This week has been all about getting dressed and ready for the day first thing in the morning. Here is where you can catch up.

Having Trouble Getting Dressed In The Morning?
10 Benefits Of Getting Ready First Thing In The Morning
Getting Ready With Little Ones

Streamlining

Let’s say you get out of bed before your kids and you are in the process of getting ready, but you just can’t seem to get the job done before interruptions pull you away. Maybe, you need to streamline your morning routine. A few tweaks can make a huge difference in the time it takes to get ready in the morning. Here are some ideas.

Hairstyle

If it takes you more than 15 minutes to do your hair, you might want to consider a new style or just some new styling techniques.

You may want to take your hair short. When my kids were babies, I had very short hair that I could wash, throw some hair gel in and go. It was so fast and easy.

Some mama’s love long hair and live in ponytails. That is great. They are easy, but can get boring and ponytails aren’t always the most polished look. Here is a tutorial for an easy messy  ponytail that looks super cute. (This site has other great easy hair ideas too!) Find easy ways like this to make ordinary hair fun!

Learning to effectively use a curling iron or flat iron can, also, be awesome for quick fixes.

Make-up

There is the no make-up and there is the full face mask approach. You want somewhere in the middle. For your everyday make-up, you want to be able to run to the school or the store and not scare people, but you don’t want to look like you are ready for a night out on the town.

Experiment with different products and looks and have a go-to make-up routine that takes you just a few minutes each morning. Most women can get by with a little concealer, mascara, lip gloss and blush. Sometimes foundation just takes too long and can look too made up for everyday. I like to use a mineral foundation to even out my skin tone. It looks natural, takes 10 seconds and has no messy liquids. Love it! Find what works for you!

Clothes

You might want to layout your clothes the night before so there is no standing in front of your closet in morning trying to make a decision. I like to organize my closet so that all my everyday shirts are together and my everyday pants are in a stack near the shirts. I can just grab something from that section without really thinking about it.

Shower

If you can, take a shower at night. That’s one less thing you have to put into your morning routine!

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Do these tips help? Do you have any tips to share? Let me know how you are doing getting ready first thing in the morning!

One major factor that can through a wrench into your morning routines is little ones. God love ‘em. They just want us and food and stuff that we don’t want them to touch. That’s what makes getting ready in the morning with little ones such a challenge. Someone asked me last week if I got dressed and ready first thing even when I had little ones. My answer was “especially when I had little ones.” If I didn’t get ready first thing, I probably wouldn’t have time the rest of the day to fit it in!

When my daughter was little, I worked, so I had no choice but to get up and get ready. If you read Monday’s post, you know that getting dressed first thing in the morning has always been part of my morning routine. But, even thought I had a morning routine, I had to have some tricks up my sleeve to pull it off with a little one. When my son came along, I stayed home, but I kept the same routine and employed some of the same methods. Here are some of the tricks I learned along the way:

• Get up before your kids – This is number one, most perfect scenario. If you can get up just 20-30 minutes before the kids, you can get ready and have a huge jump start on  your day!

If you can’t get up before your little early risers, you might want to try these:

Infants:

• Bring the car seat or bouncy seat into the bathroom – Let your little one chill in a safe, familiar seat for a few minutes.
• Set up the pack n play – If your bathroom is large enough, set the pack in play right in the bathroom. If not, set it up outside the doorway.
• Use the monitor – Bring the monitor into the bathroom and leave the baby in it’s crib. Your baby is safe there. As long as the little one is fed and dry,  she will be fine for a few minutes even if she cries a bit. (Just don’t take all day with your prep time!)
• Let them cry – It’s ok for babies to cry. I know, all you first time moms have read the books and  you feel like you are a bad mom if you let your precious little one make a peep. That’s fine and dandy in a perfect world where you can sit around and hold babies all day and everything else will magically take care of itself. Trust me. Your baby will forgive you if you let it cry for a few minutes while you take a shower! You’ll be a better mom!

Toddlers:

• Pack N Play- You could try containing your toddler in the pack n play with some toys in the bathroom or hallway if you don’t trust him to be free in the bathroom by himself.
• Bring in some toys- I used to bring in some of my daughter’s favorite toys and shut the bathroom door while I took a shower and got ready.
• Turn on some music - Turn that getting ready time into sing and dance time.
• Use older siblings as babysitters – At first, you might want them all in the bathroom with you to keep an eye on them if the older sibling is not that much older. At four years old, my daughter could entertain my son in his room.

