8+ Things For Moms to Try For a Peaceful Morning Routine
Inside you'll find my best tips for having the most peaceful morning routine for moms ever.
Do you hate mornings? Perhaps hate is too strong of a word, but there are definitely times when we can't stand our mornings, as moms, right? The constant fighting, the rushing, the inevidable forgotten lunchbox.
Some mornings I lose track, is it them crying more, or me?
If this sounds like you, let's talk about how we can set the mood for a good day for you, and a great day for your kids. Make the day easier on you so we can ALL start our day on the right foot.
Plan Your Peaceful Morning Ahead of Time
A good night routine will bring you the gift of a great morning. I know it sounds small, like how can going to sleep fifteen minutes earlier (or spending that fifteen minutes preparing for your morning) make a difference, but hear me out.
What does your nighttime routine look like right now? If you don't have one, let's put a simple one together today.
Make sure everyone is going to sleep at a good decent hour, including you, by setting reminders on your phone or smart device. I use Amazon's Echo. You can grab your own Kid's Echo by clicking here to check the price on Amazon.
I love when we go for a walk after dinner to reduce stress and wind down before bed. This is a great time to talk about our day.
Before bed each night, I ask my children what their favorite part about their day was. Sometimes we find out cute little stories, like when my kindergartener's teacher confessed my son was her favorite student to him, or they tell us fun facts. No matter what, we always bond over how grateful we are for another good day together.
After seeing so many things on social media about parents being sick of their kids, I made sure to tell my children how happy I was to get to spend the day with them when we are all home together.
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In addition to the nice peaceful evening routines, I also highly highly highly recommend looking at all of your tasks for the morning, and completing everything you possibly can the night before.
Washing lunchboxes, setting out clothes, prepping the coffee maker, anything that will make your day easier.
Create a Peaceful Morning Routine
Okay, okay, so that's the whole premise here, right? Of COURSE you want to create a morning routine! That's what we are talking about in this whole entire article!
There is a little more to it though.
What do you WANT out of your morning?
Right now, you're probably rushed, stressed, and feeling a little distant. Maybe you're yelling more than you'd like, or just overall . . . being an angry mom. I have a whole guide to reducing your anger as a mom, and you can find it here.
For our mornings, the best way to set the tone for the day is to wake up before your kids.
I know.
It's a lot I'm asking of you right now, but I promise you, if you get up before your kids, even if it's only by a few minutes, you can have those few minutes to breathe and think about how you want your morning to be.
If you want more time, that is GREAT too. You can eat breakfast, take a shower, or just sit and stare at a wall in silence for a few minutes. It's all good. We all get to that point in motherhood.
Decide now what you want to get done before your kids get up and start their day, and make some time to get that done.
Are your kids those children who love getting up insanely early? Set some boundaries.
Set Clear Boundaries For Your Sanity
Have your kids stay in their rooms until a certain time — Obviously not babies. When your baby wakes up, go and take care of your child, that is your morning routine. Save this post for another day.
Setting clear boundaries about wake up times will encourage your children to sleep in, and not immediately come into your room asking for bananas.
Use one of those “OK to Wake” clocks that turns green when it's okay for them to be out of their rooms and coming to see you. Check the price on Amazon by clicking here.
Now imagine your morning, you'll be setting your day up with intention, instead of reacting to things going on around you.
Start Your Day with Positivity
There is a reason coffee was invented. I can only imagine it was because of three year olds.
Think about what you need to keep your sanity every day.
Most people need a good full belly, some coffee in the morning, and happiness around them.
Make a play list of music to start your day with. In December we exclusively listen to Christmas music in the morning, but the rest of the year is some type of upbeat pop, and we often break into dance sessions.
Get the whole family involved, and everyone can pick a song the night before to play during your morning. We spent almost an entire year asking Alexa to play “Stegosaurus Walking Through the Forest” — I have no idea if that's the actual name of the song, but it plays every time we ask Alexa, so it works!
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Know WHY You Are Waking Up Early
This one can be a little difficult. In the morning it's hard to wake up sometimes.
