Mom Talk: How to Handle Hectic Mornings

A Glimpse into Juggling Parenthood and A Career

Dear Moms,

The struggle is real. Am I right? 

This new year has brought some big changes to this momma’s life. My kiddo went from an in-home daycare where breakfast and lunch were provided, to a preschool where now I must provide breakfast for my toddler before she leaves for school and pack her a nutritious lunch that she wants to eat (and, when she compares it to the other kids, she won’t just throw out). 

It has been a less than smooth transition. My kid and I are all alone during the work week as my husband commutes to the city at the butt crack of dawn for work. I am up around 5:30 am every day getting ready. I have a super easy make-up routine that I have stuck with for the past decade or so, and after that, I’m throwing on my clothes that I have set aside the night before and starting to pack my kiddo's lunch and making her breakfast. 

Baking that Breakfast:

My daughter is pretty basic and enjoys oatmeal on the daily and pink pancakes ( a new development after reading Pinkalicious). If I’m lucky, I can even squeeze in some form of fruit... but she is more of a veggie girl than a fruit girl. (I’m ok with that). I make sure to prepare all breakfast items before I wake my kiddo up. It gives her more time to sleep, and it gives me more time by myself before the rush of the day starts. After my daughter is awake, it is a mad dash of force feeding her, dressing her, more often than not yelling at her, and then we’re out the door. 

It’s all About that Theme:

To make my life WAY easier I make sure that all my kid’s lunch stuff is packed the night before. What I can prep, I will. If she is having some form of a hot meal, I cook it in the morning - otherwise- it’s prepped and packed before I go to bed. It also gives me time to be that bad ass mom who cuts all her kid’s fruit and sandwiches in those super cool cookie cutter shapes. Hell yes! It makes me feel like I’m rocking the mom game (at least when it comes to lunch) and my kid loves eating her turkey and cheddar sandwich cut out like a brontosaurus. I’m straight Martha Stewart up in here!

Also, because I’m a total type A, Enneagram ONE to a T, crazy momma, I made sure all of her lunch supplies are on theme.  I am all about a good theme. I have a theme for my class decor, I have a theme for my kid’s room, and we definitely have a theme for my kid’s school supplies. She is really and I mean REALLY into rainbows and unicorns. So, rainbow unicorns adorn every surface of her backpack, water bottle, thermos lunch container, reusable snack bags and lunch box.  The school knows its my kid’s stuff when she inevitably leaves something behind (if they didn’t know it was hers….they do after they see her name written on every writable surface). 

This year, I am also trying to minimize my single use plastic consumption. I purchased some pretty cool reusable snack pouches for my kiddo to eliminate ziplock baggies. Time will tell if they are a good purchase or not, but for now we are loving them.

And that’s my life. Every. Single. Work day. Some days are better than others. Some days I’m up early and killing it. I’m proud of myself and my mom game is strong. Other days, my toddler starts the day crying because she didn’t give her daddy a hug at four in the morning. I wouldn’t trade it for anything. 

What is your morning like? Just as hectic? Way more chill? We’d love to hear from you!

My Pinterest game is strong friends, so If you’re interested in seeing the cool Unicorn and Rainbow themed lunch materials, my reusable snack bags, the cool sandwich and fruit cutters I use, or the plethora of lunch ideas I’ve been gathering, go check out our board Mom Life.