My Current Morning Routine - As a Homeschool Mom of 5 with a Baby

When Leah was first born (she is almost 8 months old now!), I felt like I lost all margin in my life for quite awhile. As she started sleeping a little better at night, I decided I needed to start waking up earlier to get some of that margin back.

I want to make some caveats here, because not everyone's life is the same and expecting ourselves to keep up with other people's goals and expectations for themselves when our circumstances are different is simply not fair. My caveats include that I am a morning person, so I'd rather go to bed earlier and get up earlier to do things. My kids have a very consistent sleep routine where they get in bed at 8:30 (they can stay up until 9 reading) and stay in bed (even if they wake up) until at least 7:30, and they all sleep well at night. I waited to start waking up early until my baby was sleeping better at night--if she woke up at 4, I turned off the alarm, and there were times at first when I woke up early to do my own things and had to go nurse her back to sleep instead.

As I've been waking up earlier, I've gotten into a pretty good routine and I wanted to just share it here (mostly for my own memories looking back on this time).

6:00 am

I wake up, use the bathroom, and jump up and down 50 times. This is something I heard about on Instagram and decided to try. I'm not sure if I'll keep doing it longterm, but I do like the way it wakes me up in the morning and gets my heartrate up first thing. Then I kneel down and say a short morning prayer.

6:20 am

Open up Google Docs on my computer and work on writing. Right now, that looks like me working on a writing exercise that I'm doing rather than a novel, but eventually I will transition back to novels.

6:30 am

Open up Wix and start working on blog posts. This is my favorite part of the morning and what gets me out of bed. I love my blog and it's one of the things I do for myself right now when life is so crazy.

7:20 am

I put away my computer (usually reluctantly) and go in the kitchen to make protien hot chocolate for myself, my husband, and my son. I used to make it for the entire family, but our girls wanted a break.

7:30 am

I get the baby and nurse her while I read my scriptures. When I'm finished, I drink my hot chocolate. The other kids come down and get themselves breakfast.

8:00 am

I take a quick shower and start my day while my kids get dressed and start on their chore/school list.

It's a pretty simple routine! Sometimes I wake up a little later and just have less time to work on my blog (or work on my blog during one of Leah's naps), but 6:00 is a late enough time for me that I can be consistent with it. I also love how much time it gives me in the mornings before the kids get up. Starting my day this way gets me going for the rest of the day, which helps me feel good about how the days go at this stage of life.

So there is my morning routine! What do you do to start your day feeling good? Are you a morning person or a night person? I'd love to hear from you in the comments below!