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Creating a Better Morning Routine
It all started Sunday night as my kids and I were getting everything ready for the start of another week of school. We couldn't have another week like we had this past week. Not getting up on time, fighting over what to wear, running out the door getting only a granola bar for breakfast and constant bickering about why our morning routine needed an overhaul.So I decided to try something new this week with my Daughter and our morning routine. A few days later I read this post on the Art of Non-Conformity blog where Chris Guillebeau writes about saving your every day choices for the big ideas so you can improve your focus. Creating a routine for yourself where all the basic choices have been made already. You know what you are going to have for breakfast and your clothes are all ready laid out the night before, etc. Save your personal energy for the larger decisions in life. The decisions that can make the most impact. I had a feeling that I was on the right track.
We had already been making strides with getting to bed earlier and are closer to my goal bed time of lights out at 8:30 PM. We are still a little sleepy getting up in the morning but I have seen real improvement. My daughter has finally got the idea that getting more sleep equals feeling more rested and that has helped tremendously. Night time is also when I read aloud from whatever chapter book we are currently working on. We get in two chapters usually if we get in bed on time.
To cut down on the bickering and the fighting in the morning I realized we had to trim down our morning routine and make it simpler. I walked through the morning in my mind and listed all the things that we need to do before we headed out for school. If we planned ahead each of the things listed could go a lot smoother and make our mornings so much more pleasant.
- Wake -up
- Get Dressed
- Eat Breakfast
- Brush Teeth
- Pack Lunch
- Get Back Pack
- Walk to School
