Did you enjoy your weekend? We had a busy day on Saturday with lots of projects to accomplish, but our Sunday afternoon and evening was spent just totally relaxing and hanging out… which was such a nice change of pace after a very full week last week.
The interesting thing was that, even though I had told myself I could sleep in as late as I wanted to, I woke up both mornings by 7:30 a.m.! This might seem really “late” to those of you who always get up by 5 a.m. on the weekends, but I was excited because I fully expected that I’d sleep in until 8:30 a.m. as I often do on weekends. But nope, I think my body is starting to fully embrace this early to bed, early to rise thing again! 🙂
Today’s Rise & Shine Assignment
Today’s assignment is to really make your morning ritual a habit. Because I’ve been getting up and doing practically the same routine for years, it is very ingrained in me as a habit.
It looks a little different every morning, but it’s very rare for me to not start my day with Bible reading, writing in my Blessings journal, reading at least a few pages from a book, and praying over my day. It’s amazing how this refuels my tank and starts my day off well!
Now, some of you might be reading this and thinking, that’s a great idea to start your day off with some quiet reading, prayer, and reflection, but that would never work for me because my kids get up so early. Or, they’ll get up as soon as I wake up, no matter what time it is!
If you’re feeling like that, I encourage you not to be discouraged! Here are a few suggestions:
- Have your child get to watch a special movie or show during that time. Just plan on it so you don’t feel guilty.
- Let your child play an educational app for an allotted amount of time.
- Have your child go back to their bedroom with a special basket of toys and let them know they can play quietly and come out when the timer goes off.
- Have the child snuggle with you if you’re sitting and reading/having devotions.
I’m sure some others have some great suggestions here that I didn’t list. I’d love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on this topic, too!
This Morning’s Report
- Got up at 5:30 a.m. I’m still hoping to start consistently getting up at 4:30 a.m., but I’m really happy that I’m at least consistently getting up by 5:30 a.m. *and* getting 7 or more hours of sleep every night. That’s a big accomplishment for me right now!
- Headed downstairs and made coffee. Did a quick clean of a few things in the kitchen.
- Brought the laundry downstairs from the upstairs hampers and started a load of laundry.
- Straightened our room and bathroom.
- Sat down with my cup of coffee and read my Bible, read a chapter from a devotional book, wrote in my Blessings Journal, and prayed over my day.
- Answered emails and comments. Scheduled some posts. Sent a few project emails out to my team members.
- Placed an order on Amazon. Updated and scheduled some posts on Pinterest.
- Got the kids up and around and started on their morning routines. Switched the laundry from the washer to the dryer and started another load. Made sure the kids did their chores correctly.
- The kids ate breakfast with Jesse while I finished up a little more computer work.
- Taught Silas Kindergarten while the girls got started on their morning school. {I’m loving getting to teach Kindergarten again! This is such a fun grade to teach… especially because Silas is usually always eager and excited to do school!}
- I made myself a bowl of oatmeal with a little chocolate and almond butter mixed in (yum!) and then sat down to help the girls with their school.
- We finally finished our morning homeschooling, had a quick lunch, I started the dishwasher, and then Jesse took the kids to swim practice and I got a chance to sit down and do some more blogging work and write this post.
- I have a few more projects to wrap up this afternoon and then I’m going to exercise, finally get in a shower, and tackle a mountain of laundry. And then we’re off to have dinner with friends tonight!
Kate @thebeautifulusefulproject.com says
My boys wake up early. Really early. I ended up getting one of those clocks that light up when they’re supposed to get out of bed, and that helped a lot. I love my alone time in the morning!
Samantha says
With school starting this week, I was determined to get my routine started and stick to it! Day 2 and going strong! For me, that’s pretty good!!! I’m up at 6, get the list of things to do for the day started. I’ve started a list of what to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and it’s working out perfectly! I’m having a small window of time for myself in the mornings but was wondering Crystal, how exactly do you do a Bible journal and how do you choose what you will read thru in the Bible?
Crystal Paine says
Way to go!!
For me, personally, I love to read through the Bible using one of the Bible Reading Plans available on ESV.org. I also often read a chapter or a few pages from some type of devotional book. I am currently just journaling 2-3 blessings from the day before each morning. I’ve done more in-depth journaling during some seasons of life, but I’m keeping it simple right now.
Jenni says
I have my routine ingrained as well. I was just curious, how long is the routine? My list isn’t as big, but I call my routine done just before 9, when we start school just curious. 🙂
Julie says
My youngest is three and will usually get up when I come out of my bedroom. I usually get my shower and prayer time in before he gets up. But my husband and I use the half hour before he goes to work to have “Mommy Daddy quiet time”, reading our Bibles, coffee and chatting. Our son is encouraged to cuddle up on the couch with books too. Sometimes if he needs it, I’ll cuddle him on my lap while I read Bible or devotions. But until Daddy leaves for the day there is no loud playing, shouting, noisy toys, ect. He’s pretty good at following the rules! It certainly makes a big difference for us to have that quiet time together to start the day out.
Zil says
Curious – since you’ve said you don’t eat sugar – what kind of chocolate are you using in your oatmeal?
Crystal Paine says
I found these Lilly’s Stevia Sweetened chocolate chips on Amazon. They are SO delicious and a special treat to occasionally sprinkle into something. 🙂
{And can you believe that sweet tooth me has gone almost 100% sugar free?!? I’m still in shock over that!}
Jenny says
I get up around 430 every morning. I’m a single mom with 3 kiddos, i have to work 7 days a week so its imperative that I am up early so i can make sure breakfast is ready and kids are showered and dressed then i can finally get showered and ready for work ( leave at 6a.m.), I really need to get up around 345 a.m. though seems like I’m always rushing, I’m always so tired though and just can’t seem to get up that early!
