Finding a healthy morning routine for your kids this school year.
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Wellness podcast host, mother and author, Lauren Magers, shares the morning routine she has been doing with her kids for 14 years.
Finding a healthy morning routine can be tricky. With the range of hormones, moods, stress and tiredness, it can be a challenge to please everyone.
No matter how organised some parents try to be with morning routines, the time just flies by, and by 7:30 am, you either feel defeated or relieved. Either way, we’re certain there’s a healthier, more productive, and more positive way to start your mornings.
Magers, an expert on family dynamics and parenting, shared a few tips that helped her kids establish a healthy, positive morning routine.
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She says the foundation created in the morning is what will set your kids up for success throughout the day.
The number one thing to enforce in the morning to achieve grounding without any distractions is ‘no digital devices’. So, to the parents who allow phones, tablets and TV time in the morning before school, remove this one thing from your child’s morning and notice the difference.
The second thing is creating mini or micro habits. You can teach your kids these microhabits:
- Make their bed. Teaching your kids responsibility and allowing them to start by making their beds as soon as they get up sets the tone for the day.
- Self-care, brushing your teeth, showering, and taking care of your appearance, also helps with feeling good.
The third habit to teach your children involves practising gratitude and appreciation in the morning.
Whether they write it down or say it to you, the aim here is to programme their minds into being aware of all the things they are grateful for in the present moment.
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The fourth habit is prayer.
Whether you’re a religious family, more spiritual, or neither, taking some quiet time to just say thank you can set a wonderfully positive tone for the day ahead.
It’s one thing to want peace and just agree to habits that avoid a morning rant session, and an entirely different thing to consciously parent your kids to learn healthy habits that will essentially set them up for success.
I didn’t just teach my kids a morning routine…I taught them how to start their day with intention, confidence, and peace. Because how they begin their day shapes how they show up in the world. It’s not just about brushing teeth and packing bags, it’s about building self-leadership, responsibility, gratitude and the belief that they’re in charge of their attitude and actions.
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