Grace-Full Intentions: Routines Rock: Morning Edition

On Monday, I shared with you the in's and out's of an evening routine. Do you have an evening routine? Have you made one {or revamped an existing one} since that post? I pray it was helpful in making your evenings run a little smoother and your mornings a little less chaotic.

Speaking of mornings, that's where we're going to focus our attention today. Keep in mind, if you have that effective evening routine in place, then you should already have a head start on today. For example: If you exercise in the morning, you could lay out your clothes and put the workout DVD in the DVD player. That way, all you have to do in the morning is get dressed {versus trying to find your exercise clothes} and start the DVD. {And, if you're lazy and choose to not work out, you'll be reminded of said laziness when you have to take out your workout DVD to put in your son's movie-of-choice... not that I would know anything about that. *ahem*.}

So, how do you create a morning routine that works?

START WITH THE TIME YOU HAVE TO LEAVE

For families with children who attend school outside of the home and/or parents who commute to work, there is a certain time you need to leave your house in order to make it to your destination on time. It is important to know what that time is, so that you can work backwards to figure out what time you {and everyone else} needs to wake up.

For example, if little Johnny needs to be at school by 8:00 am, and it takes two hours to get yourself and Johnny dressed, fed, and ready to go, then you'll need to wake up no later than 6:00 am.

As for figuring out what time you need to wake up, we'll get to that in a second...

CREATE A TASK LIST + CHECKLIST

I know all of you list-maker-haters out there probably want to throw virtual tomatoes at me by now {since the evening routine post included making three separate lists and I'm now asking you to make more lists}, but I'm tell you, it is the best way to identify what needs to be done. If you're afraid you'll forget something, simply "journal" your morning tomorrow: as you go about your morning {getting dressed, brushing teeth, making breakfast...}, write it down. If you miss something {say, Johnny has a hard time remembering his homework}, jot it down on your list as something that needs to be done {make it part of the morning routine to have Johnny check to make sure he has his homework}.

Another list that you may find helpful is a "Get Out the Door Checklist". This is a list of items that you must remember to take with you in the morning: your purse, Johnny's backpack, Hubby's briefcase... Consider adding a few blank lines for things that you need to remember to take, but are not daily things {like library books to return or shopping bags for the grocery store}. Then, make it a part of your evening routine to update the checklist with the next day's items.

A WORD FOR THE HOMESCHOOLING FAMILY

Now, I admit that I don't officially homeschool yet, so take this advice with a grain of salt...

One of the biggest perks of homeschooling is the flexible schedule that it provides. However, children thrive when they are given structure. So, in my opinion, there should be a happy medium. In other words, if you don't want to start your school day until 10 am, then you are free to do that. Just be sure that you have a morning routine that includes easy transitioning from morning tasks {such as getting dressed and eating breakfast} to school.

You know better than anyone else the best way for your child to transition. Some kids transition well. Others, not so much. For example: I know that my son is a pretty laid back guy, therefore he generally goes with the flow {which is a huge blessing}, but he does better when he knows what's next, either by way of routine or a simple, "hey, here's what we're going to do first, second, and third...". So, I'm confident that he could go from play with his toys directly into a lesson {right now we do activities here and there, calling it "playing school"}, but I would do better to say something like: "Alright, Little Man, first we're going to eat breakfast, then you can play with your toys while I clean up the kitchen. As soon as I'm done cleaning, though, we're going to do a "school game".

SOME THINGS TO THINK ABOUT

Just like an effective evening routine can work wonders for your morning, a well-planned morning routine can do the same for your afternoons and evenings. Some things you may want to include in your morning routine are things like:

Checking that night's menu to see if you need to do any prep work now: cutting up veggies, lay out the meat to thaw out, or maybe even mixing up the casserole in advance so that all you have to do is pop it in the oven come dinnertime.
Starting the laundry: putting a load of clothes in the washer that you'll either switch out sometime mid-morning or after you get home from work/picking up kids at school.
Making a to-do list for your day/afternoon/evening, so you'll know exactly what you have going on.

A LOOK AT MY ROUTINE

Curious to see what mornings look like at our house?

5:00 - 6:30 am - Wake Up

{I am trying to get up at 5 am, but some mornings, I just can't bring myself to.

Working on it, though...}

Exercise {3x/week - Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays}

Shower/Get Dressed

Bible Study and Prayer

Blog Work - Proofread Blog Post, Link Up to Blog Parties

7:00 - 7:30 am - Little Man Wakes Up

Start Laundry

Make/Eat Breakfast

Little Man's Morning Routine

{Get Dressed, Brush Teeth/Hair}

Circle Time

{Something I'm Implementing Soon -

Bible Study, Scripture Memory and Songs with Little Man}

School

{Once I Start to "Officially" Homeschool}

Notes about my routine:

I am a full-time, stay-at-home mom with an almost four-year-old, therefore I usually do not have anywhere to be. Which is why, if you'll notice, I didn't add times to everything on this routine because I don't have a deadline like I do in the evenings {I don't have to leave my house at all, whereas in the evenings, I really need to try to be in bed by 10:30 pm, at the latest}.

Now, it's your turn to share your morning routine!

Blessings,