I am not a morning person. I’ve tried. I’ve read countless articles saying that you just had to switch your schedule to adapt to it: don’t drink coffee after 2 p.m., go to bed early and at t
he same time, don’t drink water before bed so you’re not up peeing all night, eat a banana before you go to sleep, turn off screens hours before sleep….you name it, I’ve read it and tried it. I am still not a morning person. I am foggy and crabby in the morning. Sometimes I pack the kids a sandwich and a spoon and sometimes I pack them soup with no spoon. I’m not the best in the morning. So, I am not going to be that mom that wakes up at 5 a.m. to workout and pack lunches in the “quiet before the sun rises”. No, no, no.
Days are packed for us and the evenings often have activities to do, so I was originally packing lunches in the morning. Which I dreaded. I would try to get lunches organized while reaching over Josh or tripping over a kid. Our kitchen is small and not the greatest place to be trying to prep breakfast and pack lunches at the same time! But I kept trying to tidy up the kitchen, pack lunches, give the kids breakfast and get things for myself ready every. single. morning! It didn’t work and made me really hard to be around. Plus, it always meant that I didn’t have time to eat, so I would get the kids on the bus and come home to eat breakfast afterward. I would come home, prepare my gut-friendly breakfast and end up eating around 9 a.m.. I would try and work out after and that meant most of my morning was gone! It didn’t leave much time to build my empire.
The other day I realized I could eat breakfast in the morning if I just packed lunches the night before. Why wasn’t I doing this already? Oh yah, because by the time I tidied up supper to have enough ROOM to pack the lunches, I was done with being in the kitchen and exhausted. I decided I had to make it work.
I brought it up at supper on Friday night. I told the family that I felt grumpy in the morning because of all of my responsibilities hitting me in the face the moment my eyes opened. I told them why I wanted to pack lunches the night before and why I would need help after supper to make that happen. Clearing the table and counter-tops would have to be a group effort from now on. That way, I can pack lunches before I run out of steam and get frustrated.
I found it very hard to calmly state my emotions and how they could help- it was worth it in the end because it worked! They have been helping since Friday and tonight I was able to make lunches just after supper. They are in the fridge, waiting to be thrown into their backpacks tomorrow morning. Our new routine is already amazing. Today I put their lunches in their backpacks and ate breakfast. I dropped them off, exercised right away and was able to start doing my online course by 9:30 a.m..
Such a simple solution and it took me such a long time to come to!
Do you have any mom-life hacks you can share?
Are you a morning person or a night owl?
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