Real Talk with Real Moms || Morning Routines

I'm somewhat fascinated with what people do with their first few waking hours, which is likely the reason for this Real Talk topic this month.  I feel like those first few morning hours set the whole day on it's course and have the power to either move the day ahead at rapid pace or leave you feeling slightly behind for the next 12 hours.  To make things even more interesting, we all have so much going on these days, so what takes priority?  There are a lot of things that change from day to day depending on whether Aaron is in town or what my work schedule looks like that day, but ultimately there is some semblance of a schedule that pretty much stays the same.  Keep reading for the details and be sure to check out these others from Freutcake || Sacramento Street || HeyMama || A Daily Something || The Fresh Exchange || Design Addict Mom || Oh Lovely Day || Parker Etc. || The Life Styled ||.  Also, I would love to hear what your mornings look like and what makes them go smoothly!

6:30a: I wake up and make the same almond milk latte with my Nespresso machine that I have been making for years and years now, only now it's usually decaf... le sigh! While drinking my coffee, I'll casually set a goal or intention for the day.  If it's going to be a busy day, it might be something like "stay calm" or "be patient".  If we're coming off of a weekend where we were eating more indulgently than usual, it might be to "make healthy choices".  "Be present", "be mindful", and "pray" are also common ones.  It's something I started back in the fall and I like how it gives me a positive thought to check in with throughout the day.  After that, I check the day's new blog post to make sure everything looks good on the site and will usually hop through all of my social media platforms to do a quick catch up of notifications and post about the day's new post there.

7a: Parker wakes up somewhere around this time usually, sometimes a little later. If she's not up by 7:20 I go and wake her. She usually beckons from upstairs "Mommy, green light is on!" (Referring to her green light alarm clock that doesn't turn green until 7am which means she can't get up before then.)  I'll go up and get her and we come down stairs and start our day.  She usually likes to wake up a little before eating breakfast, so we will play play-doh or with her bunny doll house in our currently empty dining space for a bit before we settle on what we're going to eat for breakfast.  Typically eggs and toast, smoothie bowls, or yogurt and always some fruit and her beloved Hello Kitty multi-vitamin for the day.  Every day when she remembers her vitamin, she gasps and cries out "I forgot my vitamin!" even though the day has just begun.  Parker's school takes care of all lunches and snacks, so the only other food prep I do in the morning is if we are having a slow cooker meal for dinner that night.  While she is playing or eating I will eat and also get ready. (She's still in her pajamas.)  If Aaron is in town we will tag team different parts of this, but for the past few months I've been flying solo most week day mornings.  Side note: I used to switch on the tv first thing in the morning to let her wake up and buy myself some time to get ready in the morning.  Then one day I was talking about these crazy tantrums Parker was having to a mom friend and she said the thing that has made the biggest difference for her three kids was not letting them have screen time during the week. I was super skeptical because those thirty minutes of tv time in the morning felt like my lifeline, but gave it a try anyways.  It's kind of insane how quickly I noticed a difference. She really didn't need it and honestly doesn't ask for it very often anymore.  Sometimes it does mean I have to try harder to keep her occupied while I'm getting ready when Aaron is gone, but it honestly hasn't been that big of a deal.  We still do Movie Friday on Friday nights and we are not by any means anti-screens, but cutting them out of our weekday routine has made a hugely positive difference for us.

8:15: we leave for preschool drop off.  Three days a week after preschool drop off I hit up barre class at Mod Fitness. I'm wanting to move to the 6am class on the days when Aaron is in town, but those days have been few and far between lately.  I like the idea that it would open up an extra hour in my work day. And from there, the day begins!

What does your morning look like?