Me Time Minutes: The Myth of a perfect morning

Debunking the Myth of the Perfect Morning Routine

In this episode of 'Me Time Minutes,' host Molly addresses the unrealistic expectations surrounding the 'perfect morning routine' often glorified in personal development spaces, particularly for moms. She offers four practical tips to help redefine a morning routine that works for real-life motherhood: anchoring to one small thing, realizing routines don’t have to start early, releasing comparison, and giving yourself grace when things fall apart. Molly emphasizes the importance of setting intentions and being kind to oneself amidst the daily chaos. Tune in to find out how to create a morning routine that is sustainable and nourishing for you.

00:00 Introduction: Debunking the Perfect Morning Routine

00:39 The Myth of the Perfect Morning Routine

02:29 Tip 1: Anchor to One Small Thing

03:47 Tip 2: Routines Don't Have to Happen Early

04:42 Tip 3: Release Comparison

05:45 Tip 4: Give Yourself Grace

07:24 Conclusion: You Are Enough

08:13 Outro: Join Our Community

Transcript

0:00

on today's episode, we're debunking one of the biggest myths that we face in mom life. The perfect morning routine. Hey, welcome to me time, minutes, your quick self-care boost and honest mom conversation in the middle of a busy week, because even a few minutes of me time can change everything. Let's dive in. Hello, hello, and welcome back to me. Time, minutes, your short and sweet check in for self-care and sanity. And maybe just one deep breath before the next meltdown. As always, I'm Molly, and today we're tackling something that gets tossed around haphazardly a lot in the world of personal development, especially in mom spaces. We're talking about that perfect morning routine. You know the one I'm talking about, right? Supposedly, magical soul changing life, optimizing routine that begins at 5:00 AM with lemon water, a gratitude journal, meditation, yoga, and matching sets. Of course, green smoothies, manifestation rituals, and by 7:00 AM your house is spotless, your mind is clear, and you've already launched your next small business endeavor. Wa, wa listen, if that version of the morning works for you, uh, amazing. But if just hearing that list made you feel like a failure, this episode's for you. Because here's the truth, that kind of morning routine is not realistic for most moms, especially if you were up three times that night with a potty training toddler or a teething baby. If your toddler woke up to karate style, kick you while you were trying to sleep, or if you are just racing against the clock to get the backpacks packed cereal in the bowls and lunches made for the day. In this season of motherhood, your mornings are often unpredictable. You might be screaming at teenagers to get up and get out the door and forcing yourself into a rigid, unrealistic routine with 10,000 steps. I. It just sets you up for disappointment and for feelings of failure. So in this episode, I wanna offer you four quick tips that are gonna help you get your day off on the right start. So let's redefine what a morning routine can look like and this one might actually serve you. Tip number one. Anchor to one small thing. Forget the 10 step checklist. Ask yourself, what's one thing I can do each morning that helps me feel grounded or is nourishing to my day? It could be taking a few sips of coffee before everyone's up and out of bed. It can be standing by the sink and doing a long breathing exercise while the water runs or just writing down one word. For how you want to feel that day. What I wanna remind you is that routines take practice. Do I have a morning routine in rituals that I do? Yes. Does it get done every day? No. Is it always perfect? No. I used to be really rigid with it and it didn't work out. So the one thing that I do every morning is I pull a Spirit animal Oracle card and now it's become a thing that my kids are doing with me and it just helps me to set my mind and intention for the day. Even in the chaos, I get it done'cause the kids like to do it. So just finding one thing that's going to help anchor you in your intention and mindset for the day. Tip number two, and I know I'll get pushed back on this one'cause whenever I bring it up. I always do. Routines don't have to happen early. A morning routine does not have to be at 5:00 AM. If you worship at the altar of Mel Robbins and you wanna be a member of the 5:00 AM Club, that's great. I wanna sleep, especially if I've had a kid up at night. If I'm sick, my husband's sick. I don't wanna wake up at the crack of dawn to win the day. Maybe my calm moment or your calm moment comes after school drop off. Honestly, that's usually when I sit down and focus and set a broader spectrum of ideas and to-do lists for the day. You can also do it and your baby's taking a nap or during your lunch break if you're at work. Morning routines are about intention. It's not about timing, so don't feel bad if you don't wanna be a member of the 5:00 AM Club because girl. Me either. Speaking of that, tip number three is release comparison. Release it. It's so easy to fall into that trap, especially when you're com when you're talking about other moms. It's so easy to start thinking someone else has it all together because of what you're seeing online. But what you don't see are the pile of dishes or food wrappers or clothes that they've pushed outside of the frame. The toddler tantrum that they just overcame five minutes ago or that we'll be getting five minutes later. There's always stress in mom life and it could be lurking under the surface. You're doing just fine with the routine that works for you. That is the most important thing for you to remember. What works for other people may not work for you. Maybe your mornings are loud and messy and full of mismatched socks. But if you are showing up and you have the intention to work on something for yourself later, that's what matters. Number four, give yourself grace when mornings fall apart. Give yourself grace in general, but we're talking about morning routines, so you're not failing if your routine is not perfectly implemented. If you skip it, you're not failing. You're a human being trying to teach other human beings how to be human beings. Some mornings you're gonna wake up and feel like you can run through a wall that you're on top of the world. Other mornings you feel like you got hit by a truck and you're in survival mode. Both are okay. Both are experiences and valid and ways for you to grow. You have to give yourself some flexibility. And give yourself the same grace you give your kids. If you don't get it done, try again tomorrow. Like I said, routines are habits, and habits have to be built, and they have to be fortified, and that's what we're learning to do. Keeping it simple, finding one small thing. It doesn't have to be your first thing and be nice to yourself. Don't compare yourself to that other mom who has. A live-in nanny or has kids that are older than yours or younger, just because a mom with two toddlers is getting up and doing the things you wish you could do. Again, you don't know the whole story there. Unless you're best friends with them, you probably never will. So just don't compare. And four, again, give yourself grace when things don't go well. That should just be an overarching theme of motherhood. So here's what I wanna leave you with today. You don't need a perfect 15 step morning routine to be a good mom. You don't need a strict ritual to be grounded or productive or peaceful, you just need one moment. One moment to set an intention, and even if that moment is I'm doing the best I can, that's great. Let that be enough. Let you be enough. I say it over and over again. You're doing the best you can with the tools you have. You have to learn in order to grow. It's not always gonna be perfect, but. You just have to keep going. So until next time, keep showing up for yourself in all these little ways that matter. And remember, you always deserve a little more me time. All right. That's it. That's your me time minute. If this resonated with you, make sure to follow. Mama needs me time on Instagram and Facebook, and join our community for more support. And remember, you're worth every bit of rest that you can get. See you next time.