If you are anything like me, you highly dislike a rushed, loud, anxious morning. At the beginning of the year, I started off with the intention and 90-day goal of re-establishing an early morning routine. Over the holidays it fell apart, and my brain really wanted this restored, or so I thought. Looking back, this seems like it might have been a goal that I stacked against myself for more than one reason.
- My toddler was in a season of climbing into bed with me at 4am and wrapping my arms around him. He would lean into my forehead and brush my face with his little chubby fingers until he would fall back to sleep. If I were to slip away an hour later, he would instantly wake. In this moment I am faced with the choice of immediate frustration or the cherished morning of extra snuggles. I could choose the frustration because the tasks I set aside to do that morning did not happen. But then I am faced with the question, “are my goals more important than these small moments that one day I will want back?”
What would you choose? Would your heart and mind be in conflict? Mine was for a short moment. I asked myself; do I pause and recognize that this season is fleeting? He will only be my youngest baby for a few more weeks. Do I cave to the feeling of self judgement and comparison of what other moms are accomplishing before 7am? Am I okay with my biggest accomplishment before 7am being filling my child’s emotional and attachment cup?
One morning I was hashing this out over facetime with one of best friends and realized- I want to choose to these precious moments, the soft snuggles, chubby fingers in my hair, the warmth of their tiny body next to me. These days I will never get back. And guess what, as I type this, we are already out of this season and both of our hearts are happy we soaked up those extra hours of love. This was sort of hard as someone who thrives off of accomplishments and can easily find too much value and satisfaction in a checked off “to-do” list and perfectly clean house. - The second reason this goal was not my best idea is, I am getting ready to deliver a newborn. I’m going to spend this time developing consistency to toss it out the window in a few weeks. I cannot expect my baby to cater to my goals.
When I quit my job to stay home with my kids it was to have more intentional time with them. In a world that tells you to boss babe it up, which yes you can still have a thriving business and good health, it’s not going to look the same for you as it does for me. Your reality might not look like the mom who raves about getting up at 5am to reset her home. It might not look like the mom who takes 3-5 fitness classes a week. I am writing this because these are beautiful ideas. They do sound lovely. We do desire this. These are wonderful tips to share and encouragement to give. As mothers we should strive for excellence. We do not need to be mediocre. However, our excellence might show up with powerful variations. As I share how I restructured our morning, and you observe other moms sharing theirs, take the ideas and adapt them to fit YOU in THIS season.
Because your family does not look like mine, your life will not either. And that’s okay.
Shortly after realizing this goal sucked, I decided to pivot and change my goal. It was two weeks into the year. The old me would have been shouting “POWER THROUGH” or telling me I was weak for giving up. Oh, how much I’ve grown since becoming a mother.
Let me be your mom friend who gives you permission to pivot at any time. Every day is a fresh start. A new opportunity to adjust. Do not wait for a new week or month or year. You miss all those little days in between. Those days deserve to be loved and not wasted too. I am not going into my new goal right now, but I one of the things I ended up doing was recognizing how important it was for me to have a peaceful morning with my children. I’ve done this with this ONE little adjustment.
Two to three times a week, while I am making dinner and my kitchen is already messy, I prep a large breakfast option. This is something that will potentially last two (or three) breakfasts for the entire family, so 3-5 mornings a week breakfast is a pull, heat, and eat situation. These are nutrient dense meals that make my life so much easier and keep the bellies full. This cuts back on my kitchen time first thing in the morning. It prevents my kids from wanting simple snacks like cereal. It cuts back on my level of rushing and allows me to enjoy more time with my children.
You might identify with having lots of mouths to feed first thing in the morning. You walk down the stairs to hungry faces who are begging for food, fun, and playdoh. You might even be a family who leaves for work and school in the morning. This allows you to design a more peaceful morning with your children. It allows the opportunity for you to sit down and share a meal, talk about their concerns, or read some scripture before you frantically rush off with your day. And for those of us who are home with our children, it shifts our day away from busy hands to busy hearts.
I have a toddler who needs extra affection in the morning. I have a diaper to change, supplements to take, breakfast to make, Bible time I need to get done, children who’s hearts are seeking to connect… all necessary things for our survival. Trust me, if my supplements and time with Jesus don’t happen mommy really struggles with grace. Very soon I will have all of this, plus a newborn to feed and another diaper to change. You might feel this deep in your bones.
While I don’t know what that season looks like for me yet and you don’t either, I want to comfort you in the fact that that is normal. I want to encourage you to seek areas that you can implement a peaceful routine.
When I have breakfasts prepped, my oldest children are able to help serve. This gives them an opportunity to seek to help others.
I am going to share my favorite breakfast recipes so you can implement them too. These are all recipes that I have collected from other moms. I’d love to hear your favorite prepped breakfast options in the comments.
- Hardboiled eggs, cut in half with salt and oatmeal muffins (sometimes I’ll add a scoop of protein to the batter).
- Hardboiled eggs, cut in half with salt and Trader Joes chicken breakfast sausages. (whole 30/paleo/gf)
- Hashbrown casserole– I will use pancetta instead of bacon and whole milk instead of evaporated milk. You could even swap in cottage cheese for more protein and less fat. I generally use these recipes and bases for ratios and swap out multiple ingredients. I’ve done chopped broccoli or spinach instead peppers- whatever veggies I have on hand that need eaten!
- Sourdough and egg casserole– This does not call for sourdough bread, but I love using our homemade leftover sourdough bread if it makes it to the point of needing to be used up/being slightly dry. I keep out bread in the refrigerator to help it last longer since it’s homemade with no preservatives.
- Protein Packed Egg Bake-I have not made this one personally yet, but we spent the night with one of my besties and she made this! It was amazing! I’ll be adding it to the rotation! I might not do all the seasonings and herbs every time I make it.
What I love about these recipes is that they are so simple to adapt to your health needs and standards. It’s easy to choose recipes to help you use up ingredients in your refrigerator. Cutting back on food waste and the grocery budget is not something us moms are going to argue with!
