A mom's hectic morning routine

"Bye hon, I love you!" I ushered my youngest and last family member out the door. I've been up for an hour-plus, and I have finished phase one of the morning routine. I am sitting down with a coffee (decaf), listening to the dishwasher do its thing, and trying to decide if I should go to the gym before my 9:00 meeting, or squeeze it in at lunch time.



In the morning the gym is crowded but I know as time passes, I will be less and less likely to go.

"Why not work out at home?"  you might ask.

Well, if it weren't for the gym, I would have very few reasons to leave the house until someone needs a ride somewhere, but that is even less likely these days because there are now three of us in the house who drive. My oldest can drop off and pick up either of the other two at their activities.

I also like watching shows at the gym sometimes (especially because we don't have cable at home). I usually use the machines in front of the crime show, politics, and talk/game show side of the line of 12 TVs.

Here's what happens during the morning routine between the time my alarm goes off and 7:15 when my youngest leaves:

• hit snooze on my phone and lie in bed for 10 minutes thinking/talking about the day ahead with my husband


• coordinate everyone's bathroom time (because we're still working with one shower)


• feed the cat and administer her meds


• make sure youngest is up (believe me, this is an ordeal, which might include picking him up and holding him until his feet touch the floor)


• whip up four different breakfasts -- eggs, smoothie, waffles, pancakes (I made the pancakes previously and have bagged portions and frozen them) and one lunch (for my family; I'll eat later)


• remind youngest to eat, vite vite (as my boss at the French restaurant used to say), because he is watching YouTube vids


• shoo dogs off the porch when I let them out, to be sure they go potty and don't just stand around


• feed them or ask someone else to do it


• send everyone out the door with everything they need to be successful (another ordeal if the gremlins took someone's sock or someone forgot to have me sign or write a check for something)


• clean up the sink, table, and trash/recycling


• shut off at least three lights, close the shower curtain (so it dries out), pick the bathmat up off the floor (so it dries out), and shut youngest's door (so the dogs don't make a nest on his bed)

It's a flurry of activity that usually goes off without a hitch if no one asks me to fill out any forms or proofread his essay. I play a CD every morning to set the mood. Sometimes it's the soundtrack from Shrek, Dave Keller's latest, or the Awesome Mix Tape from Guardians of the Galaxy. Soon I'll switch to Christmas music. Now that I don't have to drive someone to school every morning I have that hour back that I've been using to go to the gym (which is right around the corner from our house).

The reason I am thinking about this is I don't know what is going to happen when I have jury duty. I'll have to leave my house before 6:00 a.m. There will be no morning routine.

I tried to defer jury duty but my request was denied. Now I wonder if I will end up serving just so the boys will realize how lucky they are to have me at home every day to smooth their transition into the day. Maybe they will even show appreciation!

We will see.

Today I am going to make another cup of coffee and start my work day early so I can knock off something I need to write while it's still quiet.

Have a great day everyone -- happy Friday!