Morning Routine

What is your morning routine like?

Here is a snapshot of mine:

7.30 am : wake The Little Girl up for Playschool on weekdays. Amazingly, she wakes up early on weekends when we can actually sleep in. Bummer for me, of course.

7.45 am : the second alarm to really get The Little Girl going if she isn't already.

8 am : breakfast. Despite the rotating menu, she nearly always just drinks goats milk and refuses to eat.

8.30 am : get her changed into her outfit and pack her water bottle into her backpack. She usually picks a toy/book of the day to accompany her. 99% of the time she wears NOT her uniform. 

8.45 am : out the door, into the lift, get her belted into the booster and start the short drive to Playschool. We usually exchange plans for the day.

9 am : drop her off at The Playschool gate, a quick hug and kiss.

9.15 am : grocery shopping and driving home to sort out lunch, laundry, cleaning up, errands, play time/feed Bean and let me just confess that this feels like the shortest morning hours ever! 

The Other Half watches Bean when I am out for the school run. On days when he has appointments, we exchange our duties so that he can out the door and not miss the appointment. Luckily for us, he can arrange the appointment time to suit our family routine so as to prevent chaos/being late.

Bean goes to Gymboree on some mornings so he too, has to be included in the morning school run. He is mostly a contented and happy toddler but you can tell he is starting to be frustrated at being strapped down safely in his car seat. So far, nursery rhymes and a small toy can still keep him entertained from KLCC to Bangsar.

In order to cope, we have a weekly meal planner, weekday discount summary at our local grocer's typed out in my mobile Notes, weekly chores planner and quite often still NOT have the time to do it all.

My biggest downfall? Facebook. 

It is sucking too much of my time and I had to leave some groups recently I order to regain some precious minutes back into my short mornings (and rest of the day, obviously).

My other downfall? Whatsapp.

Far too many messages on non-urgent matters. In fact, my phone memory got bogged down and the app just won't upload anymore. Blessing in disguise as I now regain extra minutes to relief my pressure cooker harried lifestyle.

Lunch is often simple and Bean is babyledweaning style eater who helps himself quite independently (small mess, bearable!). We then resume whatever we were doing to prepare for the afternoon. 

1.30 pm : leave home/ appointment place for Playschool to fetch The Little Girl home. If we are lucky and no one is having tantrums, solat Zuhur once we get home at about 2.15 pm.

On Fridays, we leave earlier for Playschool as I have to do a solo drive with Bean to fetch The Little Girl at 1 pm while The Other Half is at solat jumaah. Bean prefers to explore the waiting area at the Playschool and not be rushed back into his car seat too soon. Often times, it is much easier to just pick The Little Girl up straight from the gate at dismissal time and not have to leave the car at all. Rarely does Bean nap through the Friday pick up...and I have grown to somewhat expect the worst. 

Do all parents rush this way too? Does it feel stressful sometimes?

Please share your time management tips to simplify my mornings. Thank you!