Keep Up With The House: Morning and Evening Routine



This is the third of the 5-day series How Do I Teach…! Check out the other great topics for the series at Enchanted Homeschooling Mom and follow along for some tips to start your school year right!


This week I’m going to talk about 5 tips to help you teach and still keep up with the house:


Have a Morning and Evening Routine

Ahhh, my favorite topic. Ok, not really. When it comes to managing a home while homeschooling (or parenting, for that matter) this is the area I struggle with the most. 

Why is having a morning and evening routine so important? 

  • You are better able to accomplish your most precious priorities.
  • The day will start with a centered, prepared Mama.
  • The day will end with the peace of a (relatively) uncluttered mind.
  • You will feel like a rockstar. Oh yes.

For whatever reason, establishing a morning and evening routine is really stretching me in the self-discipline arena. 

My youngest is sleeping through the night now and the kids have a somewhat consistent wake up time. There goes that excuse. It is nice to have “me time” in the evening and with my husband when he comes home. But I don’t have to stay up with him until 11pm!

But you know what? I am not the best mom and wife when I stay up way too late, stumble to bed without preparing for the next day, mumble and roll out of bed when the kids burst in at the crack of 7:30AM, and then spend the whole day exhausted and trying not to complain about it. 

I confess, more days are like for me that than not. 

On the days I DO stick to a morning and evening, my day rocks compared to otherwise. So here I am, a work in progress, to share with you the routines I am working on. I really believe it will go so far as to help our home run smoother and set our spirits higher. 

Let’s face it: Mama sets the tone of the household!

My Morning Routine Goal:
  • 6:30 Wake up (earlier if the God sets the 9-month old to wake up earlier)
  • Coffee/Tea + Bible and Prayer (and possibly a 9-month old companion)
  • Computer time: Check email and social media
  • Set out breakfast and wait for the thunder of children running downstairs
  • Greet them with a hug!

Simple! Not easy, but simple. 


Getting up earlier is not my idea of a good time. And I realize that life circumstances don’t always allow it. But WOW does it make a difference when it does happen! 

Having that time to be by myself in a mostly quiet house, spend time reading and talking with God, listening to His voice, etc. It makes the day better by measures. Really. 

My Evening Routine Goal:
  • Prepare materials for the next day: 
    • Get meal plan for next day confirmed and set up whatever is needed. 
    • Check next day’s homeschool plan and get kids’ work baskets and all needed materials set up. 
    • Quick tidy
  • 9:30 Stop working on household, school, and other planning and blogging (ooh this is a hard one, but I think it needs to be done!)
  • Read the Bible (perhaps a psalm/proverb to end the night with?) 
  • 10:30 All done! Set out clothes for next day and go to bed

Meals and school materials. Those are the things I am constantly scrambling over if I don’t prepare the night before. Things that should take no time at all take forever that way! Just taking a few minutes to do them the night before is a big win. 

Reading my Bible morning AND night is also something I have been wanting to do. It’s like bookends on a day that is spent, hopefully, working cheerfully for the Lord. 


What will you set as your morning and evening routines? 

Again, focus on the things that will be easier for you to remember and give you the biggest benefit. 

More Resources:

We can’t do everything every day, right? Tomorrow I’ll talk about enlisting help to complete all that needs to be done! 




Check out these great bloggers participating in the How Do I Teach series!

Enchanted Homeschooling Mom ~ Homeschool Gameschool ~ Are We There Yet? ~ Life with Moore Babies ~ No Doubt Learning ~ Mrs. Redd’s Classroom Blog ~ Proverbial Homemaker ~ My Joy Filled Life ~ Preschool Powol Packets ~ Adventures in Mommydom ~ Vicki Arnold ~ Only Passionate Curiosity ~ Living Life and Learning ~ Farm Fresh Adventures ~ 3 Dinosaurs ~ For This Season

If you would like to have Proverbial Homemaker delivered to your inbox, click here: Subscribe to Proverbial Homemaker. Or join us on Facebook, Twitter, & Pinterest.

Linking up with:
Monday – The Better Mom, A Mama’s Story, What Joy is Mine
Tuesday – Road to 31, Growing Home, Time-Warp Wife, Hip Homeschool Hop, Real Life Homeschooling
Wednesday – Raising Arrows, Black Fox Homestead, Deep Roots at Home, Hope in Every Season, A Wise Woman Builds Her Home, Raising Homemakers, Women Living Well
Thursday – Teaching Mama, All Things With Purpose, Serving Joyfully, Leaving a Legacy, Giveaway Day with Hip Homeschool Moms, Enchanted Homeschooling Mom, Raising Mighty Arrows
Friday – Womanhood With Purpose, Holy Spirit Led Homeschooling
Other – Look What We Did, Mom Tested Family Approved

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This Post Has 6 Comments

  1. Lisa M. (aka. Lisa @ Farm Fresh) August 21, 2013 Reply

    Love it Tauna! Definitely good advice and advice I would do well to heed myself. Your series this week will be PERFECT in my post tomorrow.

  2. Andrea @ No Doubt Learning August 22, 2013 Reply

    I have to admit that having a cleaning routine is awesome! I started a new routine about a year ago with each day dedicated to a different aspect of house cleaning and I love it! Great post!

  3. The Zookeeper August 22, 2013 Reply

    Agree – Making certain things to complete in the am and pm works in this house!

  4. Raising Mighty Arrows August 22, 2013 Reply

    Tauna, it was such a blessing to see you linking to my blog posts! Thanks so much for sharing the love. 🙂

  5. Amy @ Are We There Yet? August 24, 2013 Reply

    I am so terrible at an evening routine because mentally I am just DONE. I really need to step it up in that area this school year. Thanks for the encouragement!

  6. Linda August 28, 2013 Reply

    I do like this – Simple, not easy. But Simple – I’m working on this myself these days, as we begin a new school year. Thanks for your encouragement!

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