So why are you?
Is it for your sanity?
Do you need to wake up early because you want to get things done before the kids wake up?
Maybe your reason to get up early is working on your business.
Whatever the reason, write it down, and put it somewhere you'll see it. This reason may change over time, but the important thing is to make sure you're looking at it and remembering.
This will help push you through when –usually in December — you wake up and it's pitch black, -40 outside, and you think you'd be crazy to get out of that warm bed. It WILL happen.
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Get Your Family Involved
This isn't a one person show, and you shouldn't have to do it alone. Include the whole family in your morning routine.
Including the entire family will greatly increase your chances of the routine working out in the long run, and will help everyone feel more like part of the family.
Post the Routine for Everyone to See
Everyone needs to be on the same page here, and everyone needs to see that page in order to understand their responsibilities.
If you have a little one, visual reminders are a great way to help them see what they need to do.
Oftentimes, if they don't know what to do, they'll just stand around until someone tells them what to do.
There are lots of ways to create routine cards, you can create your own with drawings, or take a photo of your child doing each step. Either way you choose, print it all out, and keep it someplace they can see it easily, so they know what to do.
For older children, just making a checklist is enough.
Peaceful Morning Routine for Moms Advice
There are going to be mornings that aren't perfectly peaceful. It's okay, and definitely expected . . . especially with multiple children. When you or your children have an off morning give them grace. We all have bad days sometimes, and no one has ever gotten things done faster by being yelled at.
And remember, we are all human, we all have good days and bad days.
The important thing is to take it all in stride, remember we are teaching our children how to act by showcasing our own behavior.
No one is perfect, but the silver lining is we can control the way we react to those imperfections. Set the example that even if someone veers off course for a bit, we can still be successful — because the steps to take to start our day are still going to be taken.
On mornings when everything is going wrong, consider some way to make it fun. Go out for a quick breakfast sandwich, or after dropping the kids off go out for coffee and enjoy the calm.
Create a Buffer
This is a game changer. Always. Have. A. Buffer.
What does that mean?
If you need to leave at 7:30, be ready to get out the door by 7:15.
Giving yourself that fifteen minutes means the kids can play for a few minutes before school, you can recheck things that need to be done, I always check our checklist at this time. You'll greatly reduce your chances of being late by including a buffer in your morning routine.
Some families are just notoriously late. I come from one of those families. The best thing I've done to reform myself from notoriously late to normally on time is creating that buffer. This way, even if you're “late” you'll still be on time.
Expect the Unexpected
This goes hand in hand with giving yourself and your family grace.
Even the best laid plans will sometimes go awry, and that's okay. Be open to changes, like finding out today your kids need to wear funky socks. Run upstairs and find whatever crazy socks you can and get going, even if you're not out the time you'd like to be.
Your perfect peaceful morning routine is going to be a work in progress forever.
Celebrate the Wins
When everyone gets out the door on time, we always celebrate. Make it a big deal when things go well, and of course take it in stride when things don't go well. No matter how rough the morning is, there is always some good you can focus on.
“I noticed you put your shoes on all by yourself this morning!”
“It was a big help when you put everyone's water in their backpacks this morning”
Find the positive of your morning each morning, and TELL them. Tell them how amazing they did this morning, especially if they have to leave the house and deal with other people. It's always best to start your day on a good note.
Reset After Mornings
After the morning is complete, you still have the entire day ahead of you! On those especially difficult mornings, reset before you start the rest of your day. Sometimes that looks like taking a shower, or sitting and drinking coffee, spending an hour watching a show that will make you laugh, or calling your mom. Whatever you need to do, do it! Move on with your day, and get ready for your afternoon!
Resetting is an essential skill for everyone, not just adults. So show your kids how to restart after a bad morning. Just like the old saying “never go to bed angry” . . . you should never leave the house angry either.
When we have a rough morning we like to have a heart to heart before separating and beginning the rest of our day. We wiggle out those grumpies, and decide today is going to be a great day.
What does your morning routine look like? Share your tips in the comments below!
