Welcome to the Ultimate Blog Challenge. I wanted to share our real-life morning routine for Busy Moms: from the Cates family. In my home this includes my brother Gerald who is blind. Charlie who is 18 and sometimes his friend Bradley who is 19. Two dogs Pheobie and Bear. David and I who are in our 60[s.
Join my family as we share Chaos, Coffee, and Grace along with a whole lot of PRAYERS and at times even though as a mom I hate to admit it cussing. Sometimes more than a sailor because good moms cuss, run on Jesus and caffeine. If this is, you family come share your morning with me.
I don’t know about your home but in my home, mornings don’t start with soft music, a sunrise yoga flow, or a perfectly curated breakfast tray. They start with Bear the Chiweenie acting like the HOA president of the hallway, C yelling “Five more minutes!”, and me standing in the kitchen trying to remember why I walked in there in the first place.
If your mornings look anything like mine, then welcome to the porch. Pull up a chair.
Today started with the alarm going off at 6:30 AM, which is cute because I didn’t actually get out of bed until 6:52. I shuffled into the kitchen, stepped over a show that didn’t belong to anyone (funny how that happens), and fired up the coffee pot because that thing is my morning survival tool. Then I hunted in the Ice Box for — whatever I can throw together for lunch later in the day without thinking.
While the coffee was making Bear stared at me like I owed him rent. Gerald finally rolled out of off the couch, hair sideways, asking if we had anything to eat. David was already out the door for work, leaving behind a mess from the night before when he made dinner.
I have a question for you. Would you rather have a dirty kitchen or a home-cooked meal? Why? That man knows my love language he cooks. Because he knows Gerald will clean the dishes. Nothing else but at least the dishes get done and sometime during the day I can find time to clean the cabinets or can I.
There is no, need to ask Charlie or David to clean the kitchen cabinets and stove because it isn’t going to ever happen. Or is it. And in the middle of all that noise, I had a moment — a tiny, quiet moment — where I realized something important:
This chaos is holy. Not because it’s perfect, but because it’s ours.
We’re not meant to have influencer mornings. We’re meant to have real ones. The kind where you burn the breakfast lunch or dinner, and forget the water bottle, and still manage to show up for the people you love.
So today’s lesson is simple: Your morning doesn’t have to be pretty to be powerful.
If you made it out the door, brushed your teeth, fed your people, or even just breathed through the mess — you did enough.
And if no one told you this morning, let me be the first: You’re doing a good job.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
