Moms of 7am: My Routine

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Little Debbie®. As always, all opinions are my own.

One thing I’ve always noticed about my Grandma was that she always got up every morning to make a full hot breakfast for her family, complete with eggs, bacon, fruit, juice, coffee, etc. (And with 6 kids, and a military spouse, that must’ve been no easy task.) At one point, my Grandma also worked a part-time job, which was somewhat unusual for the times.

Growing up in my own house, my Mom mixed and mingled full hot breakfasts, cereals and fresh baked goods for her 4 kids. And for a couple of years, she even held a full-time job in a traditionally male-oriented field, which inspired me to realize that women are powerful and can do anything they set their mind to.

Things are different in the present day world. Times change, our schedules have changed, our mindfulness of what we eat and what we’ve come to expect during our mornings have also changed. While breakfast is still the most important meal of the day, we no longer need to have a full hot breakfast to feel satisfied. We’ve learned that smaller portion sizes can fulfill us, once we make it part of our routine.

You know what else has changed? The roles of mothers and fathers in the household. Now we are seeing more and more parents balancing the financial support, as well as the household responsibilities. And that is truly the case in my household now. In 2009, I started my own business. In 2013, my husband left his full-time job to come work with me. And this past school year, my daughter has been attending virtual school while my son attends public school. My husband and I had to create a school day routine that fits our unique schedules. Another benefit of not being tied down to conventional jobs and roles, is that we get to travel pretty frequently as a family. Therefore, we also have a traveling morning routines.

Our School Day Morning Routine

We usually get up at about 6:45 a.m. We start turning on the computers, because three of us work on the computer at home. At around 7 a.m., we wake up the kids. Either my husband or I will set-up breakfast for the kids. I’ll begin setting up my daughter’s lessons for the day, marking the book pages and printing out the handouts. I will take a shower. After breakfast, they brush their teeth, get dressed into the clothes my husband sets out, and get cleaned up for school. My husband will take a shower during that time. After his shower, my husband will usually get my son ready, style his hair, etc. I will usually focus on my daughter, brushing her hair and making sure she is ready to go for her lessons by 8 a.m. And then either my husband or I will bring my son to school. Because the window of time is so short between when we get up and when the kids start school, we usually choose breakfast items that can be prepared and eaten quickly. We also like items that don’t weigh heavy on the stomach, so we tend to avoid greasy and fried things.

Our Traveling Morning Routines

When we are roadtripping, we usually set out to leave the house somewhere between 4 and 5 a.m. We take showers and pack the car on the night before, so we can move quickly when we wake up. We usually wake up around 3:30 a.m., get dressed, pack last minute items, and visit the bathroom before setting out. It’s a bit too early for breakfast, and we really don’t like making too many stops, so we tend to pack snacks and breakfast items that we can eat en route. Sometime around 7 a.m., the kids will get hungry and we will start passing out baked goods from our portable cooler.

When we are traveling by plane, we will pack snacks in our backpacks to keep us from getting too hungry while we travel to our destination.

And when we are planning to stay at hotels that don’t offer breakfast, and have either no refrigerator or a small refrigerator in the room, we like to pack breakfast items that can be transported easily, stored at room temperature and eaten on the go.

Little Debbie® mini muffins work for all our morning routines, whether we are at home or on the road.  My daughter and I favor the blueberry muffins; my son loves the brownies; and my husband likes the chocolate chip.

Neat Fact: My Mom is a Debbie too! I grew up associating this brand with my Mom, so I have a special fondness for it.

Get Social with Little Debbie®

Moms of 7 a.m. Landing Page

Instagram: @TheRealLittleDebbie

Twitter: @LittleDebbie

Facebook: @LittleDebbie

Pinterest: @TheLittleDebbie

Hashtag(s): #Momsof7am #LittleDebbie #MiniMuffins

The above sponsored post was written by me on behalf of Little Debbie®. As always, all opinions are my own.