How to reinvent your morning as a parent

It’s often difficult to stick to a productive routine as a busy parent – how can you try to reinvent your morning while taking good care of small humans too?

Credit: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on Happiful

For many parents the morning is the most stressful part of the day; establishing routines as a family is a great way to limit this. However, many suggestions you read online do not seem feasible when caring for small children – after all, how are we supposed to do a workout, or make a smoothie, with a two-year-old glued to our hip? 

So let’s take a look at some more realistic tips to help you to reinvent your morning routine as a parent. 

1. Get up before your children

Once you’ve got your kids’ sleep into a routine, try setting your alarm clock just 10 minutes before you know they’ll stir and start the day with calm rather than chaos. In this time, you could: 

• make a to-do list for the day;
• ,catch up on the news;
• ,scroll through social media;
• ,have a peaceful shower; or
• simply drink a nice cup of coffee in peace.  

2. Involve the kids

If you’re determined to start the day with exercise but have small children preventing you, then head to YouTube; there are plenty of workouts that can be done safely with babies and toddlers in tow. 

3. It starts the night before

When the house is finally quiet, and you’re feeling ready for bed, the last thing you want to do is delve into chores – but It may well be worth using some time in the evenings for prepping to save you extra stress the following day.

Breakfast is an easy one; overnight oats take seconds and are easy to grab from the fridge. You can also pack lunch boxes, school or nursery bags the night before and avoid any last-minute dramas.

4. Realistic!

Adapting to change can be very difficult but remember that what you achieved pre-baby probably isn’t realistic now you are a parent! Set simple goals, let the small stuff go, and realise it won’t always be like this.

6. Make your bedroom your happy place

If you’re going to be woken up at the crack of dawn, then your bedroom should at least be the most relaxing place possible and help boost your mood. Treat yourself! Invest in nice bedding, a gorgeous coffee mug or fancy cereal. Who knows, it may even get you through being woken up at 5am?

7. Gratitude

When you’re tired it is often difficult to think on the bright side, but a little mindfulness will make all the difference. This doesn’t have to involve lengthy journaling. Simply thinking of a few things you’re grateful for while enjoying a cuppa could help.

8. Don’t let you fall down the priority list

You’ve thought about feeding the baby, sorting their clothes and packing their bags – but what about you? Try to think of your own needs as being equally important to those of your children and make sure you’re eating healthily too, wearing nice clothes and staying positive! Remember that you will only be able to care well for your children if you are healthy and happy yourself.