I absolutely LOVE seeing how other people schedule their days and often feel inspired to share ours, but once I actually sit down to write it out or post a video, it feels kinda awkward and like, meh. Ha! But hopefully it’s just me and you guys get something helpful out of it!
So, here’s our schedule on a Wednesday but is also pretty indicative of how things go on Mondays and Fridays too, just in a different kid-drop-off order.
SIDE NOTE: So you don’t start thinking I have my act totally together, Tuesdays and Thursdays I don’t make my kids breakfast (unless someone requests a fried egg!) or lunches. They help themselves to cereal (another tip regarding this at the bottom) or toast or yogurt and buy hot lunch. I am also pretty much always running late so there’s that. I blame my weird fear of being too early. 5 minutes early is good. 10 minutes? AHHHH! Who has time for that (so irrational, I know)!? I also don’t have a baby or toddler, nor am I pregnant. 3 days a week all of my kids are in school for almost 6 hours and last but not least, Johan is off some Fridays and is very helpful — Like 50/50 helpful.
Moving on to what you’ve all been waiting for :)
OUR MONDAY, WEDNESDAY, FRIDAY, MORNING SCHEDULE:
- 5:30am WAKEY, WAKEY: I usually get up at 5:30am, grab a cup of coffee and my planner (love the large ban.do planners and commit30) and write out my goals and to-do’s or a full-on schedule of the day and pray (v. important!). If I was up past 11:30 the night before or one or more of the kids were up a lot (usually Poppy or Griff) in the middle of the night, then I’ll wait until 6am (and probs a 5 minute snooze) to get up. Otherwise my head hits the pillow around 10pm, hallelujah!
- 6-6:45am FLEX TIME: On Wednesday I’ll use this time to either work a little or bake something yummy for breakfast, like the Chocolate bread in the video! (Mondays and Fridays I’ll get Espen up, visit with him over breakfast, fill out my planner if I didn’t get a chance to earlier, and start making lunches.)
- 6:45-7am SO FRESH + SO CLEAN: Mama hops in the shower! Rarely do I skip this simply because it wakes me up and makes me feel more ready for the day. Even if I plan on working out later! If Griff or Poppy are up (which is the norm) then I let them turn on a show for a bit.
- 7-7:45am ANOTHER FLEX TIME: On Wednesdays at this time I’m usually finishing getting myself ready, starting a load of laundry (doing laundry in the morning has been a life-changing habit and I don’t use that expression often!), checking in on instagram (need to stop doing this), helping kids with all the random things that come up, or just snuggling with a kid (On Mondays and Fridays tho this is when Griff and Tilly get up and have to get ready for school so I’ll start a load of laundry while waking them up and helping with outfits if needed, then head downstairs to make breakfast and finish packing lunches before we head out the door for the bus or drop offs.)
- 7:45-8:45am OMG!: Things start getting serious (ha!) as the kids who have been up and able to move slowly are hard to get focused and ready and the ones that have been sleeping in are hard to get up too! Nothing a yummy breakfast can’t fix tho. I’ll usually make eggs to go with any baked goods or start making oatmeal, pancakes or waffles, etc. while the KIDS EMPTY THE DISHWASHER, which is the only morning chore they really do unless I need help taking the garbage out or have asked them to make their beds. Once breakkie is ready and I’ve broken up any bickering siblings (lol) I’ll sneak away to do my makeup if I haven’t already (when the kids were little I would do the same thing but let them watch a show and do my makeup + hair downstairs so I could hear if they needed any help). Then it’s out the door to drop off Espen, then Poppy, then Tilly and Griff! (Mondays and Fridays, around this time it’s just Poppy and me finishing up getting ready or tidying up or getting distracted by something (hey, it’s me!) before leaving for pre-K where we are almost always 15 minutes late but I just can’t not take advantage of my last year with a more flexible schedule. After this it’s all about the school bells :(
TO ANSWER A FEW OF THE QUESTIONS FROM INSTAGRAM STORIES:
- Something that has worked well for us is that we have the kids get dressed before coming down for breakfast! Simply because it’s the one thing they all will drag their feet on if they don’t have a reason to do it and everyone is motivated by food in the morning!