Denise says
Wow, I’m sure you are exhausted after doing that 7 days a week! That’s so much to handle. Just wondering if it’s possible to have everyone show/bathe the night before to take away some of the morning stress. I make all my kids shower at night (not sure how old yours are) and I just wash my hair in the morning. Or, have breakfast set out the day before and kids can eat while you get ready? Again, not sure of the ages or if that’s possible for you. Hope you can get more rest:)
Jenny says
Denise I’ve tried the showers the night before but my kids (6,9,11) throw a fit if they can’t shower the morning of… Sometimes I make breakfast burritos ahead of time when i know im gonna be working 2 or more double shifts i average about 64 hours a week a lot of times I’m so exhausted have no energy.
Lori says
Jenny – I truly admire what you do. I don’t have kids and it’s still difficult for me to get up and get myself out the door!
I am praying that the Lord will help you so you don’t have to work as much. Blessings to you.
Jenny says
Thank you, its definitely challenging and if it wasn’t for my faith in the Lord i think i would’ve lost my sanity along time ago but i just keep trusting in our heavenly father. Blessings to you also!
Denise says
God bless you, Jenny and I pray God gives you double energy:) Pick your battles for sure. I also pray that in the future you won’t have to work so many hours.
Vanessa says
I have 2 children who are early risers. When each was around 2 years old, we moved them out of their crib and into a “big kid bed.” In order to keep them from getting up early, we put their night lights on a timer (like the ones you get for Christmas lights). They are easy to adjust, don’t take up much room when packing, and significantly cheaper than those special night lights that change colors. We taught them that if the night light was on, it meant you had to stay in bed. We used it for nap time too. Our son took awhile to get it, but our daughter caught on in a day! So, even if they are awake early, we were able to get them to go back to bed. Now they are both old enough to tell time and are not supposed to come out of their rooms until 7am. Most days they are awake before that, looking at books, reading, or playing quietly in their beds. It’s a great way for me get my morning routine, including my devotional time, accomplished before they get up!
Kim says
Out of just curiosity – why 4:30 a.m.? I get up everyday between 4:30 and 5:00 a.m. I really want to make 4:30 or 4:15 a.m. my consistent time, but it hasn’t happened much lately.
People think I’m crazy to get up that early. So I’m just wondering why you chose that time?
Thanks.
andrea c says
We bought our kids an alarm clock…. Not to wake them, but to let them know that they could get up. They were too young to read time, and I didn’t want to get up at 5 and have them crash at 9…. So they learned to stay in bed and learned to go back to sleep until 7 when their clock went off 🙂
Laura says
One thing I did if my kids woke up early on weekends, which happened a lot when they were under the age of 5: I invited them to sit with me while I read my Bible. They enjoyed the snuggle time, and I usually got a few more minutes of reading in. Sometimes I would use it as an opportunity to read the Bible to them too.
Ashley S. says
I’m glad you brought up this point about how to pull this off with early morning kids/babies. It always sounds so nice, but I think that during this season of my life with a 1.5 year old who may wake up a few times in the night, or at 4:30 or 5:30 a.m. for the day, (and a best case scenario of 6:00 a.m.) I need to be realistic and have grace with myself (in your words :). But, how you start the day is so important to how you feel, so me and my husband do have a bit of a system where he gets the little guy and they go get coffee (a small indulgence to improve our moods for the day), which lets them have some quite time and I get to take a shower and get dressed without my son vying for my attention. I feel like that gives me the time I need to reflect on my day and charge up for being so happy to see by boy when they get back. Working full time with a little one, you have to be creative, but you have to do whatever works! Me and my husband started having SUCH better mornings after starting this routine a few months ago.
Lana says
When our kids were still at home we got them up as early as we got up so that we could get going on our chores and school day as soon as Daddy left for work. Our oldest, who is almost 35, was an early riser on the weekends and back then cartoons were much more kid friendly so he was allowed to turn on the TV on Saturday mornings.
I got up at our regular 5:30 even though I only slept 4 hours last night. It is important to me to be up with my husband every morning so I get up no matter how much I have slept. Since the kids are all grown I can take a cat nap if I really need to after he is gone. Oddly though, most of the time when I don’t sleep I have plenty of energy and just fly through my to do list and I did that today.
Anne says
But what should one do if you have an almost 2 year old and you work full-time?
Crystal Paine says
Some of these tips should work — I was picturing both stay-at-home moms and working moms when I wrote them. Let me know if none will work and why and I’ll see if I can come up with other options. I’ve worked from home for years (often without having any childcare help), so I’ve employed a LOT of different creative options over the years. 🙂
Laura says
Hi Crystal,
I am new to the blog and loving it so far! Just wondering if you would be willing to share some details on how much time you spend on each activity in your morning routine? And what time you typically get your kids up and start their routine? Not to be too prescriptive but just as a means of additional perspective. And for us moms who work outside the home and have to have everyone up and out the door by, say, 7:30, what guidance would you have for prioritizing the morning routine essentials?Would love to know your thoughts. Thanks!
Crystal Paine says
My goal is to get up by 4:30 a.m. and be done and ready for breakfast and chores and homeschooling by 8 a.m. It doesn’t always happen exactly like that, but that’s what we shoot for. If you have to be up and out the door early,
I’d probably stick with a very streamlined basics routine in the morning and put more emphasis on a really solid evening routine where the bulk of the work and to-do’s get done then. However, maybe other moms who are in a similar boat as you can give some perspective?