Mornings are slow around here. Alex leaves for work early in the morning and the kids and I take on our morning routine. We’ve found it so important to have a routine set up to keep our mornings moving right along and to help us all get homeschool started on time. I’ve also noticed that keeping a consistent routine helps us all know what’s coming next … snacks, play time, lunch, and nap leaving little room for guessing or asking for 100 snacks a day.
These days our routines are simple.
- Wake up and get dressed – The kids usually roll out of bed around 7:30 am. Alex and I have “trained” them to stay in their room until Alex is leaving for work. If it were up to them, they’d be out of bed at 5 am running circles around us. When they wake up I have them change into their outfit for the day and put their jammies back in their dresser.
- Brush teeth and wash up – In order to make sure they are brushing correctly, I like to brush their teeth myself. They then wash their face and have them go potty.
- Clean your room – I don’t let them come downstairs until their rooms are picked up. I’ve noticed that once they’re out of the room, it’s really difficult to get them back in there to clean up their beds. So, a clean room is their ticket to the downstairs activities.
- Milkshakes and TV show – When we first arrived to this country from Venezuela, we used to practice our English with morning cartoons. My mom would make us fruit milkshakes with NESTLÉ® NIDO®, she would turn on morning cartoons and we would all watch and practice our English together. These days, I make NIDO part of our morning routine. I load up a blender with fresh fruit, NIDO, and we all sit and wake up watching our favorite morning cartoon. It’s an opportunity for me to cuddle with my babies while they’re still calm and take them in before all of our to-do’s kick in. I like using NIDO 1+ because it contains vitamins and minerals which help support healthy growth and development and has a delicious honey taste kids love. My kids look forward to their morning milkshakes and I love knowing that it gives them a strong start to their day.
- Book reading – When they’re all done with their morning shakes, we clean up and head over to a quiet spot. We read a couple of books together, pray and sing a song or two. This is by far my favorite part of our morning. The kids have full bellies, we get a chance to chat and they get rid of the last of their morning wiggles.
- School – We then all pull out our schoolbooks and work on our assignments and lessons for the day. By this time, the kids are ready to learn, focused and usually crush their lessons.
Morning routines change over time based on our family’s rhythm and on what we have going on that day. For the most part, this is what our mornings typically look like. Our mornings are slow, fun, and they set us up for a fun afternoon. I love these kids. I love being their mama and I love spending my mornings with them!
I pick up my NIDO at Walmart.
