Starting your day with a good breakfast and quality family time when rushing out the door to lead busy lives feels impossible most mornings. I’m partnering with Minute Maid to share the real-life struggle moms face when creating healthy routines and quality moments for their favorite people. Because through their this is GOOD campaign, Minute Maid wants us to know that we’re doing a great job.
Our this is GOOD Breakfast
I didn’t grow up with a huge priority on breakfast time and always knew I wanted different memories for my own kids. Those first few hours a family has in the morning can make such an impact on your day!
When the kids were small and didn’t go to school, our morning routine was fantastic. We woke up early, all had healthy breakfasts and a few extra moments to prioritize family bonding before Dad went off to work. Perfection!
But as the kids have gotten older and life demands more from our time, we started to lose our intentions (and patience) for each other first thing in the morning. Dad was running out the door while the kids were still eating breakfast and I hardly had time to get out of my robe before it was time to rush the kids to school! It was time to bring back a little sweetness to our mornings, which of course includes our favorite Minute Maid juice.
5 Tips for a Better Morning
Intentional Planning
My babies who hardly slept have grown into kids who would sleep till noon if I let them. The first tip to having a better morning routine made the biggest impact for us – intentional time management.
Together, we established a routine that worked for everyone and everything important: plenty of sleep, healthy breakfast and quality moments together to start the day.
Communication
My husband is a busy dude and he’s 100% on work mode from the moment his eyes open in the morning. From his perspective, he’s providing a beautiful life for his kids and is determined to never let them down. So it took a few heart-to-heart conversations to convince him to slow his roll and budget time for us in the morning.
Think about what your family wants to communicate each day and create a tradition out of those intentions. His new morning time with the kids includes asking just one thing: what are your goals for today? He listens, then shares his own goals, before kissing us goodbye each morning.
Breakfast They Love
I’ve learned what makes my family stop in their tracks to sit down and enjoy breakfast together are the juices and sweet fruit they love most. Top of their list is Minute Maid juice! I buy the 128 ounce jug of orange juice and put it out the table with a platter of seasonal fruit and it’s a magnet for these three.
Dad enjoys a cup of juice and chats with the kids before grabbing some fruit and rushing out the door. Those extra minutes of Dad’s attention make such a huge difference for our children. They would gladly take more of his time but planning these intentional moments into our morning routine has been magical.
Delegation
More responsibilities shouldn’t mean more work for mom. My 8-year-old packs their lunches, my 6-year-old makes sure they both have water bottles filled and each of us is responsible for getting ourselves ready for the day.
Sure, do I have to monitor and prompt them along? Of course! Mistakes happen and sometimes we need help, but everyone has their part in our morning routine.
Alarms and Timers
The best tip I’ve implemented in the last year has been the insane use of alarms and timers. I have an alarm for EVERYTHING in the morning to help keep the rhythm and flow. I have alarms for when the kids should be brushing their teeth to when we need to start walking to school.
The biggest advantage in using alarms and timers is that I no longer feel like I’m nagging and hurrying everyone along. The alarm does that for me!
A Good Breakfast
Does a good breakfast have to be fancy or overcomplicated? For us, a quick bowl of cereal or fresh fruit with a glass of Minute Maid is all we need. Then a quick hug before the kids scurry out the door for school, ready to tackle the day. No matter how your breakfast routine comes to life, #thisisGOOD.
