Serious Question.

Now that I’m almost 39, I think I’ve finally leveled-up to hardcore coffee-drinker status. When I first started drinking coffee in college it HAD to be loaded with sugar and syrup. Frappuccino or nothin’, baby! I still remember the first time I set foot in Starbucks with my friend Amy. Being from the Midwest, Starbucks was indeed the REAL DEAL of coffee. It was such a novelty in the early 2000s. Now the ‘Bux lives on every corner around here and I never even think of going. 

After I started my career, got married, and had kids, my coffee preferences changed from something that mimicked a coffee milkshake to me sipping the same cup of cold black coffee from 7am-1pm. Every. Single. Day. It always starts off hot, but you know…kids prevail. I don’t even bother to reheat it anymore. 

But, there’s one thing that makes my coffee better than any fancy brew in town…drinking it with my husband.

With six children, a dog, jobs, sports, and all of the other things, it’s easy for date nights to get pushed to the back burner.

So, drinking coffee with my husband every morning plus the half-an-hour we spend lifting weights together is like our daily morning date.

We try to get it all finished before the kids wake up so we don’t have children (and the dog) circling like vultures waiting for breakfast to drop as we’re working out.

When it’s warm outside, we drink our coffees on the porch every morning. I very often (ok, almost every day) drop the hashtag #frontporchcoffee on social media when posting photos of my boring black coffee, the beautiful morning weather, my handsome husband, or the dog. On the front porch, we hash out our plans for the day, brainstorm ideas, and wave to any neighbors who happen to be out on a morning run.

After that, chaos ensues.

The children begin circling like the little vultures they are. They request a variety of eggs, pancakes, cinnamon toast, etc. Before the dishes are even cleaned up, they are all staking claim on the day with their individual agendas. My husband leaves for work, I get to work, and take the dog out 500x a day. Rinse. Repeat. Every day. 

I bet my morning looks different than yours and your morning probably looks different than most, too.

Reg and I find it incredibly fascinating to learn how other households survive mornings. In fact, we usually exchange a series of “oh my gosh, look at what my kid just did.” texts even before 10 a.m. Our new FB Live series,  How Do You Take Your Coffee (airing Tuesdays at 10am EST) will feature a weekly interview with some of the most fascinating parent influencers on the Internet.

We’ll FOR SURE laugh and hopefully not cry…too much…though no one is exempt from morning-tears (especially when it comes to finding matching socks or a missing shoe). 

We can’t wait for you to tune in.

Our first guest is HUGE and we are incredibly honored to have her on the show. Join us on The Real Deal of Parenting FB page July 21st at 10 a.m. for the REAL DEAL of morning routines with our guest. Be sure to like, comment, and share with all your friends so they can laugh and relate right along with us. 

We can’t wait!