Bhavna
Here’s how to make the a.m. less hectic and get everyone out of the door on time. Do you feel like you’ve run a marathon by 9 a.m. every day? You’re not alone. Mornings, especially if you work outside the home, have school-age kids or both, can be the most crazy-making part of a parent’s day. With following tips, you will sure be able to ease your whole day routine successfully.
I am a mother of two growing active boys. With kids, work and other chores of the day, I follow “Early to bed and early to rise” principle. I got to bed at 9 and wake up around 6. Here are some tips to get up early. The toughest part of the morning is simply getting out of bed. Cultivate a mental environment. Develop a “get to” attitude. Create some accountability. Sleep well. Never snooze. Stick to your wake time. Build momentum. The night before, think of one thing you’d like to do in the morning that excites you. Jump out of bed. Yes, jump out of bed. Put your alarm across the room. If it’s right next to you, you’ll hit the snooze button.
In my house, we still follow typical Indian routine, meaning boys can’t go to school without shower. I noticed that most kids here in the USA take shower at night before going to the bed but I prefer my kids to take shower twice but morning shower is must. So we all human in our house, brush teeth as soon as we wake up. It can be debating for many whether to brush Teeth Before or After Breakfast? And it may depend on individual. The public thinks “food” — so they brush after eating. They don’t like to brush before eating because the toothpaste flavor alters the taste of food, especially orange juice at breakfast! But it is said that brushing too soon after eating them can damage the enamel in its weakened state. Consequently, it’s a good idea to brush your teeth before eating an acidic food and to drink a glass of water when you are finished to wash away the acids. Anyways, to me personally, brushing wakes me up well, build momentum.
My boys usually like milk for breakfast and sometimes oat cereals with milk. So I don’t have to worry much about their breakfast. A good breakfast can still be fast and easy.
I then prepare lunch boxes for boys. Now, both of my boys have different tastebuds and almost everyday, I pack them different food. Older son Dhruv likes all international food like Mexican, Italian, Chinese, American and sometimes Indian only, while the younger son Aakash prefer mostly Indian food. You can watch my video above for more details. Click on the image below for thermos lunch ideas.
It’s very useful to batch-cook staples like grains, beans, and potatoes and also recipes like dips, soups, and muffins. When possible, double or triple recipes that you know are in heavy lunch rotation to ease your food prep through the week.
Don’t discard a leftover spud or a modest amount of hummus; instead, think, “What can I do with it?”
Leftovers make some of the best lunch add-ins. I call them “lunchovers”! Kids love to nibble on a variety of foods anyway, and I find these small amounts are perfect for wrap and sandwich fillings, and pasta and rice bowls. Once you think beyond just sandwiches with a spread like PB&J, there’s really so much you can do!
Give your kiddos some input. Occasionally ask them what they’d like packed in their lunchbox. If there is time, they can help pack. If not, they will still enjoy knowing they helped conceive it!
If your kids enjoy soups at school, cook a batch or two every week that can be worked into lunches. If you don’t have time to make soups, there are some healthy store-bought varieties. When I use store-bought soups, I always add extra beans, pasta, tofu, grains, or vegetables. They make the soup more satisfying and nutritious, and also stretch one can over several kiddos!
I then move on my workout routine, before I go to workout, I prepare my herbal spiced tea (Masala Chai)to have it after workout for breakfast. My weekdays workout routine is under 1/2 hour and over the weekend, I extend it to an hour.
Once I fuel myself with meditation yoga, I am on my way to jump on the rest of the day’s schedule. I do breakfast. I usually eat Bhakri in my breakfast. Variety of Bhakris like Masala, plain, Malai(Cream), with vegetables or herbs like Methi(fenugreek leaves), Tuvar(Pigeon peas) and so on. If I am shooting video, I get ready right after my breakfast. If not shooting, I work online, finish some video editing and so on. After 2:45 onward, I am usually engaged with boys after school classes, sports and so on. Hope you found some helpful tips.
