Morning Routine with 2 kids
It can be hard to do it all as a mom. Being home and trying to keep your head above water can be tough. Keeping a routine with your day and your kids will help loads to get more done. Having a routine will do wonders, children do so well when they know exactly what is going to happen through out their day.
Now I am a huge fan of the block schedule (see our post about it here), so my routine is bit more flexible but at the same time is consistent. Our kids know what will be happening in certain time frames.
When it comes to routines there is no one size fits all, what works for our family may not work for yours and that is okay!!!! There is no reason we all need to be the same. During this post, if you read something that would not flow into your life, then don't worry and skip over it.
In this post I will include sample templates for your morning routine. These templates are in my shop, enter your email and get a discount code for my shop!!
Below is an example of what our mornings look like.
Mom wakes up: 6:00- 7:00
This is the block of time where I get some work in or just take time for myself. This time frame does range, I sometimes get up at 6 or sometimes it is closer to 6:30. My girls wake up from 7-7:30 so depending on the day depends on how much time I get to myself in the morning.
Breakfast :7:00-8:30
Whenever the girls get up we start on breakfast. I do normally nurse the baby first before making something, but that will change once she is weaned and we will just roll right into making breakfast.
Most every morning the girls help me pick what we make for breakfast and also help make it. Kids often LOVE to help you in the kitchen, it can be so fun to have them join in making what you guys are going to eat. We love to have a dance party in the morning when breakfast is cooking. :
It is such a fun and active way to start the day. The girls love this part of the routine and Lucy has certain songs she requests every morning.
Morning Basket/ Bible Study: 8:30-9:30
During this time block I study about a chapter of the bible, and Lucy will usually read her kid bible. Often parents will read their bible in the morning in peace without the kiddos around (which I think can be great!), but I really wanted my girls to see me model the behavior.
I hope to raise strong Christians and being a role model when it comes to reading your bible and living a Christ-like life starts at home with the parents.
I give the girls their morning baskets to play with while I clean up breakfast or fold some laundry. The morning baskets are just toys and books that I rotate. I have a special basket and the night before after the girls go to bed I swap some toys and books out so it will not be the same toys every time.
Depending on what our preschool lessons are on this week, I will theme the morning baskets. We recently had a week where we learned about frogs, so the morning basket contained all the toy frogs we have, books on frogs, and an activity themed around frogs.
Outside time/ Activity: 9:30-11
If we have a sensory bin that day this is when I will bring it out, I tend to change the contents of the sensory bin once a week. If the sensory bin was something wet or damp I will wash it out that week, and I will not put a dry ingredients in the sensory bin unless Lucy asks specifically asks for another sensory bin that week.
If we do not do a sensory bin in this time block, then I will bring out possibly a craft themed toward our lesson’s focus for the week. Now like the sensory I normally only do one or two crafts a week for our preschool curriculum.
On a day where we do not have a sensory bin or a craft to do, I take the girls out side to play. We have a water table, chalk, bikes, a trampoline, and more for the girls to play with and get some energy out. Both of our girls love to be outside, sometimes we just enjoy the sun and read. Normally we will play outside until one of the kids gets fussy or is time for lunch.
Conclusion:
I like to have our routine, a bit looser than mapping it out every 15 minutes or every 30 minutes, I tried and I got too stressed when we fell a bit behind. I found if I gave us an hour to an hour and a half, and that worked so much better for us.
Routines are important for kids and parents, but mostly you need to make a routine that works for your family and your kids. Be patient when finding your routine because it may take time, when we had Lyra our routine changed because our family had grown. Give yourself grace and remember to be calm when in a new stage of life.
This is the routine that we have found works for us, I hope reading it helped your plan out a routine that works for you!