Help me establish a good morning routine - tell me about yours

[Flower of Bliss]

I have a 3 year old DD1 and a 9 month old DD2. DH gets up, ready, and leaves while we're all still asleep. DD2 is cosleeping and generally does lots of in bed nursing in our last 2 hours in bed. DD1 generally spends the night in her bed, but does sometimes come to our bed.

We tend towards a later bed time and later sleep time than the norm. I'm happy with this and not looking to change it. DH gets home at about 7pm and we do a family dinner. We have a great evening routine going now.

I've been playing with FlyLady and establishing some routines with which I'm very happy, but I'm having trouble figuring out mornings. I'm always running late in the mornings, and I'm wondering if it's just that we're late risers so those 10am-11am start times are just earlier for us, or if I just can't get it together. I want to start our days off on the right foot.

So, tell me about your morning routine. Who gets up when? How do you handle breakfast? Getting dressed? Showering? Morning chores?

[Boot]

I also have a 3 year old and a baby and a DH who leaves early. Although we tend towards the early the bed, early to rise type family. Mornings can be hard for us. DS often wakes up cranky, he often won't eat breakfast, won't let me have my coffee in peace, etc. I will be coming back to look for some ideas. The only thing I have found is that when we get up earlier things seem to go smoother. Not saying you should change your bedtimes, just maybe try getting up a little earlier for you.

PS A lot of people say get everything done the night before but honestly, this doesn't work for me. I'd rather do chores, get out clothes, make snacks, etc in the morning when I'm fresh rather than dragging my exhausted self around at night after the kids are in bed. Just a thought.

[Koalamom]

My morning is usually spent with 10 month ds while 3 yr dd sleeps in till 8.
6:30 we are up and we may do some laundry or get a smoothie started. We relax alot. The only way I can take a shower is if ds sleeps in or he may shower with me. He loves to play in the bottom of the tub while I am showering. Still it is a pain and I prefer not to. I try to get some beans soaking for dinner or whenever. And a grain if we want it for the next days breakfast.
Then dd wakes up, we have our breakfast perhaps amaranth or teff, we used to have oatmeal or millet too to switch it up but dd is sensitive to those. We may have a smoothie too.

Then I put ds down for an early nap and I do dishes.

Now that we are buying a house in a week, my schedule may change.

[LuxPerpetua]

We also go to bed later than most (usually between 10 and 11 pm) and get up later (9-10 am). Dh gets up at 7:30 am to get to work and dd get up whenever she wakes up. Usually, once she's awake, I get her dressed and have her take her vitamins while I make up the bed, start laundry, and get dressed myself (I'd love a morning shower but ...). Then, I make breakfast, we feed our fish, and then eat. I clean up from breakfast and then we go outside or play inside. I usually take a shower after lunch (which we have around 1 pm) and do our chores then.

[akwifeandmomma]

We go to bed around 11ish. The kids are in bed around 8, but my older two don't really go to sleep until 9ish. DH's alarm goes off at 7. I usually wake up when I hear the remote click to turn on the TV in our bedroom for the news.

He showers, we have coffee together, he leaves around 8/8:15ish.

The kids all get up between 7:30-9, just depending. (almost 7 y/o, 4 y/o, 2.5 y/o) Generally they all crawl sleepily into bed with us and cuddle for a while. I make breakfast for them after DH leaves; simple things like hot/cold cereals, eggs/toast, smoothies, pancakes, french toast, fruit, yogurt...

If I don't have anywhere to go, I typically shower after breakfast and lazily get ready while the kids do the same. My older two have morning chores (beds made, teeth brushed, get dressed) and are allowed to watch one PBS show or short DVD once they're done. I get DD dressed, changed, teeth brushed.

After I shower, I usually start a load of laundry, clean up breakfast (and/or dinner from the night before) dishes, and figure out what else needs doing.

We're pretty much never ready to leave the house before 10ish, unless we have something planned and I arrange for it. I just prefer relaxed, mellow mornings.

