Our Morning Routine

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Growing up, I always loved summer, but by the time school rolled around, I was so ready to have a structured schedule again. With Ellie starting preschool in just a few weeks, I really wanted to get us in a good routine, early! We’re not much of morning folks around here, so having a good routine when we do wake up is essential! The other morning, I decided to document our little mornings together, bedheads and all! First up: breakfast!

Ellie is exactly like me: when we wake up, we’re hungry! A quick banana and a bowl of cereal is one of our favorites to enjoy together. The top cereal request? Square cereal! – also known as Life cereal. We’re big fans of the Maple & Brown Sugar and Cinnamon flavors. While we like to eat right when we get up, Brian, on the other hand, typically takes his breakfast to work with him. He typically keeps a box of Original Quaker Instant Oatmeal at work for a quick, easy breakfast.

After breakfast, we head upstairs to work on Ellie’s chores. I don’t mind if Ellie watches a show in the morning (her favorite is Daniel Tiger) but we try to keep it off until all her jobs are done. Growing up, my mom used to make us each Morning Job charts with little pictures so we would remember what we needed to accomplish each morning. A few months ago, I randomly made one for Ellie, with the same drawings my mom used to do, and she LOVED it. Our mornings went so much smoother when she could see exactly what needed to get done, and check it off! I finally made a laminated version to hang on Ellie’s wall. You can find a printable version here.

Now onto Ellie’s first outfit of the day. This girl LOVES clothes. And seriously loves changing her outfit. Her drawers were getting a little overwhelming, so my mom made a genius suggestion! Ellie now has a specific drawer that has two to three different outfits for her to choose from. Instead of us telling her again and again that her clothes don’t match, or she can’t wear her pajamas and snow coat to the store, she now has a drawer where she gets to choose from pre-matched outfits! Now it’s not so overwhelming for her and has reduced the morning tears significantly!

Bed making time! A few months ago, she had no idea how to make a bed, and now she has a very specific way of arranging the pillows. Makes me so proud 😉

And a little dancing! (Funny story: one day we were dancing/jumping on her bed, and I totally broke one of the wooden slats holding up her mattress. Snapped it clean! Oops. Guess grown ups aren’t supposed to be jumping on kid beds. 🙂

About halfway through our little morning routine, Addie nurses and goes down for a nap. Ellie usually plays with toys during this time and typically finds a way to change her outfit again. 🙂

After she gets her hair done, brushes her teeth, and goes potty, we’re ready for the day’s adventures! Some days our adventures consist of grocery shopping or the library and soon, preschool! As we head out on our adventures, we always make sure to pack a snack. These Quaker Chewy Dipps (in the Value Pack!) are super easy to toss in my diaper bag in case either one of us gets hungry. They can be found in the Breakfast aisle (along with the Life Cereal and Value Pack Quaker Instant Oatmeal!) at Walmart. 

And there’s a peek into our little morning routine. Next up is working on our bed time routine, ha! How are you getting your kids ready for back-to-school?