Mornings With Kids
Have you had one of THOSE days? One of those mornings when the kids just wouldn’t listen and you felt like you had to do it all, repeating yourself for the 100th time and the juggling of all the things just wasn’t working? Mornings with kids are always an adventure.
I am not a morning person. I need time to wake up and drink my coffee and get mentally ready for the day. I usually do not get that time – let’s be real, I am not willing to wake up an hour earlier just to have that quiet time before my kids wake up.
This particular epic mom day a couple of weeks ago, the dog woke me up at 5. In the AM. My answer? To doze on the couch for an extra hour before I made myself get in the shower. I set my cell phone alarm for 6, and only snoozed it twice.
My kids’ school day wake up time is 7:00. I thought I was set – shower around 6:15 and still get a few minutes to have some quiet before moving on the wake up, get breakfast and make lunch routine. And…the little came in while I was still in the shower. Ok, no problem! Just go snuggle with the dog while I finish up.
Fall came in with a rush that week in Colorado. We had high 90s over Labor Day weekend, and snow and 30s Tuesday and Wednesday. So, it was cold outside. I told the kids they needed long pants and long sleeves.
What does the youngest do? She comes downstairs in a church dress and too-small leggings. Then complained that the dress and leggings were itchy. Instead of sitting and eating her breakfast, she went back upstairs and changed. Into a skirt (no leggings) and t-shirt. Her older sister told her she would be cold, and called me to come up and help. I had just finished making lunches and was stressed. Went upstairs, and started to open the drawer while the little was crying and having her meltdown on the floor – guess what? She bonked her head because she started to move right when I opened the drawer. OOPS!
Does this happen to you?
Funny thing, we had a blog contributors Zoom scheduled that morning, and several of us had this same type of morning. The kids trying to wear shorts when it’s freezing outside (how many times did I say wear long pants?!?). Arguing over socks (I don’t know how many times I’ve had friends call me and ask if it’s normal for their little girls to melt down over socks). Trying to wear sweaters in the summer and shorts/short skirts in the winter.
Are your kids struggling with getting back into a regular routine? The meltdowns over clothes are a regular, normal occurrence around here, so I can’t say that it’s a new thing. But, I think all of us are trying to get back on track and into a groove with our new Fall Schedules. More on that later – it will be the subject of an upcoming Team Juggling Normal Group Q&A, and hopefully all of our team will be able to give some ideas for how we are all dealing with it (or not).
Mornings with kids are always an adventure! After I get the kids off to school – especially now – I feel like I’ve run a marathon. I take 30 minutes to drink my coffee and scroll through social media, just to decompress.
I love my kids. Somehow, this first few weeks of back to school has been so unbelievably hard. I knew it would be – we were all home together for six months, after all.
I don’t have all the answers. I just want to put this out there – the struggle is real. Mornings with kids are hard. Waking them up and getting them rolling, making sure they eat and have all their things together, making lunches and getting out the door on time – all hard.
We are all in this together, mamas!
Remember, kids are resilient, and they need the routines now just as much as they needed the freedom of summer and to just be kids over the last few months. I think my kids really are ok with the school schedule and doing the things right now. They get up and mostly get dressed and ready without complaint.
Why am I the one who is exhausted?
As moms, we do all the things behind the scenes. I have to get up before all the kids (usually the dog is up and needs to go out anyway), and I also go to bed after all of them. So, we have a longer day and run on less sleep than our kids. And that’s okay. But, we also need to re-charge somehow in between. I take my coffee time after they leave for school, and don’t feel guilty at all! (Plus, I need the coffee).
I don’t make a big breakfast every day. My kids had microwaved Cream of Wheat on the epic morning we’re highlighting; other days, it’s usually cereal or a bagel or waffle. I do make their lunches, every day. My kids won’t eat school lunch. And I don’t make it the night before. In the evenings, I am cleaning up dinner and doing dishes, overseeing baths and showers and bed time, and then picking up odds and ends around the house and trying to read a book or watch a show to relax before I crash.
In the morning, I have a mental schedule that I try to keep to. And it is never consistent. I make my kids get dressed before they come downstairs. They usually still have to run back up after they eat to get socks. Or, as we saw today, to go change into something more appropriate for the weather. My little is easily distracted and usually the last one out the door, taking her time getting shoes and socks on because she thinks of a story to tell me or finds a toy while she’s getting her socks.
Each of our kids is different and unique. The older kids try to be helpful (sometimes) and I don’t always appreciate their help – like when my son’s version of helping includes telling his sister something that just causes another meltdown instead of getting her to change clothes.
Mornings with kids can run smoothly. I know they can. I just haven’t seen one yet this fall. There is always something, and I feel like I am always juggling or reacting to whatever comes up to make that day interesting. Aren’t we all? After all, as moms, that’s what we do!