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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How To: Make Wool Dryer Balls

Last week I posted about making my own laundry detergent.  I hinted about how I add a natural scent to my laundry.  I also mentioned how I have been trying to reduce the toxins in my home, and this is just another way of doing that.  I made my first set of wool dryer balls about 6 months ago and have absolutely loved them.  Now, I can not imagine every going to back to use traditional dryer sheets and fabric softener.

So why did I switch?  I have a genuine interest in reducing the toxins in my home.  As I read more and more about laundry products and how toxic they are, (you can read more here about the toxins in fabric softeners)  I knew that I could easily make some changes.  As consumers we have been conditioned to believe that our laundry should be scented and the only way to do that is highly scented chemicals in "Tropical Breeze" and "Lavender."  But even that Lavender scent has no actual lavender in it.  I was already using Essential Oils in my home, so I could easily change my fabric softener scent to natural scents.  And the best way to do that is through homemade dryer balls.  Dryer balls are all natural, toxic-free alternative and so affordable.  They will last for many years and can be scented with your favorite Essential Oils.

What You Need:

• 100% Wool Yarn or other 100% Animal Yarn - can be found at most hobby/craft stores
• Pantyhose 

Directions:

Once your ball is the about the size of a tennis ball, cut the yarn and tuck the end under several other strands (you can use a crochet hook if that is easier).  Repeat the process until you have used up all of your yarn.  You should get 4-6 balls with a large skein.

Cut the leg off of the pantyhose (or I purchased a cheap package of knee-highs).  Place one ball in the bottom of the leg and tie a knot right about the ball to secure it in place.  Repeat until all the balls have been added and secured.

Once the balls are tightly secured, put them in the washer (can be with a load of dirty laundry) and wash it on the hottest setting.  This will allow the yarn to felt.  

Felting will make the yarn fuse together, resulting in a solid ball.  Once it has been washed, dry it thoroughly in the dryer on the highest heat setting.

After the balls are completely dry, remove them from the pantyhose and they are ready for use!  You can add 4-6 balls per load.

If you would like to scent your laundry, you can add 2-3 drops of your favorite Essential Oil to each ball.  The scent should last a few loads, but you can add more drops for a stronger scent. 

 What are the benefits of using dryer balls besides reducing chemicals?

1. They decrease drying time, saving you money on utility bills.
2. They are inexpensive to make and last year, saving you money from buying dryer sheets and fabric softener.
3. Commercial fabric softeners shouldn't be used on cloth diapers.  Wool dryer balls are perfect for keeping your cloth diapers soft and chemical-free.
4. Wool dryer balls won't affect the absorbency of your towels, kitchen cloths, or cloth diapers - commercial softeners coat fabric and thus reduce the ability to absorb.
5. They increase fluffiness and reduce static as dryer loads tumble.
6. Dryer balls help soften clothes naturally.

How do they work?

Dryer balls bounce around in the dryer separating clothes, allowing more hot air to circulate through. As they tumble, the fluff your laundry, reduce wrinkles, and make your clothes softer.  They also pull moisture out of your clothes.  The more balls you have in the load, the shorter the dry time will be.  They are also better than plastic balls because plastic releases chemicals when it's heated.  The same with tennis balls.

Have you made your own dryer balls before? Do you add a scent? What is your favorite?

How To: Make Your Own Laundry Detergent

My husband worked for a soap manufacturing plant for quite a few years.  During that time, we rarely had to buy laundry detergent.  When he switched jobs a couple of years ago, I was shocked by how much money I was spending to do laundry for a family of seven.  I have also been on a mission the last few years to reduce the toxic chemicals coming into my home.  So I began looking at the hundreds of recipes posted online and the ones I'd pinned on my Laundry Board on Pinterest to find one that would work for my family.  I finally settled on one that I have used for about a year, and I love it! My clothes come out clean and I'm spending $0.09 per load!

   INGREDIENTS:

• Borax
• Arm & Hammer Washing Soda
• Fels-Naptha
• Downy Unstopables (optional)

  OTHER SUPPLIES:

• Fine Grater
• Wax Paper
• Mixing Bowl
• Wisk

Step 1: Grate the Fels-Naptha with a fine grater.  I always put wax paper down to catch the extras.  This is honestly the hardest part of making your own laundry detergent.  It takes me about 5 minutes per bar to grate it.  Kevin can grate it a lot faster than I can, so I make him do it if he's home.  Put the grated soap into a mixing bowl.

Step 2: Add 2 cups of Washing Soda and 2 cups of Borax to your bowl.

Optional: Using the lid, add 2 cups full of Downy Unstopables for a scent.  I used to use this, but now have a new NATURAL way of adding a scent to my laundry.  Find out more in my Wool Dryer Balls post.

Step 3: Mix well with a large wisk.

Step 4: Put into a container (with a lid) to use in your laundry room.  I found this cute glass candy jar at Walmart and the 2 Tablespoon Scoop on Amazon.

I usually add 1-2 scoops (2-4 Tablespoons) per load depending on how large the load is.  I no longer use a color-safe bleach or fabric softener with my laundry either, so another money saver right there.

So here is the cost breakdown...

With the recipe above, it makes about 4 1/2 cups which translates to about 36 loads.  Which breaks down to $0.09 per load.

For my family, I do between 15-20 loads per week, so I actually make a double batch and it lasts me about a month. Before making my own, I was spending $25/month on laundry soap, color-safe bleach, and fabric softener.  Now I spend about $6 and it takes me about 15 minutes a month making it.  That is a time and money saver and worth every penny!

Do you make your own laundry detergent? What recipe do you use? If you don't, what stops you?

Until next time....