Weekly Wrap-up 8

the early morning edit

Today I thought I would share my morning routine with you all. I get asked questions on the socials about this and it’s something I’m particularly passionate about - especially for moms! We NEED alone time and the sooner you can train yourself to wake up early, the better.

Here’s a short tale for you. Once upon a time, I was a new mom with a baby and a toddler. No one had trained me on what it would be like to function on very little sleep. I felt like a frumpy shell of myself. I knew I needed to get disciplined and train myself to fill my own cup up or else I would be worthless to serve my family. But…I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t wake up before the toddler after being up all night with the baby. And I couldn’t stay up late either. I felt exhausted and depleted all the time. But somehow, some way, something shifted and I made the daily discipline to get up early no matter what. I needed that time by myself in order to feel refreshed during the day. It felt so great that I kept with it and it’s been ten years now!

So here’s what I do. And what I recommend! Really. Every morning I wake up around 5:30 or 6 and immediately make coffee. I pray the morning offering while the machine is working. I have the prayer on a window cling right above my sink so that’s easy. I also try to unload the dishwasher the night before so I don’t have to worry about that. It’s ideal to go straight from coffee maker to couch and not think about dishes you have to put away.

Anyway, coffee in hand I go to my special spot and start my daily reading. It does vary according to the season, but I mostly always read the daily gospel reading first followed by silent prayer for a few minutes. Then, I read the meditation of the day in Divine Intimacy followed by some sort of spiritual reading. All this really takes about 30 minutes. I try to stay off my phone because, as we all know, instagram is a total time suck. The best thing is when I manage to wake up even earlier and get all that done with enough time to jump back into my bed with my kindle and a novel. That doesn't happen that often though. I go through phases when I really like to listen to the gospel reading on the Pray as You Go app. If the dishes do need putting away in the morning I’ll always go that route.

I think it was Leila Lawler (follow her on Substack - she’s amazing!) who wrote that as moms, our spiritual life is our strength. That is very true. If we don’t fill ourself up before serving others we will totally burn out. In busy seasons where I have neglected my personal morning time I always feel it. Something feels off kilter. I don’t feel just right.

If you’re just starting out, I recommend trying to wake up fifteen minutes earlier at a time until you reach that perfect spot. For me, I know I need at least an hour before the kids wake up. I have my coffee, do my spiritual reading, tidy up the school room and I also get totally dressed down to shoes. That’s really another substack for another day! But real quick - after I had my fourth baby and things felt very chaotic, I read a fantastic little book that I HIGHLY recommend. The author recommends getting completely dressed every day down to shoes and it really changed me! I could easily walk around in my pajamas and slippers all day. I mean, I homeschool. However, if I make an effort to dress nice, put on makeup and put on shoes every morning I mean business.

Try it! I bet you’ll feel better.