[JL83]

We are also late risers. DH and DS get up early because DH leaves for work and takes DS to school on the way. That leaves me with the 2 DDs (3yo and baby).

The morning is pretty simple. I sleep until one of them wakes up (between 8 and 9am). I take a quick shower every second morning. If it's the 3yo who wakes up she either joins me or plays in her room. The baby also either joins me or lies on the bath mat. Then I look at the clock. If we have time (so it was an early morning) the baby plays on the floor while I eat breakfast and surf the web. The 3yo gets her main computer/TV time. I cut this off at 30 minutes and we all start doing real things. If we're going out, I pack a lunch and tidy (DD1 helps with this). If we're staying home then I pick something that needs doing.

Weather permitting, I like to get us out of the house by 10/10:30 at the latest. Sometimes we're going somewhere and other times it's just to play in the yard.

[not_telling]

Another late-to-bed family here. DS is 22 months and sleeps in his own bed (mostly) in our room. We all go to bed at the same time - usually DS is asleep by 10:15-11:00pm. DH has to get up at 6am for work and this is when DS usually nurses and joins me in bed. DS and I usually sleep until about 9:30am. I have always been a slow (and unfortunately, cranky) riser. DS and I usually spend the first 20-45 minutes of our day just laying around, playing in bed. Then I put him in his exersaucer in the bathroom (yes, he is kinda too big for it) while I brush teeth, get dressed, etc. I only take morning showers when I want to wash my hair - every 3 to 4 days. Then down to DS's room for diaper change, potty time and getting dressed. Then he sits on my lap while I check my email and Facebook. Then downstairs for breakfast. Then usually some playing in the house followed by a walk. By this time, it's almost time for his nap. We might have some snack or a little lunch and then upstairs for the nap routine.

With this schedule, it does make it hard to get to a lot of toddler-geared events (e.g. storytimes, classes) and for a long time I didn't even entertain the idea of going somewhere we had to drive to (e.g. museum) before nap because he'd fall asleep on the drive home (only for 5-20 minutes) and then not nap once we got home. Lately, I've had success going to the arboretum (10 min. drive) before nap.

[tjjazzy]

i pretty much consider the morning to be a write-off and get anything done (even getting dressed etc.) in the afternoon. if you're not a morning person, why fight it? we get up around 8:30 a.m. btw. dh is already gone. ds1 often gets up earlier and putters around the house watching TV or playing with toys. and when we get up, i tend to lie around on the couch. if i have to do something in the morning, i do-sometimes i have to take ds1 to school if dh is off to work too early to drop him off so we're out of the house by 7:50 a.m. on those days. i find i function better at that time of day if i get up before ds2 does and get a shower. but otherwise, why worry about the morning? get it all done when you're ready.
we're not early to bed in our house. the boys are both in bed by 8:30 and 9:30 but we're not in bed til about 11 p.m. or so.

[Learning_Mum]

We get up around 7am. The kids watch cartoons while I have a cup of tea and try to wake up then I'll get them breakfast and hop in the bath. They usually come in the bathroom and play while I have my bath then once I'm out we get dressed and take DS1 is kindy (it doesn't sound like much but this takes a good hour or two because I'm really tired!) then after we've dropped DS1 off, DS2 and I come home, he usually plays around while I tidy up the house, do washing etc and then we will usually play or something until it's time to pick up DS1 at lunchtime. Sometimes we might go out visiting or have someone around to visit. That's pretty much us for the morning!

[Smithie]

My kids watch TV in the morning I don't NEED for them to do it, it's not like I'm engaged in some supervital task right now, but I sure do have a sweeter temper throughout the day if I can drink my quart of tea in relative peace.

Morning around here is a good time for getting a load of laundry in, giving the floor a vacuum, etc. That's when I have the energy for those things.

