*Thank you to #PlaytexBaby for sponsoring this post but as always all opinions are my own*
I am so not a morning person! Nighttime is my jam – some of my best “work” happens at night time but mornings are just gross to me. I have never been one to enjoy them even as a child and now that I have children of my own I have learnt to enjoy or at least tolerate them. Now that my daughter is in school part time 3 days a week and my son is in Pre School twice a week, I need to be up, dressed and ready as well as have 3 (well 4 as of right now) children dressed, fed and ready to be out the door by 8:15. (I know for some that isn’t that early but for this girl it is) So I have had to get creative in order to make mornings go as smoothly as possible and to optimize my sleeping minutes. Today I want to share 5 ways to make your mornings less stressful!
- Do It The Night Before: These probably seems so obvious but trust me there have been nights I am lying in bed thinking “Oh crap I forgot to make her lunch.” and than I don’t sleep well stressed I’ll for get in the morning. So generally when I am making dinner the night before I just pack her lunch at that time and place it in the fridge – one less thing to do in the morning. I leave my kids #PlaytexBaby plates, cups and bowls in a lower cupboard that is easy for them to access and they love being able to get their own dishes and pick which bowl or plate design they are going to have for breakfast. I lay out everyones clothes the night before even down to the girls hair bows. Any school papers or show and shares that need to go in backpacks happens the night before as well
- Team Work:This is a huge thing for me because like I said I am not a morning person so getting up at 5 am is just not practical for me and lets face the facts my husband has to live with me and my babies have to put up with me so none wants a grumpy mommy. My husband and I have a system worked out for our mornings. We both get up at the same time he takes the big kids downstairs and gets them started on breakfast while I get myself ready for the day. Than we switch and he gets himself ready while I get all the kids dressed, hair done and coats and shoes on to head out the door. I have had a few people comment lately that I always look so put together and honestly its just because I make the time to give myself time to work on me. If I don’t have time to get myself ready I will be honest Im in a bad mood. I can’t just roll out of bed and head out the door that is not me. No judgment to anyone who can and does do that all the power to ya but thats not me! My husband recognizes how important this is to me and so our system seems to really work out well. Sometimes with my husbands job he is required to be away and on those mornings I just set my ole alarm clock a few minutes early to give myself that time to get me ready so I can be the best looking (or try at least) version of myself it helps give me energy and some confidence.
- Simplify Where You Can: We live in a world were we always say we want to simplify things but generally all we do is complicate things. For myself one way I simplify in the mornings is choosing breakfast choices that are quick and easy yet still nutritious. Generally we do things like muffins or loaf and yogurt with fresh fruit. The also like cereal or bagels/toast. On non school mornings daddy spoils them with fresh waffles, pancakes and eggs but on school mornings that is just one way we can simplify and speed things up. I also simplify my morning routine by not spending as much time as I usually would bye showering the night before and keeping my makeup very basic and simple.
- Early To Bed: This is one I struggle with and am still working on but see value and importance in this. Since I love nights I have no problem staying up till 1 am. Going to bed at 10:30 seems far too early to me and even on days when I feel super tired and exhausted its like my body finally decides to wake up around 10pm when I should be going to bed. I have tried to force myself to be in bed by 11 and lights out by midnight at the latest. Getting a good nights sleep is not only important for your physical body but its crucial to your mind and spirit. When I wake up tired I’m already grumpy and my mind is in a bad place and we all have been the one who “woke up on the wrong side of the bed” when in this case it is more like you didn’t sleep long enough. Especially as a mom far too often I got to bed super late (hubby passes out way before me you know he has that gift were his head hits the pillow and he is out cold) only to just fall asleep when someone needs me – baby losses her soother, someone needs water another one needs to pee. For the most part my kiddies are awesome sleepers but it never fails that when I fail to put myself to bed at a decent hour they decide to help me not get to sleep. We all know how much more productive we are when we are well rested.
- Stay Calm: My 4 year old has this thing that she does now when she gets upset or if she gets hurt and she is crying she takes these deep breathes to calm herself down and it is the cutest thing ever. She is even so sweet that she will help other people practice as well especially her brother “ok Cove take a breath like this (as she takes a deep breath in) and than blow it out like this (big exhale) see don’t you feel better now?” As a mom this is something we have to practice all the time almost like all day every day. There are mornings when we sleep in or when someone is just dragging their butt and everything seems like a struggle when I feel my anxiety level rising I just need to breathe and stay calm. Noone needs those vibes to be floating around especially first thing in the morning. Reality is we will get out the door at some point in the morning … its no the end of the world if we are late (even though I absolutely hate being late to anything)…. Some mornings someone needs that extra long snuggle to wake up, accidents happen and need to be cleaned up – some mornings just don’t go as planned and thats life so we just roll with it and stay calm. I find if I am calm my kids pick up on that and it helps the situation so much more than if I am all anxious and stressed.
So there are my few tricks and tips on ways to hopefully help your mornings be a little less stressful. Being a parents isn’t an easy job and so we always need to get creative and find ways to make the most of every minute (even the sleeping minutes). I’m not the only #PlaytexMom who has a hectic morning, check out PlaytexBaby’s Instagram account here or here their new video with an accurate depiction of what mornings are like for moms. If you have any tricks or tips that you think I should try I would love to hear them. One thing I love about motherhood is the “sisterhood” that you inherit and belong to where we can learn from each other. So pass your tips and tricks along to me I would love to hear them! #forbetterbeginnings
