The perfect morning routine #ad

Mornings are the best part of the day for me. Full of options, full of possibilities. I particularly enjoy a sunny morning and bonus points for the day when I have something exciting to do!

I recently had something appealing to do when I hopped on a train to London after the school run to take part in a shoot for Tropicana! It was a video shoot where a bevy of bloggers were sharing their perfect morning routines. I was there to share my day as a busy mum of two – starting the morning off on the right foot by getting a healthy breakfast into my kids and for me too! I have in the past, had to resort to eating my bowl of melon and yogurt in the car when I arrive in the school car park when my kids were younger as it was such a rush to get them out of the house on time with all their various bags, water bottles and books. These days however, my children are 8 and 13 so they are capable of dressing themselves, leaving me plenty of time to prepare a delicious breakfast for them!

Here is the video that I recorded for Tropicana where I share my easy two ingredient pancake recipe! It only involves mashed banana and egg with a pinch of cinammon and I love that I can sneak one of their five-a-day into the kids without them even realising!

I would serve this with some fresh berries – strawberries are usually a hit, and a dollop of fat free Greek yogurt for me.

When I eat this breakfast along with a small glass of Tropicana, I’m already ticking three off my 5-a-day list in just one meal! I generally have more fruit and vegetables than just 5 a day as I follow a slimming plan and I love veggies and fruit to snack on but 3 out of 5 is a great start to the day!

Today I had another great start as I squeezed in 5k before breakfast!

#5k #run in the bank before breakfast. Hello Tuesday- lets do this! What are you up to today?

— Nadine Hill (@businessmum) May 10, 2016

So to help you achieve your perfect morning routine, here’s my top 5 tips for busy mums with kids of all ages.

• 1. Get school uniform and clothes ready the night before so everyone knows exactly what they’re wearing in the morning. Sorting in advance helps prevent tantrums and at least you know that the top you need for that skirt is clean!
• 2. Have a special place for bags and school related stuff. We have a shelf unit in our hallway where the kids know to put their school book bags at the end of the day so we all know where they are at the beginning of the day! I also place their washed PE kit on the shelf with any lunch boxes or notes for the teacher so everything we need for school is in one place.
• 3. Get up early enough so you can be sure to eat breakfast together before school. It makes a nice start to the day when you can all sit round a table together and chat about the day ahead.
• 4. Think through your own day the night before. It’s easy to focus entirely on the kids and getting them off to school with everything they need but what about you? If you think ahead about what you are doing you can ensure you have everything organised such as addresses where you need to be or getting the car filled with petrol! Also, if I know I’m on a long train journey the next day, I prepare a few healthy snacks in advance to stop me buying something from the buffet car!
• 5. Have your car and house keys on a lanyard! I can’t tell you how many times I have accidentally locked myself out of the house before I started with this system! Then of course, I’d waste time going to my mums to get the spare key I stash there or ringing up hubby to see if he is nearby and can let me in!
  These days I put both my house and car key onto a lanyard and wear it around my neck whilst I’m getting the kids into the car and running back into the house. Once we are all safely on our way with everything we need, I just slip it all into my handbag so I don’t look like the prison warden!!

So that’s my morning routine. What are mornings like in your house and do you have any other tips to share?
Let me know in the comments and also head over to my Facebook page and ‘LIKE’ for more from JuggleMum!

I have been working with MODE and Tropicana to share my perfect morning routine.
A 150ml Little Glass of Tropicana orange juice may not look like much but it packs a big punch! Indeed, a small glass of juice serves as a convenient and easy way for people to get important vitamins, minerals and one of your five a day. That’s because the juice of 1 1/2 oranges we squeeze into every Little Glass contains vitamin B9, potassium and 60% of the recommended daily vitamin C intake. And with only naturally occurring sugars Little Glass is a big hitter at breakfast. Find out more at http://www.Tropicana.co.uk #GoodMorningGreatDay