Tuesday, November 9, 2010

I'm feeling sort of brilliant.

I love sleep. I am one of those moms who functions best on 9-10 hours of sleep every night. HA! Not going to happen right now. But I just cannot bring myself to get up an hour earlier than my kids just to shower and get ready before they wake up. I'd rather put my dry shampoo to good use.

The consequences of my morning laziness have included not getting to shower until nap time, getting out of the shower to find one or both of the kids getting into trouble while I've tried to convince them to sit still and watch a kid's show on TV in our bedroom, and also angry babies who have laid awake in their cribs for too long while they wait for me to finish getting ready so that they can get up for the day. None of these are working for us.

So on the days that we actually have things to do and places to go in the mornings, I've found a new little routine that works for us. It's safe, everyone ends up bathing, and for the most part we're all happy at the end. Plus, I get to sleep as long as possible and the kids don't have to wait around for me to get ready.

How to get more sleep as a pregnant mom with a 2 yr old and a 1 yr old:

1. Wake up as soon as you hear the first child stirring in his/her bed.
2. Run to the shower, take your toothbrush with you. Don't linger.
3. Dress quickly; try to match your clothes, which are ideally clean. (No judgement if a washcloth is needed to move a shirt from the 'dirty' category to 'clean'.)
3. Bring all necessary tools for getting ready into the kids' bathroom, and start a bubble bath in the tub.
4. Dash to the kitchen, and fill a sippy cup for each child with milk. Fill 2 bowls with Cheerios.
5. Remove children from their beds, hopefully within 5-10 minutes of them waking up. Offer to trade them their clothes and soggy diapers for the sippys of milk, and deposit them into the tub.
6. Wash children first, then tell them they get to play in the tub for a few more minutes while mommy finishes getting ready at the sink.
7. Blowdry hair.
8. Remove kids from tub, and tell them that after they are diapered and dressed, if they sit nicely by the bathroom they can have a picnic breakfast.
9. Set kids up where you can still see them with their bowls of Cheerios, and finish getting ready / put on makeup.
10. Conquer another day.

This is sadly not the most perfect plan... I definitely spent a few extra minutes cleaning up spilled Cheerios. But it's much better than anything else I've tried! We were out the door this morning and had run 3 errands before lunch and nap time. And I wasn't afraid to run into anyone we knew. Haha.

How do YOU get ready in the morning with kids underfoot? I'd love to hear your suggestions and tricks of the trade. Comment away!

8 comments:

The Samsons said...

Love your routine! I laughed out loud. I put the baby down for a nap then employ Max and Ruby (TV) for the older two to grab a shower. I also wash my hair only every other day. Definitely do the wash cloth clean too :):)

Anonymous said...

LOVE it!!! That was so funny! :) I can totally relate! I usually don't get to the hair & make-up if I'm home all day - only on days that I'm going out. The days I'm going out the girls usually play in my room on the floor while I get ready. I usually end up getting ready during the 2nd half of their nap time. :)

the deKorne family said...

you shower and bathe your kids every day? oh my gosh. i wash my hair every 3 days. hopefully. you are a rockstar!

The Inspired Nester said...

one word: Sprout
;)

Matt and Abby said...

Hey Ashley. I've kind of been a blog stalker of yours.....
Anyway, I had to comment on this one...
I have no ideas, I just thought yours was hilarious. You gotta do what you gotta do, right??

The Larsons said...

You are so darling and I can just picture you going through your morning routine! I typically get ready in the am while Joey is down for his first nap, Char either kicks back with milk and Dora or her new love is climbing into Jeff's side of the bed and reading books. She usually joins me in my shortened beauty routine once my hair is dry (she is not a fan of the hair dryer.) :) If I need to be out of the house before 8, I plop both kiddos into the pack and play in our room, which they think is hysterical, and I'm usually able to shower before Charlotte is attempting to ride her brother.

Thanks for sharing, girl!

Courtney McDonald said...

I only have one child (and one on the way), but I feel the same way about needing at least 10 hours of sleep to function! I shower at night, let my hair dry half way, and then twist and pin it in sections with bobby pins. When I get up in the morning (same time as Kennedy), I take out the pins, put in some curl cream and I'm good to go! It has definitely made looking decent during the day much easier, and gives me a teeny bit more confidence and willingness to leave to the house :)

Joy Hine said...

LOVE THIS!!! One thing I have learned over the years is as soon as you find something that works, circumstances will change, causing that whole process to be uprooted and you'll have to start from scratch! LOL!!! One of the things I LOVE about being a Mommy... never a dull day! =)