6 Tips To Help Take The Stress Out of Your Morning Routine

my top + here  |  similar jeans  || harper’s pajamas + bow  ||
bed  |  white quilt  |  nightstand + vase + greenery  |  rug  |  art  |  couch

Mornings can be a pretty hectic time. There is a lot to get done, in a limited amount of time. Add in tired/grumpy attitudes and a lotttt of little people and it can get out of hand. It took some trial and error for us to figure out a system that works for us personally, but it makes all the difference. We put together a fun video to give you a little sneak peek into how our mornings go around here. While the complete system may not work for your lifestyle, I wanted to share 6 tips that you will see in action that have really helped take the stress out of our morning routine. I hope they will for you too!

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Now that you have an idea of how we make things work around here, let’s get down to the tips! Even implementing 1 or 2 can make a huge difference in how you start your day! So let’s break it down…

boy’s pajamas  |  rug  |  beds + nightstands  |  skate art + surf art  |  chair
bedding : sheets + quilts + throws + stripe pillow + gray pillow

:: WAKE UP 15 MINUTES EARLIER THAN NECESSARY

When it comes to your morning routine, I’m sure the last thing you want to do is wake your little people up any earlier than necessary. I will often find myself thinking, oh they had a late night…I’ll let them sleep in. And it ALWAYS backfires!! While they need their sleep, the feeling of being rushed always ruins a morning. If we are rushed we have more arguments, hurt feelings, tantrums, allll the things. And I don’t know about you, but I hate that feeling in your gut when all the people are gone for school and you feel like you left them in a bad mood. By taking the extra 15 minutes, you can move at a slower pace. It gives you time to talk about their day, have them help with chores, and not feel like you are shoving them out the door.

On this same note, take into account how your people like to wake up. The girls hate when I flip the light on before they are fully awake. If I just open the blinds and give them 5 minutes to slowly wake up, they are much happier campers. Sometimes just putting yourself in their shoes can make all the difference.

  beds + nightstands  |  art
bedding : sheets + quilts + throws + stripe pillow + pink pillow

:: MAKE YOUR BEDS FIRST THING IN THE MORNING

It is no secret to any of you that to me a clean house is a happy house. One of my biggest tips to having a more productive day, is to make your bed. Something as simple as an unmade bed in your kids room can instantly make it feel messy. And I don’t know about your people, but that is the last thing mine want to do after a long day of school. We have made it a priority that right when I get in from the gym, I wake them up and we make beds together. It starts our morning on a clean slate and we aren’t worried about messy rooms in the busier part of our day.

:: PREP YOUR OUTFITS AT THE BEGINNING OF THE WEEK

Another way we have found to lessen the stress in our morning and avoid arguments is to prep all the kids outfits at the beginning of the week. We find a time (usually on Sunday) where we can go to their closet together and make a plan. Hunter takes care of hers on her own, but Hayden takes a little more patience and cooperation. She is strong willed and knows what she likes and DOES NOT like. We avoid SO many unnecessary fights and tantrums.

::PREP LUNCHES AHEAD OF TIME

We don’t go all out on this, but we always try to have the dry things prepped in baggies ahead of time. You can see how we have things set up over in our pantry post. They each grab a few “sides” and have them in their lunchboxes the night before, so just sandwiches are left for the morning. To really save on time, you could prep breakfast too. We have done make ahead breakfast burritos, or made a big batch of french toast or waffles at the beginning of the week to use multiple days.

:: EVERYTHING COMES BEFORE BREAKFAST

Raise your hand if your kids are the slooooowest eaters in the morning? Sometimes I think they are still half asleep. Ha! One of the biggest problems we noticed in our previous morning routines is doing breakfast first. They spent so much time eating, that everything else was a crazy, stressed out rush. We recently switched it up to have breakfast last and it has been a major game changer. It sounds crazy, but it kind of gives them the motivation to get everything else done faster, so they can get to breakfast.

:: WORK AS A TEAM

Delegate, delegate, delegate. You should not be doing all the things yourself. You and your kids are a team and should work that way in the morning. For example, Hunter takes on the lunches.  If Hayden’s hair is going to take a little longer, or I am changing after going to the gym, Hudson will change the babies diaper and get her breakfast while he is getting his. Kitchen clean up is also their responsibility before they go to school. Set expectations for them in the morning to help things run smoother.

I hope these tips help you to have a less stressful morning with your people and start your day a little happier! This definitely didn’t come easy for us and is still a work in progress. Just remember what works for one won’t necessarily work for you. So I wanna know, do you have any game changers you do to make your day a little less hectic?