MORNING ROUTINE
Our mornings are usually like groundhog day when the kids are at school. However, there are so many benefits of having a routine in place:
- Having a regular and consistent routine ensures that I get the kids out the door with everything they need, clean clothes, lunches, notes for school
- When we have a hectic morning, our routine makes me feel less stressed as I know what needs to be done
- As your children grow they will learn the routine and want to help (my kids are currently at this stage and I am LOVING it), which is a perfect way for them to learn about responsibility
- If I go out for the day I enjoy coming home to a tidy house
My morning routine
This is morning routine I had when the kids were all in primary school. Now that my kids are older (all in high schoolnow) I have adjusted it slightly, they wake themselves up, I make lunches the night before and I make myself presentable before breakfast.
6.40am – wake up and have a shower
6.55am – make my bed
7.00am – wake up kids
7.05am – kids make their own breakfast
7.10am – start preparing lunches for kids and hubby (lunchbox ideas here)
7.20am – kids unpack dishwasher
7.30am – kids start their morning routine
7.30am – put away dishes washed the night prior, pack dishwasher, wipe benches
7.40am – eat breakfast and relax for 10 minutes, I check my to-do list and calendar
7.50am – brush and style (braids or ponytails) girls hair, ideas here
8.00am – put washing on the line if I didn’t do the night before
8.10am – time to get myself presentable for the day (hair and a little make-up)
8.25am – give the kids countdown 5 minutes till we leave
8.30am – in car driving to school drop off
8.40am – go to the gym or home, put the kettle on, while kettle boiling wipe over kids bathroom basin
8.45am – My day begins, either doing housework, working on the blog, running errands or catching up with friends
Create your morning routine
Use the blank morning routine list printable to create your own routine. Every family is different so please consider your schedule, the help of a partner and the ages of your kids when creating your morning routine.
- Be realistic with the time you have available
- Can you partner help with morning tasks?
- The ages of your children
- Add into your routine the areas that you know you/your family need help with eg. time for chores for the kids, putting dirty clothes into the laundry, washing dishes, preparing for the evening meal in the morning
You may also enjoy this post on creating a stress free school morning routine.
Create a morning routine for the kids
This is my kids morning routine chart pictured below, they started using this chart when they were in kindy (aged 3). This promptly removed the chaos out of our mornings and was a great visual reminder for the kids to know what they needed to do each morning.
I have tasks in a specific order, eg brush teeth before uniform/clothes goes on so they don’t get toothpaste splatter over their clean uniform (as kids do). I also like them having their socks on so when it’s time to go all they need to do is put on shoes not spend an extra 5 minutes to put socks on.
This chart is available in my shop along with the option to create personalised charts. View range of kids routine charts here.
[wlchecklist name=’PreTask3Createamorningroutineforkids’]
DOWNLOAD
Print the morning routine lists to help you create your own morning routine that suits you and your family.
- MORNING ROUTINE – file behind ‘Routines’ divider – click to download.
- BLANK MORNING ROUTINE – file behind ‘Routines’ divider – click to download.
270 comments
Task 3 – Already in action 🙂
Great work!
Done! Actually need 2 for my paid work days and my mummy days 🙂
It’s a great idea to do it that way Natalie, will make it easier on each of those days for you.
Task 3 done. 🙂
🙂
Morning routine sorted for myself and mr 3 1/2 – getting there 🙂
You will find this so helpful Kirsten
Hi Kat, do you really stick to this down to the minutes? 5 days a week? It’s a new concept for me and I’m trying to understand how I will get it into practice. I have three different start times a week…. Thanks!!
Not exactly, but it works out like that. I just wanted to give you a fair idea of the tasks I do and how long I allocate for each one, hope it helps.
My morning routine works pretty well, just have to write some out for Miss’ 6, Miss 4 and Miss 2 (nothing like starting early, right?).
A tip I got from a fabulous parenting book a couple of years ago was to get yourself dressed and ready for the day before you emerge from the bedroom. The authors reasoning was your kids are more likely to take you seriously, but I have found it has even more benefits. It means no matter what happens, I am mostly ready to walk out the door and I don’t have to panic when the kids are running late, and I look down and realise I’m not ready either. With 4 little ones, it’s one less pressure and it works a treat 🙂
I stand by that theory Felicity, I find having a shower wakes me up and gets me going quicker in the mornings too.
Done!
Awesome!
The morning routine is something I struggle with. I try to get most things done at night. I work 3 – 5 days depending on shifts and my shifts range from 630am start to a 930am start. I also have a 15month old who still wakes 1-2 times a night, a 4 yo at school 5 days/fortnight. We generally up breakfast, shower and teeth dressed for school/daycare and out the door. I find myself so tired in mornings, I generally just get up in time to get us out the door. Any tips are welcome, for how to be more organised so I can squeeze some jobs in before 830 am.
I definitely think you need a good eventing routine Shahnagh to help you to just to the minimum each morning getting yourself and the kids out. Having lunches prepped and washing all washed and ready to hang out, will make such a difference for you.
Done 🙂
this will help you so much Lana
Challenge accepted. Getting up I find so hard. As I don’t sleep generally very well I’m not a morning person. But I’m willing to try this for the challenge. Lol. So not a morning person lol
I found I wasn’t either Tanya, but starting to exercise regularly made me really tired in the evenings which in turn resulted in a good sleep and waking early because my body was ready to rise.