As the kids get older, they will just realize that getting ready first thing in the morning is part of the routine and you will not have to make a big deal about it.  My kids are 10 and 6 now. I normally get up before them in the morning, but if I don’t, they get ready on their own so I can finish my routine. It just makes mornings go so much easier when we all start the day out right!

Do you have any tips to share for getting ready in the morning with little ones?

Yesterday, I brought up the topic of having a good morning routine and the importance of getting up and ready for the day first thing. I can think of many benefits of developing this habit. Here are 10 to get us started:

1. You are prepared. If you prepare yourself first thing in the morning, you are ready for anything. The family won’t have to wait on you to get out of the door. You won’t have to go out the door unpresentable when the unexpected happens.
2. You just feel better. Think about it. Do you feel better if you have your sweats on, no make up and bed head or when you are dressed with hair done and make-up on?
3. People give you more respect. It’s just human nature. People will look at you more favorably if aren’t in the ponytail and t-shirt with formula on the shoulder.
4. Your husband likes it.
5. You won’t embarrass your kids. This isn’t such a big deal when they are little, but as they get older…
6. It saves time. If you get ready first thing in the morning, you won’t have to try and carve out time later in the day.
7. It sets a good example for your kids. How can you expect them to get up and ready for school or whatever when you clearly are not?
8. Sets you up to create more good habits. When you start creating beneficial habits like this, you are more apt to create more.
9. Puts the house in a better mood. If you are up and ready before everyone else’s day gets into full swing, you don’t have to rush around, you are more awake and are less likely to bite heads off. This translates into less frustration for the rest of the family, too.
10. Makes your entire day more productive. When you start your day doing something productive, it’s like hitting the ground running. Instead of dragging yourself through the day, you have already given yourself a little kick start! Overcoming Busy reader, Miriam Ortiz y Pino of More Than Organized , made this comment on yesterday’s post-

“Routines create the habits that allow us to get the boring stuff done anyway! That translates to more fun and creativity later in the day.”

What other benefits of getting ready for the day first thing can  you think of?

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Wonder how to start this habit when you have little ones? I’ll be posting some tips tomorrow!

Right now at Like A Warm Cup Of Coffee, there is a series going on called the “Get Dressed Challenge – Frumps to Pumps”. The whole idea is to motivate women to get dressed and ready for the day – hair, make-up, the whole enchilada- first thing in the morning. This is the second go ‘round with this popular series. Currently, there are more than 100 bloggers linked up with the Get Dressed challenge and more women following  #frumpstopumps on twitter.

I have to admit. I didn’t really pay much attention the first time around. My morning routine is to get ready before I leave the bedroom in the morning. Always has been. There are days when I don’t get as ready as others, but I am still ready!

This time, I have been listening to friends talk about #frumpstopumps on twitter and reading some of their posts. I guess I’m just surprised by the number of women who are frustrated about their morning routine and have a hard time getting dressed for the day.

Mind you, I am NOT a morning person and it takes me almost til lunch time to really get productive. I am not trying to be condescending in ANY way. I just never thought about it. I thought all moms had the same morning routine.

My Example

Growing up, we all knew my mom was NOT a morning person. (To this day, do NOT mess with my mom before 10 am!) But, I remember her always being in the kitchen when we got up in the morning. She would be making lunches, breakfast would be on the table, and her hair and make-up would be done – ready for the day. We never had to wait for her to get ready if we missed the bus or got to school and realized we forgot a book. She was prepared. She might not have been happy about it, but she did it. She was the mom. That was my example. I thought all moms worked like that.

It’s A Routine

From the time I was in school, I remember heading to the bathroom straight from bed with my clothes of the day in hand and not coming out until I was ready. That’s the way mom did it. That has always been the deal. When we had kids, I never considered not showering or doing my hair and make-up first thing. I may have had to get up earlier, but it sure made the rest of the day easier! It was just my routine.

That is one habit I am very happy I started early and has stayed with me. This week, I’ll be sharing more about the benefits of having a good personal morning routine and a bit of the how-to’s when it comes to adding little ones to the mix!

Do you have a good morning routine? Are you ready before your family?

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In true Flylady fashion, I like to take on housework in baby steps – a little each day. So, I came up with a bite-sized housecleaning plan that will work with our schedule and that involves the kids as well. Instead of adding each cleaning task to our daily calendar, I came up with this chart that I could post one copy for the kids to see and add another copy to my binder with our other schedules.

