Organizing Your Morning Routine

With 5 children to get ready and get out the door for school each day, a morning routine is essential for our family.  Our routine sets the tone for the rest of the day and makes everything run a lot smoother.  The kids know what is expected of them, because it happens each and every morning.  Routines are internalized and turn into subconscious habits! When you approach your morning with consistency you can train yourself (and your kids) to complete tasks on autopilot.  Does this mean you will never have a stressful morning again?  NO!  But it does mean, that it will happen a whole let less.

Wake Up Earlier

In order for things to run smoothly, try to be the first one awake.  Have a little bit of time for yourself to get your body jump started.  Even 10-15 minutes can make a huge difference.  If you are not a morning person, this is especially helpful!

Try to do the same tasks in the same order every day

You develop muscle memory when you do the same things each day.  They become habits.  Many times you can even complete the task without even thinking about it.  It becomes second nature.  Think about what tasks you need to get done in the morning and write them down. Put them in order of what makes the most sense for your schedule and try to stick to that.  Think about what happens in each room and try to get everything in that room done that you can at once so you don’t have to constantly be going back and forth. WRITING IT DOWN IS KEY until you get the hang of it!

What can be done the night before to save you time in the morning?

If you constantly find things are hard in the morning, try doing them the night before.  Do you have a child who can never decide what to wear? Have them pick out tomorrow’s outfit in the bedtime routine! Does making homemade lunches slow you down? You can do that the night before too! (We will talk about bedtime routines later!)  Try to do as little as you can in the mornings to help it run smoothly.

My Routine

Here is an example of my own morning routine.  Keep in mind that what works for me, may not work for you.  But hopefully it will help you see how I do things and you can get a better handle on your own morning routine.

Note: I have 5 children to get out the door 2-3 days per week and 3 children on the other 2-3 days per week.  The two oldest are in Junior High, I have 1 at the nearby Elementary who rides the bus, and 2 that I drive 40 minutes (one-way) to school.  So, I basically have 2 similar routines, but it varies depending on what day of the week it is and if I have to drive the girls to school.  I will include both here.  If I happen to have something going first thing in the morning, I will wake up earlier to get myself completely ready before waking up the kids.  Right now, all 5 kids share one bathroom (we are currently finishing our basement with another bathroom for the girls), so the girls usually do their hair and makeup in my bathroom while T is in the shower. My husband leaves for work very early in the morning, so he is not home to help or take up bathroom time.

Essential Oils are a great way to help everyone get going in the morning.  They are great for helping you feel energized, lifting your mood, and I also use them to ward off any illness.  

To help keep us healthy, I make sure my kids get their daily medications and vitamins.  I have a basket with all of our daily medications, so its easy to divvy them out into individual condiment cups (which I got at Walmart).

I set each condiment cup by the kids place at the bar or breakfast table so they can be sure to take it when they eat.

Want some ideas for great easy breakfasts on school mornings? Check out my Homemade Pancake Mix and Homemade Syrup.

What are some of your morning routines? What helps you stay on top of things?



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