday
Oh the morning routine – still hectic even though I don’t work anymore! Getting up and out for school is something that we are still working on improving! Thanks for linking up with #TwinklyTuesday
Author
Thanks for reading my post – hope the school run improves.#TwinklyTuesday
That’s so true that a bad starts makes for a bad rest of the day- you just can’t shake it! #twinklytuesday
I agree! Best way to survive the morning craziness is by Prepping the night before. Before I go to bed, everything is ready to just grab, butter and pour. The first thing I put ready… my (LARGE) coffee cup. 🙂 #globalblogging
Author
I think it just makes a great start to a day when you plan and organise everything the night before #globalblogging
My husband was also fantastic when our 4 boys were growing bup, he used to do the packed lunches, clean their shoes and sometimes even did the school run, we worked as a team #globalblogging@_karendennis
Author
Don’t think I can do the mornings without my husband – he is the best #globalblogging
Jeepers, that isa some early start you have! I’m first up in our house, around 7, on a school day. Some mornings go better than others … #GlobalBlogging
Author
I know it is very early. My kids go to school outside of our catchment area and traffic is hectic in the morning. Schools here start at 08h00 so to get there on time they need an early start. The thing is I try to let them sleep in on weekends and holidays but they want noting of it #globalblogging
I always make sure I’m dressed before anything else! I also have my clocks set 2 minutes ahead and haven’t told anyone. Thanks for linking up with #globalblogging
Author
It helps to be dressed before the kids wake up. Being organised just makes the morning routine so much easier #globalblogging
I am a terrible morning person. Even in my school days I would not wake up until 20 minutes before I had to leave the house. Night showers, pre-picked outfits, lunch packed the night before – anything I could do to sleep until the last minute! Sounds like your family has a winning system. #DreamTeam
Author
Thanks – being organised the night before surely plays a big role in getting through the morning rush.
Oh wow, you sound amazingly well organised, I’m very impressed! And your husband is a hero for getting up and sorting all the lunches at 4.30. I feel exhausted just reading this ☺️x #DreamTeam
Author
I must admit that my husband is the star in all of this. I don’t think I’ll survive the morning routine without him #dreamteam