I left this as a blank template because each week might be a little different around here. This way, I can customize our cleaning schedule for the week on Sunday evenings when I do the rest of our weekly planning.

Feel free to click on the image and download a copy for yourself!

I’m linking up to Works For Me Wednesday and The Mommy Club!

To help him out, I made these simple charts and hung them on his wall. The only problem is that he wants to check them off when he does them, so I am going to have to laminate them so he can use a dry erase marker on them.

They are simple, but why make things more complicated than they need to be? Feel free to click on the docs below to print them off for yourself!

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BTW – Have you entered the Weekly Homeschool Planner giveaway!! Click HERE to read my review and enter to win!!

When I really take a look at those massive lists, I realize that usually only 3 or 4 things really need to be on the list. Those are the out-of-the-ordinary events like doctor’s appointments, paying an extra bill, returning library books, etc. Those need to be on the list. Making the bed, brushing your teeth or cleaning out the dishwasher do not need to be. Those are just part of the daily routine.

Don’t get your daily routine confused with your to-do’s. It will just make you busy.

Want to know how I get them to do it? Click on over to Today’s Housewife to read the rest!

Since it is the first Friday of the month, I am going to link up to the 3 in 30 project where we work on 3 goals for 30 days. I like this approach rather than trying to work on a huge lists of large goals at one time. Working on just 3 at a time allows me to break larger goals down into doable parts. And having just 30 days puts a time limit on it and gets me off my butt! I need deadlines!

Here are my 3 goals for February

1. Try new veggie recipes and varieties to make sure I get lots of veggies in my diet.

This has evolved from my January goal of adding more veggies into my diet. This is not a big deal in the summer when we have plenty of fresh veggies available. We love going to the farmers market, raiding my parents garden and growing a few of our own veggies. That makes eating well easy.

Winter is different. It is cold and I am craving warm comfort foods – not cold veggies and salads. This makes it hard to get my veggies in my diet. So, this month I’m going to be looking for new veggies recipes!

2. Work out 3 days per week.

Once again, I’m blaming winter for my sloth-like existence! The cold weather renders me useless. As soon as it gets below 65 degrees during the day, I stop moving. I need to get over that and just work out. Period.

3. More consistent devotion and prayer time

My day goes so much better when I start it either by praying or reading a devotion or reading my Bible. When I invite God into my day from the start, I don’t mind the interruptions to my plan. It helps me see that those are probably just ways to get me to see God’s plan – which is a much better plan, I must say!

I have been reading a couple blogs that are real devotions for me  – Mommy On Fire and A Steady Rain. They give me great breaks in my day and allow me to concentrate on what is really important.

Those are my goals for February. I’ll be writing about my progress on Fridays through the month.

Do you have any goals you are working on?

Check out the goals others are working on here

I just love this printable chore chart from Pink Daisy! I had to share!

Two of the most asked questions I receive here at Overcoming Busy are “How do you set up routines for your kids?” and “How do you get kids to do chores?” To me, those two go hand in hand. It’s all about expectations and accountability.

We expect our kids to do chores and take care of themselves– AND we hold them accountable. Are there battles over who does what chore or over brushing teeth? Sure. But, when they know what is expected upfront, there is very little room for argument. Our whole goal for setting up routines and chore expectations is that they eventually become a habit thus eliminating the need for confrontation! We are far from that!

How do we keep track of routines and chores? That is an ever-changing topic around here. Our methods of keeping track and the chores themselves change with the time of year and the maturity of the child. We have done weekly printable chore lists posted on their bedroom doors. We have done daily chores on the whiteboard.  It really depends on what I have time enough to prepare. I have wanted to try chore jars and cute magnetic chore boards, but haven’t gotten around to it. I’m not really sure if they would work. My kids are like their mamma – they just like lists. There’s just something about checking items off that motivates us!

Do we offer rewards? As far as rewards, we don’t reward for doing routines – but we do punish for routines not completed due to disobedience by not allowing certain privileges like computer time or dessert. We do give “chore change” to the kids for getting their chores done without complaining. (Right now, their chore change is going to missions not their own piggy banks. It is a small way we can help them see outside themselves and serve others.)

The most important part is letting the kids know what is expected and sticking with it. The methods of tracking might change, but the expectations shouldn’t. We certainly haven’t gotten it all figured out, so I am opening up the comments for you to let me know what works for you or to share where you struggle.

How do you keep track of your kids chores and routines? How do you reward them?