Hey friends! Good morning and happy Tuesday!
How did your weekend go? We had a lot of fun and tried to do many things despite the bad weather on Saturday. On Sunday we went to the beach and we understood that trying to go there on a Sunday in the middle of the day was not the best idea, because the parking lots were full and the beaches packed! So we really had to look for a place with a big parking lot and we will know for next week that we have to leave home very early! We finally found a small beach in Glouchester, the kids had lots of fun, even though the water was not really clean (lots and lots of algae). I was very happy because our friends Silvia and Chicco were with us, so we had a chance to talk and play with the kids. And I have to say, the kids were surprisingly good at the beach! They usually play a lot with sand, but yesterday Alessandro was looking for “beautiful rocks“ (this activity kept him busy for hours) and Leonardo mostly played in the water with his dad and Aurora!
I have been thinking for a while about this post and I think that today I want to talk to you about some ways to start your day in a positive, productive way. I don`t know about you, but in the morning as soon as I wake up and for a little while after, I crave some peace and quiet. I am not one of those persons who start talking immediately after getting up, I just need some time! After having kids I realized it was impossible, my boys usually start talking about everything that comes to their mind as soon as they get up, they start asking one thousand things for breakfast: cookies, bread with chocolate, scrambled eggs, tea, chocolate milk and I find myself running around like a crazy person, trying to be fats because we are always late…. So I understood that I had to develop some strategies to be able to be wide awake and ready to function very soon after waking up! And I realized that the fcat of waking up before the kids and getting some time for myself is really what I have to do every day in order to be happy and productive. Whenever I skip my morning routine with my workout I feel more nervous and less accomplished.
So here are my tips:
1-WAKE UP BEFORE THE KIDS:
Well, this is not easy if you, like me, have kids (or at least one of them) who wake up at 6 am! But since this for us does not happen every day, I consider myself very lucky! Anyway, I personally found out that for me the best way to wake up quickly is to workout first thing in the morning, in that way I will be wide awake in a matter of a couple minutes and I will have my workout done, so I won`t have to stress during the day if I don`t have time or if I am too tired. So I try to get up before 6 am, (before Leonardo wakes up), I go to the basement where we have a gym and start my 30/45 minutes workout. If the boys wake up early, they know that if they don`t find me or my husband in our bedroom, they have to come in the basement. I am able to complete my workout most of the times and usually if they come downstairs they are pretty well behaved and either watch me or they will play by themselves or they will try to do some gymnastics moves with me, which I love! I love the idea of having them see me workout regularly and I hope that they will understand that taking care of our body by working out is very important for our health.
2-HAVE BREAKFAST SITTING AT THE TABLE:
I have to admit, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day, so I don`t like to rush it or to just drink a coffee standing or on my way to work. So what I usually do is to sit down with the kids and eat with them. I will give them their breakfast and in the meantime prepare mine and then we will eat together. I have to say, It`s not really relaxing because I have to get up and get something for the kids one hundred times, but I like it!
3- HAVE COFFEE:
Well, we know that coffee is a mom`s best friend!! I love coffee (both espresso and the American one) so every morning I drink it while having breakfast at the table. I am not sure if it really wakes me up or if it is just an addiction, but if I don`t have my coffee I feel so sleepy when I am in my car on my way to the kids drop off…
4-GET DRESSED/PUT ON MAKE UP:
I work both in an office and from home and I realized that if I get ready and dressed nicely even if I am staying at home helps a lot. I usually don`t put on make up if I am in my house, but I know that it works too for someone. Being dressed in a nice way helps me feeling ready to start the day and tackle all of the projects on my to do list!
5-MAKE A TO DO LIST FOR THE DAY:
This is something that helps me a lot. I love lists, if you could see my work space, you would see many, many post its stuck all over my desk! As soon as I start working in the morning I like to write down a list of the tasks I have for the day and this helps me a lot remembering everything and I get a big satisfaction when I check out the things that I have accomplished!
These are my tried and true tips, let me know if you have different habits and what works for you.
I hope you have a great week and I will meet you here on Friday.
Anna