Nighttime Hacks, for Smoother Mornings

Having a Miracle Morning as a Mom sounds like a great idea. However, the miracle at my house would be being physically capable of waking up before my kids. I was blessed with three children that are so excited to start their day that they are running down the hall and into my room by 5:30. So the idea of getting up in the middle of the night to get my miracle morning on is less than appealing. Since the morning would not be the time for me to prep for my day, I had to turn to the night before. Thankfully, there are some super helpful nighttime hacks that have helped me get myself, my kids, and even my husband started on the right foot in the  morning.

Get the Coffee Going Before Your Feet Hit the Floor

Every morning, I used to trudge to the kitchen and squint through exhausted, puffy eyes to brew the lifesaving elixir that would allow me to interact amicably with the rest of my family. But now my life is like one of those old Foldger’s commercials where I follow the heavenly scent of fresh brewed coffee that’s waiting for me as though I have a butler. Tragically, I don’t have a butler. But I DO have a sweet Coffee Ninja that will handle my coffee. If you don’t have one, you should add one to your life as soon as possible.

Plan EVERYONE’S Clothes the Night Before

Yes, I mean everyone’s. This started as a plan for my fussy-about-clothes daughter. After one too many mornings of her screaming at me, I tried the old “pick our your clothes the night before” thing, and it worked. Then, I just started grabbing all the kids clothes at night so it was in a stack. Then, my 4 year old started dressing himself in an effort to become my favorite child. (It worked for a minute). Then I added myself to the mix. Finally, I realized that I spent an embarrassing amount of time every morning helping my husband locate clean socks, that belt he took off somewhere, or “the other shoe.” So yes, my husband became one of the people that had to lay out their clothes. And it’s made all our morning’s move much more smoothly!

Prep Lunches for the Week

Many mornings I find myself equal parts excited that I’m sending some of the kids off to school and devastated that I have to make a sandwich. Don’t ask me why making sandwiches is the bane of my morning existence, but it is. So one morning when I found myself out of bread, I gave each of my kids a sleeve of Ritz crackers and a little Tupperware with sunflower butter (because our school is nut free, or my kids would take an Uncrustable every day and give me my life back.) Turns out, they LOVED my lazy morning surprise. It also turns out, when you’re not a slave to sandwiches, you can prep everything in one night and call it a day! Or actually, a week. And since kids cannot survive on Ritz and some nut or nut-free spread alone, here’s some other great ideas of what you can prep ahead of time!

Announce What Breakfast Will Be

My kids aren’t the type that want to have the same breakfast every morning. They prefer to treat me like a short order cook and throw out requests before the sun has come up. Since that’s not really my jam, I like to have a few go-to breakfast options on hand.  Then, rather than run through all the options in the morning, decide on breakfast at night to keep expectations in check. We like to have this conversation during dessert because, well, my kids are always thinking about their next meal! This helps both manage their expectations and I can get anything I’ll need for breakfast ready at night.

Get Mentally Ready for Bed

I can almost guarantee I’m not going to get 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep on any given night. My night will likely include my son’s leg cramps, my daughter’s random cries and our middle daughter crawling into our bed and planting her feet on my face. So once all these things wake me up, I need to be able to fall back asleep, which means my brain needs to be turned off and ready to rest. I used to roll my eyes at people that swore by things like meditating. I feel like a weirdo saying affirmations to myself. Then I read a prayer that rocked my soul and all of a sudden I understood you just have to find what works for you.

For me? I get a little hung up on thinking about all the things, which inevitably turns into worrying about all the things. So here’s the thing that works for me. (Yes, it’s on the religious side, but you can easily take out a few words to make it work for you if you’re not into that). I read this to myself every night and it puts me at such peace. I keep it on a little card on my nightstand so I can read it in the night too (though now I’ve pretty much memorized it!)

 

Lord,
it is night.

The night is for stillness.
Let us be still in the presence of God.

It is night after a long day.
What has been done has been done;
what has not been done has not been done;
let it be.

The night is dark.
Let our fears of the darkness of the world and of our own lives
rest in you.

The night is quiet.
Let the quietness of your peace enfold us,
all dear to us,
and all who have no peace.

The night heralds the dawn.
Let us look expectantly to a new day,
new joys,
new possibilities.

In your name we pray.
Amen.

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Try these tonight, and use your newfound free time tomorrow morning to sit and drink your coffee without having to microwave it for once!

6 thoughts on “Nighttime Hacks, for Smoother Mornings”

  1. I love the idea of prepping the night before. I’m not a coffee drinker (gasp) but I could definitely make breakfast the night before and also pick out outfits! Great ideas!

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