Those of you who have got shit together

[ILoveMaxiBondi]

You know all you people who wake up feeling ok, shower, put on make up, have nice hair and a well put together outfit, have breakfast and get DC to school/ yourself to work with time to spare?

Tell me how that happens. Please.

I find I can do this most days now my children are all in school so no babies or toddlers, This means I can do make up while they eat breakfast unsupervised. If you have babies I’d give up for a few years x 😂😂

my babies have been in school for 8 and 5 years respectively.

I'm getting better! Dry Jan has helped. I force myself to have lights off by 11pm (no disappearing down a Kindle vaccum).

Up earlier than I'd like - 6.30 - done showering/dressed/made up by 6.45. I only wash my hair at night, just stick it up in a topknot in mornings then brush.

Kids are good at getting dressed other than the youngest (4). I am fascist about piles of correct uniform and definitely shoes (fucking shoes)in their room. They get their own weetabix and i get a coffee then do the girls' hair as they eat.

Feed the dog, get the right after school stuff ready, coats, snacks, bags, out.

One thing that has helped is banning tv in the morning...

I’m always groomed as fuck. My DH does the drop off 😂 I just sort myself out in the morning.

I probably look like this on the outside. I am actually non functional. And I cheat on the blow dry (bablyss and hair serum to make it last a couple days). I am also an expert bullshitter so, while I seem a bit distracted, I seem reasonably on it. I’m not. I actually have no idea who half the people in my life are or what they are talking about. I basically get away with it by looking like a bit of a bitch and having a blow dry. The blow dry is the ultimate camouflage.

wake up feeling ok
How do you feel waking up? When my sinus issues flare up I feel exhausted in the mornings, like I’ve barely slept. And if my sleep is interrupted I struggle to multi task/ motivate myself.
If you’re not waking up feeling good maybe that’s the place to start.

I have one teenager. He is 15. The level of sarcasm and the things to worry and fight over change. But it really does help when they get themselves out the door. My husband on the other hand.......

I still haven’t figured out what the parents at school are called despite having a list of their names and everyone knowing who I am and who my child is-how the fuck do people remember this shit? Even I forget which child is mine from time to time but the school parents are all on it.

Military operation as follows:

Lay out clothes the night before
Lay out work out gear the night before
School bags packed the night before

4.55am - Wake Up
5.10am - Leave for F45 class
6.30am - Home / wake kids, get them dressed & downstairs with breakfast in front of them
6.45am - Shower & dress
6.55am - Make up
7am - shout at kids who still haven't finished breakfast. Threaten to throw ipad out the window, food in bin etc.
7.05am - Kids teeth brushed, faces washed
7.10am - shout at kids to get shoes on ad nauseum
7.10-7.15am - kids in car, leave for school/office
7.25-7.30am - drop kids at school, hugs, push on swings, chat with friends
7.40am - get to office

That is my routine every single morning. I don't ever deviate from it for fear that the world will implode. Although it's getting far easier now the kids are in the same school (had to juggle more with one in pre-school and the other in kindergarten) and I don't have to deal with lunch boxes as I make them have school lunches.

The key is getting realistic timings for each thing that needs to be done and work backwards from the time you need to be out the door.

I'm up super early, not really by choice just wake up early partly due to intermittent insomnia, partly having an early riser for several years which seems to have completely reset my body clock he of course now sleeps in. Also don't start work till 9.30am. I manage to run the hoover round, pop a wash on, sort myself out and have a leisurely breakfast and I get to see the pretty awesome winter sunrises (woke just in time for the blood moon this morning). I am good for absolutely nothing after 9pm though and usually in bed by 10pm. I do enjoy the peace and quiet of early mornings though.

How do you feel waking up?

Like a zombie. I can barely function. I sleep as late as I can get away with and then I’m always rushing. When my first baby was small I used to wake up energised and “bounce” out of bed and get myself ready before he woke at 7. That seems like another person now it is so far removed from who I am now. I want to go back to that.

4.55am - Wake Up

how? What time do you go to bed at?

Getting out the door is my hardest bit, but once I have left the kids at school I have a 20 minute drive to get to work. That 20mins gives me a chance to calm down and collect myself. By the time I arrive in work I look vaguely together.

Mine are now 7 & 11, both sleep regularly through the night and I go to bed at 9.30

Sleep is the biggest, most mahoosive factor to having time, energy and inclination to getting my shit together

I’m so embarrassed reading all your posts of what you do in the morning.

