Good morning?

I'm a bit all over the place this week (and next, I'm here to warn you). I had a lot to catch up on at work and home after the week of woe and puke, and I still have a little more catching-up to do before I head off to NYC next week for work. I'll be traveling with the entire office, something I'm thrilled about as we're an office that gets along well (the commute makes more sense now, doesn't it?), but leaving Mike with a baby for five days for a book launch party takes a little preparation at work and home. I'm busy!

So, yes! My mind, it is a'scattered! I got to thinking about something this morning, though, as I was rushing to find nail clippers and then rushing to grab socks for Kyle and then rushing to peruse the cupboards for a granola bar. My mornings are the most frantic part of my day, and I hate that. I'd like to get off on a better foot first thing, and although I know waking up earlier is the first step, there's got to be more to it than that. 

I'm interested, what's your morning routine like? Does it work for you or are you also looking for ways to get the day started a little better, brighter, calmer? Share your tips! Your annoyances! I'm genuinely curious.

Comments

[HollyLynne]

As you know, my world is going to be ripped asunder in about 6 months, but for now I get out of bed around 8:15, shower, get dressed and made up and (sometimes) manage to take photos of the jewelry I've made for the shop the night before (light is best in the morning!). I make a cup of tea to drink in the car and breakfast is handfuls of cereal while I'm driving to the office. I have to leave the house by 9 to get to work by 9:30 and I am forever 5-10 minutes late.

[Kristabella]

I never leave any extra time in the mornings. So if I get toothpaste on my shirt, I'm SCREWED!

I get everything that I can, set the night before - clothes, lunch, shoes, etc.

Also, I just started to try and get things done while I'm brushing my teeth - open blinds, get lunch out of fridge, etc. And then when I rinse with mouthwash, I fill the cats water bowl, put my English muffin in the toaster.

Clearly, I will do ANYTHING than get up earlier!

[Hillary]

Getting up a bit earlier helps, but the big thing for us is taking care of a few things the night before. Even if the lunches aren't completely packed, just having the sandwiches fixed or the leftovers sitting in the fridge, ready to grab, is a huge help. Also, my keys and purse and the husband's wallet and keys -- and our phones -- always are in the same place.

[Shauna]

I'm with you on making mornings quicker without getting up early!
What I do to let me sleep til the LAST possible minute is get EVERYTHING ready at night. I have my outfit for work clean and set out, I chop all my veggies for my daily egg white omelette and prepackage them, get the diaper bag ready and by the door, have my kids clothes all ready, stuff to fix my hair all out on the counter already, so I am literally just walking from room to room without wasting time looking for anything.
This doesn't really apply to you (yet) since Kyle is so little and not really making decisions about his wardrobe yet, and almost embarassing to admit I do this, but sometimes when my older son went through an I hate mornings phase I let him pick out his clothes and sleep in them. Whatever gets you through the mornings right?!

[A'Dell]

Once I stopped caring what time I got to my desk, things got a lot easier.

It's just that who the hell knows what time she'll wake up, or how long it will take to eat breakfast and will she fight her pants today? Do I need to wash my hair? Would I like to curl it? Did anyone pack her lunch last night?

OMG OMG OMG. All of these things can send me over the edge before 8 am.

So, I just stopped caring what time I got to work. I get there when I get there and I make up the time once she goes to bed that night.

The flexibility (and permission to sleep in to 7, should Claire deign to allow it) is FREEING.

[barbetti]

Have fun in NYC! If you get a chance, that is.

Our mornings are hectic. We wake up at 4, drive Steve to his bus stop (he has a 90 minute commute from there) at 5, then I return home and give Dublin a bath, since it's likely he's soaked through his pjs. Then he gets pissy for a bottle and all of this is usually done by 6 AM. I'm lucky if I get a shower at night.

[Leigh]

Well, I always plan to ride my bike. But most of the time, I end up driving. Mornings go like this:
4:00 Seamus wakes up for feeding.
5:40 Alarm goes off, I may or may not have slept since 4 am feeding.
6:10 shower turns on, baby wakes up, I drag myself into nursery and bring him into bed
6:30 another feeding
7:00 baby and I get out of bed, put him in jumperoo (what a name!) and toast bread for breakfast, P leaves for work
7:15 put diaper in wash if it MWF, if TR, hang out until going to work at 8
7:30 make bottles for baby sitter
8 babysitter comes and I go write what is supposed to be my dissertation or grade papers

Mornings I'm always sad to leave the house because he is SO MUCH FUN in the morning. Great mood. Lots o' smiles. But that's also my best time of day and I need to spend it working.

[steff]

Ugh mornings.

