TEACHING VIRTUES | FAMILY VIRTUES | INTENTIONAL HOME | TEACH HONESTY | TEACH GRATITUDE | TEACH GENEROSITY
Bring Back Sanity and Structure To Your Family’s Morning Routine
I don’t know about you, but our morning routine lately has been a total gong show. My kids have always been early risers (why Lord, why!?) and they don’t start school until 9:15 and 9:30 respectively. This means that I’ve basically lived an entire day by the time they go to school in the morning.
And I am NOT a morning person. Nope, no talkie until coffee.
Something has needed to change in our home for awhile around this area, but I think I’ve allowed the “not a morning person” excuse to slow our growth. The result of my “I’m-not-a-morning-person” approach has been that our home is completely unstructured and a NIGHTMARE every morning during the week before they get out the door for school.
There’s fighting, procrastination at a level 40, Legos everywhere, negotiating because of the procrastination, last minute craziness happening in the kitchen while lunches get packed, and enough whining to fuel the world’s energy supply (that is, assuming that whining can be converted into useful energy instead of just the biggest life suck ever). Which means, I hate the mornings and I’m now sending them out the door all frazzled and not set up for success to assimilate into their school environment very well. #okayestmomever
So I pulled this idea together one day after a particularly rough morning, and I’ll be honest, I’m sort of just winging it. But it seems to be working. And regardless of whether or not it’s “working”, I at least know that I am TRYING, and sending them out the door to tackle their world equipped with the tools they need for the day.
Solution For No More Morning Crazy: Morning Lessons Around the Table
Here’s what the morning lessons (that’s what we’ve been calling them) look like now:
*8:30 am: Must be ready – all jobs complete sitting at the table ready to walk out the door. The goal is less drill Sargent, more just get your ish done on time or else there will be consequences.
*For every minute they are late, they owe me a dollar. Time is money, and I ask they respect my time. Not sure this system will last forever but as of now, that’s what’s happening to ensure prompt arrival for each kid! I’m def on my way to being independently wealthy.
8:30 – 8:45am: Morning Lesson – tackle a different way to talk, do, digest, and understand the monthly value/virtue.
That’s it. 15 minutes. Pretty basic right?! And if 15 is too much, start with 5 to begin building the habit. Allow each person to share and engage – no wrong answers. Morning lesson is a no shame zone.
I’m going for the long game here, and just looking to help center them before they head into school instead of sending them out of an environment of free-for-alls and chaos because “Mom’s not a morning person”.
Get your monthly virtue printable below
Freedom Within a Framework – What Morning Lessons Look Like For Us
Want to know the content of what Morning Lessons have looked like for us? Well good news, I’ve created a downloadable document that houses it all to share with you! This is not a formula, but rather a guideline – freedom within a framework. I’m not a teacher and this is NOT an area of strength for me. But I want to do good by my family, I know the character traits I want to teach and instill in them, and this is the method we’re using for that!
I’m a visual learner, and despite the new structure, I’m still not a morning person. So thus, I wanted the guess work taken out of what we were covering for the day/month. Maybe you can relate?
Monthly Family Virtue Printable
You guys legit, doing this has CHANGED our family. That is the only reason I’m sharing it with you. I created all of this for myself (which is why you’ll notice it’s not created by a professional graphic designer), and to my surprise, it’s actually making an impact with them! So now I’m sharing it with you. Just enter your email below and access will be granted!
And don’t forget to tag me on Insta as you’re sitting around your table or couch or wherever, having this sacred time with your littles. Sure, most of parenting is caught not taught, but that doesn’t give us a pass on teaching. We get to show them and teach them what it means to be a person in this world that is kind, generous, grateful, humble, forgiving, etc. Imagine a future if we spend a few minutes each morning intentionally talking about these things? Imagine the humans we’ll send out someday!
Okay enough rambling, enter your email and get started!!
No time to print it out now? Just PIN the image below for later!
[…] you want more help adding intention, and purpose, into your family life check out this free guide I created that will help direct your conversations in the car or around the table to send your kids […]