7 Pre-Bedtime Activities to Streamline Your Morning

Image Courtesy of alexkerhead on flickr

Normally, Sunday mornings are a buzz at our house.  Getting Tiny, the Tot and myself all out of bed, dressed, and fed in time to get to church before the music starts is nothing short of a miracle from God.  The Daddyman is an experienced morning person, but the ladies of the house prefer to live in our PJs and only get ready in an emergency ~ you know, like a trip to the supermarket, a run to Sonic, or a surprise lunch outing.

A few weeks ago, I started working part time.  I'm only working a couple of days a week, but that's enough to make me realize I need a morning routine.  A simple one.  So, we've been taking notes from the Daddyman and our Facebook fans:

1.  Lay out clothes the night before.  Put out everything you need from head to toe including skivvies, shirt, pants, belt, shoes, socks, accessories.  For the fancy-smancy guys out there, make sure you include your tie and cuff links.

2. Prep for breakfast.  We eat cereal so there's not much to prepare, but my aunt has to have her coffee.  She has the coffee maker preset so her morning starts without a hitch.

3. Premake lunches. I wouldn't do this if I was packing a sandwich because that's just a soggy mess waiting to happen, but fruit, veggies, string cheese, a sippy cup of milk (or Juice for Tiny), and a hot dog can all go in the night before. In the morning, all I have to do is drop in a reusable ice pack and a box of raisins. 

4. Make sure your bag is ready.  

• If you carry a diaper bag: take out anything dirty (diapers, clothes, bottles) and repack diapers, wipes, snacks, change of clothes, bottles, sippy cups ~ whatever you normally pack.  Here's an article about what to put in your diaper bag.  They list a lot, so just consider it an idea list.
• If you carry a laptop bag: power cord, mouse, jump drive, pen, files, id badge
• If you just have a purse: wallet, keys, phone, lip junk and other "lady things"

5. Prepare for the weather.  Have your umbrella and a light jacket handy in the spring; your ice scraper, hat, gloves, scarf, and parka for winter weather.  My husband cleans the snow off the cars at night even if it is still snowing ~ I thought he was nuts at first, but it does make morning snow removal much quicker.

6. Charge your cell phone.  I'm a iPhone addict so this is a twice a day thing for me.  If I'm going anywhere for the day, I pack either my outlet charger, or my car charger.

7. Load the car. I've always got something that can be loaded the night before: a friend's dishes to return, a box of snacks for church, or a race car that was left behind.  Just don't put anything valuable in plain site.. it's probably wise not to pre-load valuables at all unless you park in a garage.

I have to admit, I started this post almost two months ago, and I've slacked since then. Rarely a morning goes by that I'm not scampering to get something together or looking for at least one of the Tot's shoes. It's a great goal though.... off to set the alarm. ~ Plain & Simple As That