Good Mornings

“Step out in the sun,
Dance along the breeze,
And swirl around with fun,
Forget your past dear,
Day of charm has come,
Start a new life from now,
A brand new day has begun.”

We decided quite actively that we wanted to be able to leave the house feeling like we could dance along with the breeze instead of feeling like we’d both had some type of seizure. Gone are the mornings of stress, chaos and everyone eating at different times and in different places. The mad last-minute dash for deodorant, keys, mobiles and missing toddler clothing are all a thing of the past.* The only thing that is staying from the old routine is the ‘one day on/one day off’ thing TSH and I have got going, where one of us gets up early with the kids and takes charge whilst the other one gets to continue sleeping, blissfully blocking out the tsunami that is happening in the other room and then awakes to a cup of tea.

The old routine:

05:00 – 05:30 The ‘on-duty’ soldier grumbles a bit, covers his/her head with a pillow but then, after the crying from the baby unfolds with a crescendo and is past the point of return, reluctantly drags themselves out of the bed, picks up said baby and so the day begins.

After a quick nappy change and bottle, it is the ‘on-duty’ soldier’s most challenging mission since waking to entertain said baby and keep her happy but without toys or anything that might make a sound at their disposal. It’s critical that Bubba (3) is not woken too early, or God forbid, the soldier whose turn it is to sleep in.

05:30-06:00 Now that Bubba has been woken by the baby who gleefully crawled into her bedroom while the soldier was taking a wee, it’s time to repeat all the actions so far, but now with the TV on. Bubba takes some time to wake up fully and prefers to do this while staring blankly at Peppa Pig or Pippi Longstocking.

06:00 – 07:00 Occasional squeals of both joy and disaster can be heard during this time as the on-duty soldier tries to keep all parties happy while keeping the noise to a minimum so as not to wake the sleeping soldier or the neighbours, who are also on the body corporate.

07:00-08:00 Chaos ensues. Man down. Man down. The sleeping soldier slept too long or pretended to sleep too long to avoid any war involvement. Food is everywhere, yet no one seems to be fed. Kids’ toys abound. Every item in our possession is displayed on the floor, but the keys you need are nowhere to be found. One child might be out of pyjamas, and the other is missing.

The new routine:

05:00-07:00 – see ‘old routine’.

07:00 – 07:30 – Both soldiers attend breakfast, which has been lovingly prepared by the on-duty soldier prior to 07:00. The breakfast table has been moved to the kitchen so that everyone eats at the same time and no battles break out about the adventures of Peppa Pig. The TV is off, it is not in sight, and we eat together. And we eat healthy, with fresh apple/pear juices or a blueberry smoothie on offer, combined with porridge laced with cinnamon and honey etc

07:30-08:00 The birds continue to sing as everything that is needed has been prepared the night before, with work/daycare bags all ready to go. I leave for work around this time, and TSH has a bit more time before leaving around 08:30 for the 30-minute walk to daycare.

And then, when I get to work, I get to have my real breakfast.

Voila! So a brand new day has begun and we are stepping out in the sun. Well, at least for now, because in Sweden, it’s about to get seriously cold.

Does your morning routine work for or do you leave the house feeling like you’ve just had a stroke?

♣ all photos courtesy of http://www.sxc.hu ♣

*O.K they are still with us a bit, but not as bad a before.