Realistic Morning Routines For Moms
If you’re anything like me, you’ve been scrolling Instagram or Pinterest and you’ve seen these super moms who just slay it all day every day - or at least that’s what they’re portraying on socials. Truth is, we’re all a little bit of a mess and being a mom means we’d love for everything to go perfectly but most of the time we have to just go with the flow. We’re not always in control of our days. Sometimes the kids are sick, you’ve got appointments you’re rushing to, or if you work on top of raising your kids, you’re squeezing in meetings and more. It’s a rush, on the best of days, it’s chaotic on the worst.
This sparked a thought.. what is a realistic routine for moms that we can actually follow to keep ourselves a little sane? We all would love to be able to squeeze in as much self-care and self-love as possible but a lot of the times, we’re stretched so thin, we’re the last thing on the list. Being able to take care of YOU in the morning will allow you to be able to be the best version of yourself for your family.
What does that even mean? Be the best version of you? Well, to me, it’s when we’re not snapping at every little thing, when we can actually slow down and enjoy the joy of the day and not feel frazzled. While the following may be things that seem obvious, it’s amazing how they’ll still get overlooked when we’re not committing to making that time for ourselves. I hope that in taking time to do these things, it helps remind you that you matter. I suggest starting off with 30 minutes. This gives you a jumping off point to get your day started earlier without making it too early. Once you get into a routine you can push it by adding 10 minutes, or more if you so choose!
A good morning starts with a good nights sleep. It’s hard to not want to stay up late and watch your shows that you didn’t get to watch all day because you were too busy watching Bluey with the kids. Maybe you’re like me and the evening hours are when you play catch up with your workload or cleaning up the house after the chaos of the day. However, a great way to make sure you’re still getting things done and able to get to bed on time is setting a timer on your phone. When the timer goes off, everything else has to wait until another day. Shut off the electronics and TV and follow that up with a good bedtime routine that works for you, and hopefully you’re sleeping like a baby (that is.. unless the baby is keeping you awake).
Set an alarm so you can be up before the kids. I know. It does suck sometimes to get up early when all you want to do is sleep in. Hear me out though, if you’re up before your family, it allows you to rush less. When you’re rushing it feels like you’re in fight or flight mode. Starting your day off that way is going to inevitably make you feel like you can’t keep your head on straight.
Don’t pick up your phone first thing. But Heather, you told me no phone before my bedtime routine and now I can’t even scroll while I drink my coffee? I get it, but let me ask you this…How much time gets away from you while you’re scrolling? Social and the internet these days is literally designed to suck you in and keep you there. It’s so easy to realize you’ve been on your phone for 30 minutes and now the kids are awake and you’ve gotten nothing done. Cue feeling like you’re running behind, again.
A prayer, journal, or movement - whatever floats your boat. Sometimes what we really need is to slow down and take care of ourselves. This can be your spiritual, mental, or even physical health. Maybe it’s a combination of all three? I know I’m a way better mama when I have had some time to move my body and get my thoughts out on paper. That type of “me-time” is guaranteed to also have my putting my day into a way more positive perspective not to mention the longer lasting energy I will get from a workout. Which is essential when you’ve got 4 kiddos to take care of, trust me. I found this fun journal to make things interesting if you’re not much of a journaling type of person.
Enjoy your Tea or Coffee in peace. Hear me out here…and put it in a heat-retaining tumbler so that if a kiddo wakes up, it wont get cold when it inevitable gets forgotten about in 15 minutes. You can get my favorite here! Plus, they sell these nifty things to keep your coffee (or tea if that’s your jam) warm too! There is just something about enjoying the little things like watching the sun rise while drinking something yummy and hot.
I know that these 5 simple things may have you rolling your eyes a bit but it’s the simple things that usually bring us the most calm during chaotic times. And yes, raising kids is chaotic. I hope that you do yourself a favor and take care of YOU too because it’s up to you to make that happen. However, it’s also important to remember to give yourself grace. Some days are just plain hard and no matter what you do that day it’s going to feel like nothing is making it better but I hope that by adopting this simple but effective morning routine it can make MOST of your days better and give you some peace, even if it’s just 30 minutes of your day.
You’re doing an amazing job mama - I hope you know that.
xo,
Heather
