Still Making the Most of my Mornings

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I was trying to make my mornings work better by joining a challenge at Money Saving Mom. This challenge was just what I needed to start the school year off right!

I'll admit that I did not follow all the suggestions of the challenge. I did not commit to working out each morning, and my typical breakfast is still a large cup of coffee. But through this challenge, I developed a night-time routine that prepares me better for the next day and getting out of the house, and I set a specific get-out-of-bed time at 6am, which allows me to have at least a few minutes to myself before everyone else is out of bed. These two things alone have made a world of difference, for a few specific reasons.

First, as I've mentioned multiple times (here and here and here and here and here), Pooh started Pre-K this year, beginning a whole new era in our family life. This meant that we now had a specific time we needed to get out of the house, since he has to be at school at 8:05. Plus, he then goes until 11:05, with no snack most days, so his getting a good breakfast in his tummy was also crucial. That sort of makes it sound like we didn't feed him breakfast before, doesn't it? But that's not the case. It's just that before, once he got to daycare, he generally got second breakfast, so if he didn't eat much at home we were not too worried. Now, if he doesn't eat his breakfast at home, he's gonna be pretty cranky by the time 11:05 rolls around! By prepping the night before, I'm ready to focus on him in the morning, rather than running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to throw things together for the day.

Second, because Pooh has to be at school at 8:05 and his school is right around the corner from where I work, I head directly to work from dropping him off. This puts me at work no later than 8:30 each morning, allowing me to be more productive in my own job. Hopefully, this will mean more positive results at work and a stronger feeling of well-being all around.

Third, because I head directly to work, getting up at a particular time in the morning allows me to check my personal email, read the blogs I follow, and comment on message boards where I am active, without it affecting my work time. In addition, my favorite part of the morning has become my snuggle time with Pooh. He generally wanders out of his bedroom, all sleepy-eyed and barely awake, comes and crawls into my lap, and snuggles up for a few minutes with me. Because I'm up and have had a few minutes to myself, and I'm ready for the day and getting out of the door, we can enjoy a few minutes of mommy~kiddo time without feeling stressed about how the day will go. And that, my friends, that is what's important!