When I still had a nursing cosleeping child, getting in a shower was a big deal, because I smelled like sweat and sour milk every morning. My dh works out of the house so he would ususally be able to watch the baby while the older kids watched TV, but if not she'd hang out in the bathroom with me. Feeling all dirty and disgusting really casts a pall over the rest of the day.

Nowadays, I tend to drink the my tea and put on some exercise clothes (even if I'm not going to exercise until afternoon), catch up on MDC and my email, do any kind of computer work that requires relative quiet, and by 10 a.m. or so the kids have sated their TV appetite and started their day of loud, rambunctious imaginative play. My 6 y.o. does his reading and math, we eat lunch around 11:30 (we're not big on breakfast, just cereal and milk), and then it's the pool, the swingset, books, crafts, the iPad, and endless pretend play for the rest of the day. At some point dh and I swap turns exercising, and we get out of the house for a playdate or other activity at least once/week.

This coming school year, the girls have preschool and ds has a full-on 1st grade homeschooling schedule including a full-day co-op, so over the summer I'm just going to keep it really unstructured. I do think that the brief alone time provided (for me) by exercise and meetings for which I get a sitter is a major part of keeping me sane.

[elmh23]

Now that it's summer, we all are up by 8am, the older kids getting up as early as 6am. If they are up before either dh or I, they can get a snack from the fridge, and then dh will get them breakfast when he wakes at 7. Then I get up either when dh leaves for work (7:50 or so) or when the baby wakes up, whichever is first. Then I turn on the tv for some time while I nurse the baby and wake up. I usually eat breakfast at this time. The babe takes a short nap from about 8:45 to 9:30, then we start getting ready for the day. I try to get going for any errands we need to do by 10am since it gets very hot outside here (it's only 9:40am and it's already 77 degrees, with a projected high of 99) and if we don't have any errands, then I'll clean something

Now if I could only work in a shower and some excersize time, I'd be happy!

[MommaCrystal]

We homeschool.

DH and I get up between 5:00 and 5:30. We take turns exercising, Bible reading, and showering. Once I've got all that done I make the bed and tidy our bedroom. By that time (6:45/7:00am) our older boys are up. DH makes breakfast and we usually sit together and eat. Then we move to the living room for a family devotional. At that point my husband starts work (either leaving for the office or from home) and I finish up our living room time with stories, songs, etc.

By now it is usually around 8:15 or 8:30. I take my boys up to their rooms, get them dressed, and have them make their beds and tidy their rooms. Then we bust into our schooling. I'll set them up with tasks and then go put a load of laundry in, or fill the dishwasher, or sweep or do whatever cleaning is most pressing. Then I go back to them to continue with whatever we are working on. This goes on until about 10:00 when we break for snack.

Then we usually do some arts & crafts for a while. After that it is chores for them. Once chores are through I'll read them some books until lunch. If DH is home we'll eat as a family. Everyone works together to prepare it. Usually sandwhiches/soups/left overs.

After lunch the boys head outside to play for a couple of hours. I will clean some more. Or work on other projects (I do work part-time).

Now... if we are going out this obviously this changes. And we have a newborn so things are bit more tied to what she wants to do.

If my morning doesn't start the way I described... I never catch up, they day just seems to run off into a ditch and I can never pull it out. Mornings are SO important!

[transylvania_mom]

The baby sleeps until 6:30, I get up with her and make coffee and prepare ds's lunch; at 7:15 dh leaves and I wake up ds. Then we have breakfast and take ds to the bus stop; his school bus comes at 8:20. I continue my walk with dd until 9:30 when I come home, nurse her and put her to bed. Then I can enjoy my coffee and maybe call my sister or my mom to chat a little.

Three days a week dh is at home in the morning and he takes care of ds and takes dd for a walk and I get to take a shower.

