Morning Shenanigans

Hey friend ~

My kiddo is now in Kinder and whoa. One week in and… RESET ALERT.

Helping her learn to school this week while also coming off summer break and having to do school myself… this week was a LEARNING CURVE. I had the bare bones of a morning routine set, based on old routines, and let me tell you. That all got blown straight out of the water.

I’ve gone through a billion and a half iterations of a morning routine. This sounds like an over exaggeration, but I’m actually pretty sure I’m underestimating how many times I’ve tweaked or completely changed up my morning routine.

Or, if we’re being totally realistic, not having one at all. 

This last option has been my life as of late. To be real with you - it’s not working for me. Especially when talking about these work mornings. So, I made myself a bare bones plan, a sort of… let’s see how things go, if you will.

FAIL ALERT.

I’m forgetting a lot of things. I’m rushed because I don’t have a routine going. I get short with my daughter because I’m not feeling in control of myself. Long story short: it’s time to fix it. It’s not fair to either one of us for me to feel haphazard and out of whack.

Having done this a billion and a half times, I have a pretty strong awareness of what I need my mornings to look like (and evenings - which is - spoiler alert - next week’s post). I now also have a whole new awareness of what my mornings need to look like (and my evenings) as I’m (singing Celine Dion style) *allllll byyyyy myyyyyyseeelllffffff*. To be clear: you will never actually hear me sing this - I’d rather keep you as a friend than to send you packing.

What’s my process for creating a morning routine?

-What do I need to do in the mornings? How long does each task take? 

-What would I like to do in the mornings? How long does each task take?

-What time do I need to leave?

Then, I backward-design it! (If you’re a teacher - you know what’s about to happen!)

When school starts, I will need to leave the house at 6:40am with my daughter completely ready for the day to get her dropped off to before school care and me to work on time. 

What do I need to do in the mornings?

*Brush my teeth and wash my face (10 mins)

*Hair and make-up (20 mins)

*Get dressed (10 mins)

*Mix up my morning meds (5 mins)

*Make coffee (5 mins)

*Meditate (15 mins)

And then I add in what my daughter needs in the mornings.

*Actually wake her up (20 mins)

***This seems weird, but this kid is NOT a morning person (just like her dad :P) 

***Fun fact: I first wrote this post BEFORE school actually started - it was originally denoted at 10 mins… I got my butt handed to be on a platter

*Brush teeth and wash face (10 mins)

*Get dressed (10 mins)

*Eat breakfast (15 mins)

Can some of these tasks be done concurrently? Sure! I can make coffee while my daughter is eating. AND. I’m choosing not to do that. I’d rather take purposeful time to sit with her and start out our day together, doing morning affirmations and preparing a positive start to the day. I may be able to change this game plan one of these days, but for now, I’m making big life changes to spend more time with her and this is one small way that I can set us both up for success and a stronger relationship.

What would I like to do in the mornings?

*Workout

*Shower

I’m going to give you the spoiler alert. Workout and shower aren’t going to happen in the morning. I once upon a time was a daily 4am waker-upper. I don’t even know how I did that for so long. Yes, I was already a mother. No, she was not an early riser. It was all by choice. I do not have either the dedication or the early bedtime ability that I once upon a time did. Plus, dude, how??? Sleeeeeeeeep!

The moral? The like to do’s are going to have to find a way in the evening and become a must-do. Would I prefer the morning because I *like* early morning workouts? Yes. Do I also have more time in the late afternoon and evenings to do them? Also, yes. Ergo - pivot and make it work with the less stressful budgeting of time. Right now? That’s what’s more important to me. For some, doing it in the morning and prioritizing early bedtime is more important. Do you!

TO-DO’s:

If you’re like me and you need a morning routine to kick your day off a little less batspit… here’s some thoughts.

-Do you already have a routine?

Before you look at your routine, do a self-check-in. What are you needs and your likes? Often, we just keep a routine for a long time that doesn’t necessarily serve our current state of affairs. Then, revisit your routine and tweak!

-Do you not have a routine?

See if my way works for you! If it doesn’t, what does and doesn’t work and then find the best planning practice for you. Some people need a little less structure, some need a little more.

*Side note to structure* I will be going even deeper and actually assigning a time to each task. That creates both a sense of urgency (i.e. not getting on my phone and messing around), while also creating a sense of calm because I’m not scrambling to figure out what’s next and what else I need to do. For some people, this would create insane anxiety. This goes back to the point of doing what works for YOU and taking the nuggets of ideas to help you formulate something for YOU.

-Do you not have a morning routine and don’t want one?

Cool! I love it! Is there anywhere else in your life where something like this would be helpful? Go gangbusters! If not, also cool! Thanks for reading ;)

Just to note:

At the end of every newsletter or post will be this reminder. I am just a person. With a whole lot of life experiences. With a whole lot of degrees in a a couple of different fields that are NOT therapy based - one is sociology based, so at least I have the observation of people, interaction, and the like going for me as I write this :P.

Why do I mention this? I am a FIRM believer in mental health and going to therapy to get stronger emotionally (and mentally and possibly even spiritually if that’s your thing). So, please, when you read my, or any other newsletter or post or anything, take everything with a grain of salt and only apply what works for you and your life. AND think about seeking out support in the form of therapy - everybody could learn or expand on their life and coping mechanisms.

Until then or while you’re going and getting your therapy on - hope you got a small nugget from this space to inspire you, make you think, or at the very least, get a wee chuckle with a head shake at my antics.

Catch ya on the flip - living the dream.

~Morgan