My partner does all the child getting ready stuff and I just get myself ready 👍🏻

I msg definitely 'have my shit together'
And to me that means not bothering with makeup and having a very low maintenance hair cut.
The is more to life IMO.

With me it's routine and forward planning - so clothes laid out the night before, shoes cleaned with the magic rubbing sponge that lives under the sink.
I often bath/ shower the night before and just do the 3 Fs in the morning as I'm often up at 5.

When having haircut and colour - book the next one in when you leave the salon so it's in the diary. Ditto dentist, facialist, any regular appointments that contribute to you looking and feeling good.

At home - meal plan where possible or have easy shit in the freezer like fish fingers for the days you can't be arsed.

Also, my life got a lot more simple since I Kondo'd the house. Not to her standards, but now everything has a place to live, so tidying up takes ten minutes. I realised I didn't need 12 saucepans, so got rid of 7. Haven't missed a single one and now there's more room.

Same with clothes - the majority of it goes together and I try not to buy random fashionable things that sit in the wardrobe for months.

Wash up before I go to bed, tidy cushions on the sofa

Things that need to go upstairs get left on the stairs and I take things up every time I go.

Make up is kept in the kitchen as that's where I do it at 5.30 to not annoy DH and also the lighting is good.

ILoveMaxiBondi I'm usually asleep by 10pm. If I'm really keen, I'm lights out by 9.30pm, especially if there's nothing that I want to watch on TV.

Kids are usually asleep by 8pm, so I'll have an hour downstairs with DH, meditate around 9.15pm and then bed. That's if I'm not doing some work which I try hard not to do.

But my routine only works for me because I'm an early bird. I wake up feeling refreshed and with good energy. I also live in the Caribbean and don't have to contend with SAD. I would prefer to wake at 4am than stay awake until 11pm. On NYE I went to bed at 10pm and woke to watch the sunrise at 6.30 and go for a run.

If you're waking feeling sluggish and lethargic, it may be related to something lacking in your diet. B12, iron levels etc. If you're sleeping over 8 hours a night and still feeling slow then it's worth checking with a doctor.

OP, what time do you go to bed?

I can’t believe people get up at 4.55am! I struggle with 6.45 .

It takes me 5 mins to do my hair and put my makeup on, which is minimal, and I don't always bother. I don't usually shower in the morning, I shower before bed. My DC are primary school aged and pretty independent.

My routine is:
Wakeup 7-7:30
Feed DC and have coffee and make packed lunches 7:00/7:30-8:00
Do any homework in this time as well
Get dressed, brush teeth, sort DC, any other shit 8:00-8:30, leave house at 8:40

Maybe I can make you feel better OP? I have no dc.
A brilliant morning is to get up at 6:30, take dogs on a short (20mins) Walk, shower, blow dry hair, put some make up on (I don't wear much), get dressed and leave at 7:20 with a prepacked breakfast, lunch and snacks which i sorted the night before. I get to work at 7:45 which is enough time to make tea before I start at 8. I pull this off about twice a month

Realistically - I fall out of bed at 7, can't be bothered to wash my hair so dry shampoo it, straighten / clip back, cleanse and moisturise my face, dress and rush around trying to find lost shoes / notes / cash. Leave late at 7:30, getting me to work at 8:05-8:10.

I find myself waking up feeling rubbish which sets everything off badly so I'm tackling this from the opposite end to you. I'm ignoring the chaos of my mornings and concentrating on going to bed at a reasonable time so when the alarm goes off at 6:15 it doesn't feel like the middle of the night!

I swear at the alarm on a daily basis at 6.
I lay out clothes etc, pack bags night before.

I still go to work wearing navy tights with black dress, or having left my phone at home. I'm beyond hope.

And I can't go to bed earlier, I've got sodding marking to do once the kids are in bed!

Its well organised!!
Up 2x weekday mornings at 5.10am - 5K run, home and in shower by 6am, baby (7mths) is usually awake so by 6.30 I'm dressed, hair and make up done, get her dressed we come downstairs, she sits and plays with her toys, make packed lunch for 3.5 yr old, breakfast baby then give her bottle.
12 yr old is downstairs by now having his breakfast, I wake up middle one, get her dressed downstairs, breakfast her (usually toast in front of the tv) by then eldest is showered and in uniform and he comes down to make his lunch. I try and grab quick bowl of cereal or some toast. I'm a childminder so kids start arriving from 7.45am, chivvy on middle one to eat breakfast, chivvy on eldest to make his lunch. Then we leave at 8.20 for school and pre school drop off on foot and husband takes son to school on his way to work.