[Owen'nZoe]

We're naturally late to bed/late to rise here, too. My oldest is in school now, and gets on the bus at 10 to 7, so we have a great morning routine set up now out of necessity. Honestly, though? If we didn't need to have our mornings planned out, I'd go back to the lazy get-nothing-done mornings of our past in a heartbeat. In fact, I plan to starting Friday when school is out. We never made a toddler 'event' in the morning, but I felt much better rested and balanced. I think there is something to be said for leaving a part of your life unscheduled.

[mommariffic]

I hate having to go anywhere before 10am [or 11? 12 even?]

We wake up between 7:30-8am and normally lay in bed for a good 30 minutes talking, giggling, snuggling etc. I try to milk this as long as I can because it's my favorite part of the day, and I HATE springing out of bed. Sometimes DD will get some books to look at, or we will tell stories but mostly I am like "lets just wake up okay, slowly, verry slowly.."

When we get up we let the dogs out, and start breakfast. I normally keep breakfast simple most days - smoothies or toast with butter & eggs..on occasion we have a big breakfast of french toast or we bake muffins. Depends on level of motivation

Our morning is basically very relaxed. I do downstairs chores, we read books, maybe do a craft, shower, and get ready if we are going anywhere. DD doesn't nap, so most of our outings are in the afternoon. She's cheerful in the morning and I am a morning person once I get going, so I find we can get a lot done [I homeschool/unschool/whatever so I try to set up some weekly ideas for crafts and learning..]

[Bellabaz]

My girls are the same age as yours. We don't sleep late but here is our routine most days.

Dh gets up around 7 to get ready for work. Dd2 (who starts off the night in crib in dd1's room but comes into our bed around 3am) is also usually awke by now and has had her morning milk so we get up and I make breakfast for myself while she hangs out in the kitchen with me. Then I get breakfast ready for the girls and if I am feeling nice for dh =). Dd2 usually isn't hungry until about 45 minutes after waking up so when dh comes to have his brkfst, I take a shower and get dressed.

Dd1 usually wakes up between 7:30 and 8. She eats breakfast then washes up and gets dressed with some assistance from me. Somewhere around here dh leaves for work (usually between 8 and 8:20). I then feed dd2 if she hasn't eaten yet and get her cleaned and dressed. I do any last minute stuff (like putting my contacts in). If there is still time we play together or read a book. Then at 8:40 we leave for dd1's preschool.

That is it. We too eat later in the evening (like 7:30 or sometimes later). If dd2 would sleep later I would still probably get up and have my coffee because I am not a nice person if I can't have some peace in the morning.

[sewchris2642]

My morning schedule hasn't changed much over the years. Some of the details are different depending on how old the kids were and their personalities but over all it's been the same. I get up between 6-7, depending on the time of year. Start laundry or bread first thing, then have coffee while reading the paper (now the computer). Feed the kids when they get up, have my breakfast around 9, clean up the kitchen, finish up the morning chores. Homeschool started at 8am and I worked the morning chores around that. When I worked out of the home, I left around 9, took Dylan to dc, and was at work by 10 am. When I work at home, I start working between 9 and 10 am. Now that there is only Dylan at home and he is 12, I no longer have kids to worry about. But I keep the same schedule/routine otherwise I get nothing done and the day gets away from me. Dinner comes and I've done nothing. Very easy for me to do if I don't keep on top of myself.

[Landover]

I have a four year old, a two year old and a newbie due this month. The best thing for us is to get the hard stuff out of the way before anything else. We do not lounge around in jammies, etc. We get dressed, brush teeth and hair, and make our beds prior to breakfast. If the kids "have a good attitude" then they get to choose a show to watch while they eat (or after if they prefer). If they do not "have a good attitude" then they still have to get ready, but they do not get to watch a show after the morning routine. It helps a lot because they are much more compliant knowing that there is something on the line. If I let them come down, eat, hang out, relax, etc. then I have a MUCH harder time getter them back up to their rooms to get ready. It makes more chaos.

While they eat and watch their show, I jump in the shower and get ready myself. It gives me about 30 minutes.

We are then ready to start our day!