Our year so far has been full of changes and new routines, and therefore a greater need to get ourselves organised! My husband started a new job a few weeks ago, my 4 year old started his first year of kinder, and I am now working 1-2 days per week out of the home, as well as working on the business and taking care of my 21-month old. Things are busy to say the least! We have had to make a few adjustments to our routines in order to make the mornings run smoothly.
Today I'm sharing 5 tips for a stress-free start to the day (which works most of the time!), and I'll share 5 more next week. I'd love to hear in the comments what you do to ensure a stress-free morning, especially if you have kids!
Tip 1. Dishwasher emptied the night before
As soon as dinner is packed up, we turn on the dishwasher, so the cycle is finished and it is ready to be emptied by the end of the evening. My husband and I either take it in turns to empty it, or do it together (which I way prefer - so much quicker!). This means in the morning, our breakfast dishes can go straight in the empty dishwasher.
Tip 2. Breakfast supplies ready to go
As we are emptying the dishwasher, we set out the breakfast supplies on the bench for the following morning. Cereal jars are on a floating shelf above the kitchen bench so everything is close at hand. The kids usually eat porridge, so we put the oats in the saucepan of water the night before as we find they cook a lot quicker this way.
Tip 3. Lunches (semi) prepared
As I've shared previously, my husband and I have mason jar salads for lunch. We make 6 of these on a Sunday afternoon, and keep them in the fridge, where they stay fresh for the week (the other days we usually have leftovers). On days that I'm working, I like to have my lunch pre-packed and ready to grab from the fridge in the morning, which includes my salad, a piece of fruit and a snack. If I'm with the kids for the day and we are heading somewhere like a park or a friend's house, I aim to have their lunch-boxes semi-prepared so there's less to do in the morning.
Tip 4. Bags packed and ready to go
I am totally loving our new bag hooks! I had just been saying to my husband about a month ago that I'd come up with an idea for the bag hooks - a length of painted wood attached to the wall with about 5 hooks on it - when we spotted this exact idea in a ready-to-go kit at Ikea. Score!
I now aim to pack the kids' bags the night before so they are ready for whatever activity we have on that day e.g. kinder, play-date or a day with Grandma. If they're with me and we're heading somewhere, I aim to have the nappy bag fully stocked and ready to go. I also have a work bag but because I only use this once or twice a week, I keep it in a storage basket which lives on the console.
Tip 5. Accessible 'out-the-door' items
Speaking of the console, it is still working an absolute treat for keeping our family organised. Shoes are in the right-side basket, keys and sunglasses are in the drawers, and I've recently added some cloths and lens spray to clean our glasses on the way out the door if they are looking a bit smudged. #itsthelittlethings!
