31 Things-Morning

Here is my layout for Ali Edwards 31 Things class. Check out my previous post for more information.

I struggled a little with this one. I had way too much to say to fit onto one page so I doubled it up. I am excited to get this information down because the day I wrote it was the first day of summer. The day this morning routine would no longer exist. Now it is captured here.

My journaling:

Today is the first day of summer vacation. Our morning routine will change from what it has been and never be the same. 

There are things I am grateful for with my mornings. I am grateful for no alarm clocks. I no longer have that dread of hearing that horrible noise, for it to disrupt my sleep. I don’t have that initial feeling of dread and panic as it goes off. I also am grateful that my kids sleep. No more 4am wake up calls, no more early morning feedings, no more broken sleep. I am grateful for my husband. That he allows me to shower and get ready before he heads out for work and start his day. 

Just yesterday this was our routine:

Tom wakes up at 6:30am. He takes a shower and gets ready to go to work. By 7am he is done and Madeline is awake in her crib calling out for him. I get up at this point and get my shower. I cannot start my day without one (preferably a relaxing one). That is why my husband doesn’t leave for work until I am ready to start my day.

Once I am ready, Tom heads out for work and if Madeline hasn’t been served her breakfast (dry Cheerios, waffle, or oatmeal) I will get it for her. She picks and usually I prompt her to use sentences. (E.g. “I want waffle.”) If she has finished we sit to watch a show like Blues Clues, Jake and the Neverland Pirates, or Umi-zoomi. 

If Aaron hasn’t gotten up by 8am, I am in his room coaxing him out of bed. He isn’t much of a morning person. He is my night owl. He drags his feet every step of the way in the morning. After learning the TV made this worse, it was straight to breakfast where he would more often than not have a blueberry waffle.  Usually Madeline will eat again with him.

I don’t eat breakfast. I have found that if I do, I feel awful by 10am, needing to eat again. If I eat again, Madeline wants to eat again and I feel like we are always 

eating. Probably not the healthiest choice for me, but doing it makes my life easier.

Once the two kids have eaten, I take them upstairs to get dressed. Aaron picks out his own clothes and dresses himself. Some days I have to remind him of the weather so he dresses appropriately. Usually this process is excruciatingly slow. He takes his time, playing around and I have to just walk away and let him do it, periodically telling how much time he has left to get ready.

Madeline likes to pick out her clothes as well, but I limit the choices to a few and I assist her in getting dressed. She likes to try to do these things herself, saying, “I do it.” as she is in an independent stage. She is still in diapers but is usually cooperative in me changing her.

Once they are fed and dressed, they are allowed some TV time until it is time to take Aaron to preschool. During which time I am usually doing a bit of clean up: making my bed (which I cannot stand leaving unmade, thanks to my mother), empting or loading the dishwasher, laundry, the constant pick up and sometimes fixing my hair. Sometimes I ignore the mess, pull my wet hair in a ponytail and immerse myself into the computer. I check email, Facebook, and my blog list.  

At 8:45am we all get our shoes on (Aaron takes quite a bit to pull him away from the TV) and head out to the car. Madeline gets into the car seat on her own and attempts to help me buckle her up. Aaron is ready on his own when I get into the car. They get their daily mint and we head out.

It takes 8-12 minutes to get to Aaron’s school, depending on if I get stuck at the Clarkson light or not. (I hate that light!) We listen to the kids ipod or a CD we checked out from the library. Sometimes I put on the radio for myself.

We get into the carpool line at the school and wait for one of Aaron’s teachers to get him out of the car and he heads up. They usually say hi to Maddie and we wish Aaron a good day. 

Madeline and I can then officially start our day.

Now that it is summer, we don’t have anywhere we need to be. Most of the morning will stay the same, but the urgency to get out the door will not.

Next fall will be a whole new beast. Aaron will be beginning Kindergarten with a much earlier drop off time. Madeline will also be starting preschool  adding to the chaos. There will be packing lunches and snacks, uniforms to dress in, and a lot of driving around on my part. 

Day 3 and 4 are proving to be hard for me. Hope to share those with you soon!