5:45 get up, make coffee, make lunches. hit the shower. Check on youngest son as hubby has gotten him up and fed him breakfast. Prompt child to get dressed, pack backpack, dry my hair / makeup / get dressed then get son on the bus by 7:10.

Make sure oldest is out of bed and eating something decent for breakfast, grab that coffee I made a long time ago, and drive off.

It feels like a race most days, but I never win because I'm the only woman in the office and the rest of the men apparently leave morning children duties to their wives because they've been there almost two hours by the time I show up at 7:45.

Now that my boys are older they are much easier and when they were younger I found it much easier when hubby worked the early shift and leaving as I was getting up.

Now evenings, with both boys in extracurricular activities are really fun!

Good Luck to both of you next week! Mike is gonna be wiped out when you get back, but i'm sure he will hold this time with Kyle by himself close to his heart.

[Amy --- Just A Titch]

Um, I realize getting one adult ready to go is waaayyy different than a baby, but I do as much as possible the night before. I also get up 15 minutes earlier than "the exact amount of time I need" so that way, the inevitable toothpaste incident or "I LOOK FAT IN EVERYTHING!" meltdown doesn't screw my entire day.

[Manda]

I'm lucky to have chilled out mornings. But once upon a time when that was not the case? I did as much as I could ahead of time ... stuff like set the coffeemaker up, pack the bag, all that. Even if I had to stay up a few minutes later it was worth it to have all the ducks lined up in the morning.
Don't worry you'll get back on top of things!! :)

[Soleil]

My morning routine is pretty much the same now that I'm in school as it was when I had a real job. Whenever I have someplace to be in the morning, be it work or class, my morning is structured ALWAYS to allow as much sleep as possible while still allowing me to shower and and get pretty. So if class is at 9, I wake up at 7:30. If class is at 11, I wake up at 9:30. I'd be a heck of a lot more productive if I could get up early at the same time every day and use any extra time for studying but alas...

But yay for NYC! I know you didn't ask, but I love giving suggestions for tourists: Bar Pitti in the west village, Suteishi in the financial district (two words: peach saketini), Buttercup Bake Shop for cupcakes in midtown east, Cibar (pricey, but most amazing fruity martinis ever, get a Pink Lady)..bah, I'm gonna stop now.

I hope you have time to explore and have fun!

[Chrystal]

I wish I had a routine, my day would go a lot smoother. But, in a nutshell, these are the things I do in the am, starting at 530, but in no particular order:
pump
fill bottles for daycare
put bottles, food, cereal, and clothes in daycare diaper bag
shower
blowdry
straighten
make up
brush teeth
perhaps have a cup of coffee in all there before I leave
get my lunch packed up
get dressed
give DH and 6 month old DS a kiss
in the car by 650
to work by 7

The reason that order varies is because DH's work schedule varies as to what time he needs to leave for work.

I should take his tip from last night (genius..lol) and fill the bottles at night, and have everything in the fridge ready to go. Wonder why I never thought of that.
It's a work in progress.

[Rachel]

How do you get it all done in the mornings? I'm nervous about how we are going to get out the door on time with a little one. We already get up at 5:45 AM each day! Yikes!!

[natalie]

For me, the key is getting up BEFORE THE CHILDREN DO. It's amazing what can be accomplished in 15 minutes without the banshee wail of a wet 10 month old and the "but these are not SPARKLY tights!" of a 3 year old. Even if I don't do any night-before prep, I can still get all of us out the door by 7:45 if I get up even 20 minutes before they do. Oh, and coffee. The elixir of the gods.

[amieable]

I heartily agree with the commenters who are suggesting doing things the night before. Even having my outfit picked out (down to the underwear and jewelry I'll wear) seems to calm me down the next morning. That way I'm not frantically rifling through my pile of clothes on the floor for something not wrinkled or covered in cat fur. The less I have to think in the morning, the better.

Another trick I like to use, but I'm not sure how you work it in with a baby, is having something really tasty planned for breakfast. After years of skipping breakfast I decided to really make it the most important meal of my day. So I'll plan the breakfast the night before which encourages me to get up and eat it because I'm looking forward to something yummy. And yes I TRY to sit down when I eat it.

[Kristie]

I give myself an hour and 10 minutes to get ready every morning. I try to lay out the things I'll need for the day the night before. Last night I half made my lunch and breakfast so it would take less time this morning. I put all the mail that I needed, my purse and other odds and ends on the entry table so I'd remember it. Most days we get out of the door early but it took us months upon months upon months to get a routine down. This does not count the days that Jackson is a butthead and does whatever he wants.

[sleigh beds]

I make a cup of tea to drink in the car and breakfast is handfuls of cereal while I'm driving to the office.It is the nice feeling in the morning to take hot cup of tea.