- Having a sock bin downstairs (I talk about towards the bottom of this post) has also really helped get everyone out the door!
- Keeping toothbrushes in the downstairs bathroom also helps — anything to keep the kids from going upstairs and deciding to look for the yo-yo they lost 6 months ago, instead of finishing getting ready, lol.
- Instead of nagging and rushing everyone, giving time reminders and asking questions like “what do you have left to do?” or “what are you going to do next?” or “you have 5 minutes to brush, do you think you can do it!?” or “is there anything I can help you with so you’re ready when we need to leave?” or even a little bribe like “I’ll add a treat to your lunch if you are ready to leave on time!”. Not sure that last one would be endorsed by a parenting expert but it has certainly worked for us!
- Having my sleepy head kids (Tilly) and picky dressers (Tilly + Griff) pick out their clothes the night before is also HUGE! Currently, Tilly has been picking out clothes for the entire school week on Sundays and then sorts them in this closet organizer. Of course this means I need to be on top of the laundry… it’s a domino effect, people.
- Other than having a couple outfit rules like, no grubbies (i.e. things they would do yard work in) and no shorts if it’s below 50 degrees outside, or unless they ask for my help, I rarely get involved in what they wear to school. We save outfit struggles for Church morning, ha!– Mostly because there are a few more rules and I think it’s important for kids to practice dressing up a little!
- Because mama has to get ready in the morning too, it’s nice to give them opportunities to be more self-sufficient! One of the ways we’ve done that is by pouring milk into these smaller glass jars so it’s easier for them to pour and to limit the messes from spills! If your kids use different types of milk, write on the glass with one of these chalkboard pens, before you pour the milk in or the chalk will run!
- Last but not least, if you and the kids are having a hard time getting into a groove, this ticket system is one off the BEST things we’ve done to help our home move a little more smoothly!
That’s a lot of info! Did I leave anything out!?
Would love to hear any tips you have so please share in the comments!
And if anyone has a tip for getting my 5 year old daughter to let me do her hair in the morning, I’m all ears and I will literally treat you to a Starbucks!
xo, Rae
Great tips! And such cuties. One idea I like to pass on to other parents: when my boys were little, I typed out a checklist of everything they needed to do in the mornings, like brush teeth, fill up water bottles, etc. When they were super little, I used little pix of the activity or item and put an empty box next to each item. Then I put the lists in those plastic paper protector sleeves and gave each of the boys a dry erase marker so they can check each thing off as it’s done. So instead of nagging them about every little thing, I just keep redirecting them to their checklists. Then when the checklist is done, they can watch TV until it’s time to leave. The next morning, erase the checkmarks and start again. My younger son is now 12 and in middle school and he still uses his checklist every morning. We create a new checklist every year as their morning activities have evolved. And it’s easy to personalize the lists for each kid. I hope that can help someone! And we totally do the downstairs sock bin and toothbrushes in the downstairs bathroom, but that’s more because we are all too lazy to go back upstairs. Lol
Your kiddos start school so late in the day compared to the schools around here! They start at 7am most places here…insane! We homeschool, so reading all that you get done that early in the am and watching y’all rush out the door gives me hives! Haha. I’m inspired by your wake up time. I’ve been in the bad habit of sleeping in ever since winter break…need to get back to rising earlier! I always feel better when I do.
Love a peek into someone else’s morning routine. Are mornings easy for anyone – ha! I’m a morning person and we still struggle getting everyone up and ready in a timely manner. I appreciate your tips and suggestions – someone of which are similar to what we do already others we don’t do but we may start – anything to make mornings a little less hectic.