Getting up in the mornings is no fun for anybody and it’s not surprising, really. Oh, there are a few of us who leap out of bed, eager to be off on our 10 km morning run. But the very thought of that run, or at least the guilt of not going, is what keeps most of us firmly under the covers.
I’m betting that the other thing keeping us wrapped up tight is the way we’ve set up our daily morning routine. There’s no doubt about the whoooole lot of stuff to get through before we head off to work, sport, school or other morning commitments. Such a lot, in fact, that we can sometimes feel overwhelmed and exhausted before we even open our eyes.
Racing around getting everyone ready. Repeating commands over and over like a neglected stuck record (“put your shoes on, put your shoes on, find your sock then, put your shoes on, brush your teeth”). Making a longed for morning cuppa and watching it go cold on the bench. Breakfast? Well, that’s a stale piece of toast shovelled down while listening to the children’s reading and playing ‘find the lost shoe’.
Starting the day out like this, day after day, with all the joy of a rat in a wheel, isn’t good for anyone. With everything that needs to be done, it’s hard to see that it’s ever going to be much different, but it can be, it must be. Beginning our day feeling calm and peaceful is a luxury we need to create for ourselves. Space to think about the day ahead, time to plan our best path to make it as good a day as possible.To get this sense of peace, we already prepare as much as we can the night before – homework done, lunch boxes packed, clothes ironed and ready to go, shoes and socks (mostly) found and waiting for small feet. We set out the morning routine carefully for the children so they know what’s expected of them – rise and shine, eat breakfast together, get dressed, brush teeth, make bed, time for play then off to school.
The good news is that when it’s time to play, it’s also time for me to pour myself a cup of tea and sit down with my porridge or eggs on toast and the morning news or my inbox. I sit outside on the front verandah and watch the children get their school uniforms dirty on the rocks in our front yard.
Sundays is the day that we have a long leisurely breakfast and I think this is a weekly ritual for many other families too. On Sundays we get to press the ‘pause’ button and linger in the soft morning light. Breakfast becomes ‘brunch’ and at our place we either go out to the cafe in a local park or I make some favourites at home, but either way we take our time and pretend that we have nothing else to do. We certainly have nothing better to do.When I serve Sunday breakfast at home, it’s always a fancy occasion. We bring out the tablecloth and silverware, add a pot of flowers and the girls decorate the table (they are so like their mumma!) Eggs always feature (we have chickens and, besides, we have to feature the special egg cups carefully painted by Arabella 1000 years ago), accompanied most often by pancakes.
The buttermilk pancakes that I usually make come from a battered old recipe book that I picked up in a charity shop. It lost it’s cover long ago. The pancake page is barely legible these days – so enthusiastic are my pancake making skills and so vacant is my ability to memorise a recipe. Drops of batter have obscured much of the writing and butter-stained fingers the rest. But I almost know this recipe off by heart and it’s a good one. That’s the best kind of Sunday recipe if you ask me!
How peaceful is your morning ritual?
Jen says
We don’t have children so we don’t have the hecticness of that introduced to our mornings, but neither of us are morning people. I’ve tricked myself into it but I really would prefer to stay curled up…or rather I’d rather be up until 3:00 in the morning and then sleeping until 8 or 9. I too ready what I can at night and get up early enough to leave myself enough time to make a good breakfast – usually bagel things with cream cheese, smoked salmon, & capers along with coffee – and time to write for about half an hour. We, too, like to have brunch on Sundays…often eggs and bacon and biscuits accompanied by bloody marys or mimosas (this morning made with fresh squeezed juice from satsumas). It’s nice to just relax and be before the chaos of a new year.
Maxabella says
I like the sound of a bloody mary Sunday brunch, Jen! I’ll add that to my menu quick smart! x
di @ studio10creative says
I’m embarrassed to say that breakfast during weekdays is usually fruit on the go for us. We’re all up and out the house before 7, so to sit down and have a healthy breakfast together just doesn’t happen. The weekends are different though, and it’s nice to be able to have time to cook. Eggs or pancakes are faves in our house. x
Maxabella says
You gotta do what you’ve gotta do. I think a 7 am out-of-the-house would kill me, Di. You should make some of those ‘portable breakfast bars’ I’ve seen around. I’m going to give them a go too. x
Lisa@RandomActsOfZen says
Weekday breakfasts are a bit disjointed around here, as John is usually arriving home from work just as Bell’s eating her breakfast. We’re out of the house at 7.30, so I have to be pretty organized, and have most things ready the night before.
Weekends are a different story, and it’s all nice and slow. Dumplings or rice rolls, eggs or French toast, always something cooked and eaten together slooooowly.
I love that your chookies are with you at breakfast time, Bron x
Maxabella says
Dumplings for breakfast – yum! Can I come over!? x
KezUnprepared says
Haha love the WHOOPS 😉
I am nervous for when the Little Mister starts 4 year old kindy at the proper school next year. I am going to have to get organised!!!
Maxabella says
School is definitely a game-changer, Kez. It’s like that deadline we all avoid until the very last possible minute. x
Corinne says
I have to say our routines are fairly peaceful, even though we have to get up and get going early (the kids’ school starts at 7.30am and we have a 25 minute drive to school).
We all eat breakfast (well I drink coffee and make lunches while the others eat) and chat about the day ahead. Bags are packed with whatever items are needed the night before (Arabic books, Mandarin books, library books, PE gear, homework, whatever) and then they all get dressed, teeth and hair brushed. Sometimes they have 5 minutes to play or read while I chat to hubby about what needs to be achieved that day. Then it’s off out the door.
I often meet a friend for breakfast after school drop-off, as it’s a nice time to catch up before working/starting the day.
On Fridays (our Sunday equivalent) we usually go out for lunch, so breakfast is a quiet lazy affair of coffee and thick slices of toast for adults, cereal or eggs for the kids.
Maxabella says
Such an early start at school! Do you like it that way, Corinne. I reckon it would really suit a lot of Aussie families too. I also really like your idea of meeting a friend for breakfast – that’s a nice way to do it. x
Corinne says
The early start actually suits me really well as my kids are all larks and up at the crack of dawn so we may as well get to school. It also gives us the flexibility for either parent to do the school drop-off too, which is great. Starting early also means that both parents get to morning assembly if a kid is performing or getting an award. I think it also lessens the traffics as workers tend to hit the road slightly later.
Malinda @mybrownpaperpackages says
I love that – it isn’t that we have nothing else to do, we have nothing better to do. I love long lazy Sunday mornings.
Maxabella says
Me too! The luxury of TIME. x
Nicole @ The Builder's Wife says
The week days are all chaos here, though the weekends are long and slow, well during summer when there is no weekend sport anyway. Now that the kids are teenagers, they sleep until 9 or 10am, so it’s definitely slow starts then. xx
Lyn (aka) The Travelling Lindfields says
One day they will grow up and you will miss the chaos.