Change of Schedule

Here's what I learned after a week of getting ready almost immediately after waking up.

#1 - I was actually more productive. I totally got more accomplished this week than normal. I jump started my day and it served me well!

#2 - It made getting ready less stressful in general. Sometimes as a mom it is super challenging to get everyone ready to get out the door, myself included. Well my kids tend to be less troublesome in the process of getting ready if I do it shortly after they wake up (especially Louie). They will get easier to get up and out the door someday, but for this stage in life I noticed a big difference in the ease of getting them ready most days.

#3 - I felt like I had a more sound mind for the remainder of the day. It didn't hurt that I had extra time to stop and read my bible app too!

#4 - I made more awesome breakfasts. Funny, I know. But when you are already up and ready and you look at the clock and see how much time you have before you have to go anywhere or do anything...well your cooking gets inspired!

#5 - I was more intentional with Louie in the morning (Noelle was mostly at school except for Fridays). But morning time is kind of special Mama and Louie time. This age is challenging because he has such opinions and is easily frustrated because he can't clearly express them. If I am just ready to spend some focused time on him though, our mornings can be much more enjoyable for both of us.

#6 - It has helped Louie not be so needy for breastfeeding in the morning. And because I am already dressed, I am not as lazy/lenient as I normally could be. Louie has been my needy breast-feeder and I am ready to be done, but I can tell that he isn't quite there yet. So I'm trying to make small victories in hopes that by the time he is 2 he will be officially done (if not sooner).

So there you have it. If you are a stay at home mom and you want to try this I highly recommend it. I'm sure this will be super easy for me to keep doing once my kiddos are headed off to "real" school in the future. But I didn't realize how nice it would be for me to do when they are still so small. I'm only about 19 months into this full time stay at home mom gig, so I'm sorry it took me this long to learn it - but at least it finally sunk in!!

Bonus: I got to play with my makeup every day :) Photos below, although I didn't manage to snap one every day.