The Friday Five, Issue 2

Welcome to the Friday 5!

Every Friday I will highlight 5 things I am currently loving.  This can be anything from habits that are currently serving me, clothes, apps, people I am currently loving, podcasts, food, mom hacks and everything in between! 

What I am currently loving:

“Okay to Wake” Clock

This was something I had always heard moms in some of the groups I’m in on Facebook talk about.  It is a clock with a light around it and you can set the light on the clock to turn green when it is okay for the kids to get up.  This is the exact one I have.  I never had any issues with Lillian waking early or coming out of her room early, so it wasn’t something I thought I needed.  But then, Stella moved into Lillian’s room and they started waking earlier every day.  Lillian went from sleeping every morning till 7am to waking up at 5:30am some days.  It never failed that I would just sit down on the couch with my hot coffee and she’d come running out announcing that it was time for her and Stella to get up.  

So, before I moved Stella into her big girl bed, I decided I would invest in the clock and start “training” them to stay in their room until the light turned green.  I told them they could get up and play, but they could not come out (unless it was an emergency or they need to use the bathroom) until the light is green.  I set the green light to go off about 5 minutes later than they had been getting up.  I kept it there for about a week, then added 5 more minutes every week until I got to the time I wanted.  I am happy to report, it works great!  They are both now in toddler beds, so they have free range of the room and will get up, play or even get dressed for the day and wait for the light to turn green.  I will say this, I am like a dictator with the light, if they come out, I immediately send them back, no excuses.  Even if the light will turn green in just one more minute, I make them stay in.  It is amazing, I know exactly what time they will get up every morning and can plan my morning accordingly.

Block Scheduling on Google Calendar

I have recently started using my Google calendar to block schedule my day.  Let me explain…I had been having trouble with making this huge to do list for the week or the day and then getting so overwhelmed at where to start or bouncing from one end of town to the other wasting half my day in the car because I had not efficiently planned out my day or week.  I had started to write out my day by hour on a post it in the mornings, which worked okay, but I would forget the post it at home or would just completely forget to look at it the rest of the day.  Enter Google calendar.  Now, I have created a second calendar on my phone that is entitled “block schedule” where I plan out the day.  This way, when scheduling appointments or needing to look at the week at a glance, I can quickly remove all my daily tasks by removing the block schedule from view on my phone. 

I have entered the things that happen every day, like, “leave for school,” “nap time,” “leave to pick up girls,” and then add in any actions specific to that day.  This may seem silly, but the magic here is getting the 15-minute reminder (on my watch!) that it’s time to leave for school, while we are still brushing teeth and hair in the morning.  Or the 15-minute reminder that it’s time for Ruby’s nap while we are still out running errands, and everything is taking longer than I expected.  I have even gone as far as putting “flip the laundry” on Mondays at certain time intervals so that I will remember to move the load of clothes from the washer to the dryer.  This is such a simple thing, but it has made a HUGE difference in keeping me on task daily and actually accomplishing the things I want to get done in a day.  And by doing so, I have been able to find the small pockets in my day to have a few minutes to sit and enjoy some downtime as well.

Toddy Cold Brew Coffee Maker

I love coffee.  I just cannot explain the joy it brings me.  And I really feel like I have crafted the perfect cup for me over the past few years.  And it all started when I started using a Toddy Cold Brew coffee maker.  If you haven’t ever enjoyed cold brew, which is brewing coffee by allowing the grounds to steep in cold/cool water for 12-24 hours rather than brewing quickly in hot water, you are missing out my friend.  It completely changes the flavor of coffee; it is less bitter and just has a smooth richness that you cannot get from a traditionally brewed cup.  I started using a Toddy because I felt like I was wasting coffee everyday brewing it traditionally.  Matt doesn’t drink coffee normally and I am not a fan of a one-cup coffee maker, so I would brew more coffee than I needed every single day.  And don’t even get me started on cleaning the pot daily and prepping it for the next day.  With the Toddy, I make approximately 56oz of coffee concentrate at a time, which lasts me about 7-10 days depending on how many cups of coffee I am drinking a day (usually 2-3).  To make my coffee in the morning I warm up the coffee with water at about a 1:1 ratio, you can make it stronger or weaker depending on preference.  This is literally one of my very favorite things and I am excited to have my coffee every morning and usually afternoon too.

Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Protein Powder

Speaking of coffee, one additive I use every morning is Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides.  Vital Proteins has an entire line of collagen products, but this is the specific one I use.  One serving is 2 scoops, but I usually do 1 per cup of coffee.  In the morning it gives me just enough protein to enjoy my coffee without getting the shakes.  After having kids, my tolerance to caffeine is much lower than it used to be, and I need just a little something in my stomach to really enjoy it.  You can read all about the benefits of collagen here and I talk about how much it has helped my hair growth in my blog post, 6 Tips for Getting More Time Between Washes.  I have also tried their Coffee Creamer and I just don’t love it; it doesn’t dissolve well enough in the coffee.  So, I just stick to the regular powder, then add my nondairy creamer to finish it off.

Running the Dishwasher Nightly

I am beginning to find that the smallest little tweaks to habits really do have some of the biggest impacts on my daily life.  This habit has been a game changer for me.  It is so simple and yet has had a huge impact on my entire day.  There are very few things in my house that are law:  you cannot sit in my lap while I am eating, you cannot get in the bathtub with me and the dishwasher will be loaded and run every night.  These are my things and all the members of this household know it.  This means that at the very least, every night the dishes are all rounded up and put in the dishwasher to start fresh the next morning.  And anything that needs to soak has the room to do so in the sink.  And every morning as I am prepping, serving and eating breakfast it gets unloaded.  I have even started to take this a step further, I don’t do the dishes throughout the day, I do it once, at the end of the day.  We updated our kitchen about 2 years ago and I now have a deep farmhouse style sink, so I can load it with dirty dishes all day that cannot be seen unless you are standing right over the sink.  It is glorious.  So, unless I have a very heavy cooking day or we are baking something, I don’t normally mess with the dishes till the end of the day.  And then, loading the dishwasher is a breeze because I know exactly what needs to go in there at the end of the day.

I hope you found something helpful or inspiring in this week’s Friday Five! I’ll have 5 new favorites to share with you next week, have an awesome weekend!