Morning De-Stress

I am not a morning person and mornings at our house start WAY too early. The big kids, and  by big kids I mean everyone but Harper,  have to leave the house at approximately 6:52am to be at the bus stop before the bus arrives. For the most part they are pretty self sufficient. I mean how hard is it to open a pack of pop tarts? There are those inevitable mornings, though, when the sock drawer is empty or the only pants in Bailey's drawer have buttons, not snaps - or Jenna Beth can't find A shoe, or jacket, or glove or her happy heart. She's not a morning person either.

During the fall semester, WE had many morning breakdowns and I am definitely including myself in that WE. I dumped more than one bowl of cereal in the sink because it was the wrong cereal or there was not enough milk while spouting out at the mouth about how much food we waste or just go to school hungry. All really edifying and mature, but at Zero Dark Thirty it is really hard to be mature, right? On two mornings, I walked a screaming 4 year old to the bus stop barefooted, in my tight workout pants that I slept in, holding her hand while escorting her up the steps of the bus. It was a sight to behold.  My picture is probably on the bonus footage of People of Walmart. I am positive I am now THAT mom to the other early  morning bus parents. Hopefully, they didn't get a good look at me since it was dark outside still and I sure didn't make eye contact with any of them.

In my efforts to live with less stress, I have made some changes to my morning routine and so far this semester, except for that one morning when Jenna Beth lost a shoe or glove or something, we have had fairly peaceful mornings. What are those changes, you  ask?

To begin with, I have started doing a little more prep the night before. I have always packed lunches at night, but now I do an inventory of socks, shoes, jackets, gloves, hats, etc. to make sure they can be easily located each morning.

In the mornings, I stay in Jenna Beth's room from the time I pat her little bottom to wake her up until she is fully dressed, head to toe. Not giving her a chance to procrastinate or change her mind helps tremendously. To some I may be babying her, but to me, I am helping get our day off to a good start. It really is just about my sanity.

I have quit fighting breakfast fights. If Jenna Beth wants to eat pudding with whipped cream for breakfast, she eats pudding with whipped cream. I know, dessert for breakfast, but what a fantastic way to start the day.  If I could eat ice cream or cheesecake for breakfast and not gain an ounce, I would - wouldn't you? I figure it is good calcium and probably has less sugar than the pop tarts her brothers are eating. I haven't compared labels, but I feel fairly safe in my assumption.

I am hoping our mornings stay rather calm and peaceful. We have a good thing going right now and I would hate to mess it up. If I have to bend over backwards and do headstands every morning and it results in less chaos before the sun comes up, it's worth it. If only I could do either of those.

Are mornings painful at your house? What do you do to alleviate some of your morning stress?