Flickr: Rubbermaid
I am counting down the days until I am officially done with graduate school because I am planning a three-month detox. I am going to lose this 15 pounds of grad student weight (I like cupcakes. Cupcakes are my favorite), get my house in order and give myself a chance to get caught up on my self-care (deep conditioning treatments, regular shaving of hairy parts, etc.). I am very much looking forward to getting my life together.
In the meantime, I need to do something about my mornings. In short, they SUCK. Every day.
You see, last year, my husband took our daughter to school so me and my son got to sleep in. EVERY DAY. Therefore, it didn’t matter what time I went to bed, because I didn’t “have to” do anything until about 9 a.m.
I got stuck in that habit for over a year but now that I have to take both kids to school I’m struggling. I still stay up too late and when I drag myself to bed at 1 a.m., it definitely doesn’t help me wake up at 6.
So I’m writing about it, because writing about it helps me be accountable. Here is what my husband and I need to do at night to make sure I can get everyone up and out the door on time. I usually write every night and once I get into a groove it’s hard to stop. So I’m going to set aside time right after the kids go to bed to get everything done before I get started with work.
7:30 p.m. Pick out and iron their school clothes.
7:35 p.m. Pick out and iron my own clothes/my husband irons his clothes.
7:40 p.m. Pack lunches. My kids are weird creatures who actually enjoy eating the same thing every day for lunch. My daughter has had some turkey slices, a piece of fruit, applesauce, pretzels and a Capri Sun every day since the first day of kindergarten. (At least she’s consistent? Lol) Since she has more than one lunchbox, I need to get better at packing more than one lunch at night so I don’t have to do it every night.
7:45 p.m. Review any notes/letters from school that came home and make notes of any upcoming dates.
7:50 p.m. Check calendar to make sure we have everything they need for the following day (if I’m the snack parent, etc.)
7:55 p.m. Load dishes into dishwasher/put up leftovers for husband’s lunch/take out anything that needs to defrost for dinner the following day
8:00 p.m. READY TO WORK!
When I write it out like this, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. Hopefully now that I’ve written it, I can follow it and my mornings will be better!
Do you have an evening routine that you follow? Is it like mine or similar?
I usually don’t get our clothes ready at night but I do pack lunches and make sure their bags are packed. I should probably try to prepare their uniforms as I’m sure it will save time in the morning but I’m usually so exhausted that I just leave that for in the mornings.
Hi Tara! I’ve started these “super-mom” routines that I can never keep up with like…cook all the food in 1 day, etc. That just never works out for me. Plus, we always want something other than what I’ve pre-prepared. I, too, drag myself to bed because you all (state-siders) wake up when it’s time for me to snooze and Twitter’s only as fun as the people on it! So, of course the morning’s SUCK! But, I’m going to try to be more prepared at night and we’ll see how it goes! Thanks!