Work-From-Home Mom Explains How 'Morning Baskets' Have Been A Game-Changer In Her Daily Routine
“I just need 10 minutes to myself to drink my coffee while it’s hot and let my brain wake up.”
Dragana Gordic | Shutterstock.com With two full-time jobs, a remote worker, and a mother to an “almost” 3-year-old girl, Abigael Lanai got candid on TikTok about how she protects her peace and time in the mornings. “If you’ve been debating doing ‘morning baskets’ for your kids, let this be your sign,” she said, arguing they’ve been a lifesaver for her daily routine.
Her video featured a silent house, a toddler playing quietly in the corner of the living room, and Lanai smiling with a hot cup of coffee in a moment of bliss before the hustle and bustle begins.
“This has been the sound of my house for the past hour and a half,” she said. “Best decision ever.’
The work-from-home mom said she uses ‘morning baskets’ to save her morning routine from distractions.
Just because Abigael Lanai works from home doesn’t mean she has the luxury of entertaining her toddler for the entire day. While distractions like the TV can work for a little while, she found an alternative solution to reclaiming her sanity at the start of the day: “morning baskets.”
“I didn’t buy anything new,” Lanai said, walking her followers through her daughter’s morning basket.
“I found this basket in our house, and everything in it we already owned… I found a couple of items that I felt like [my daughter] either used to love or previously lost interest in.”
Introducing the morning basket to her daughter as a surprise, it quickly became part of their routine. She played with her toys and investigated the contents of the basket, while her mom enjoyed a true morning routine before opening her laptop.
The work-from-home mom said she owes her peaceful morning routine to organizing 'morning baskets' for her toddler daughter.
Even if it’s just for the summer, while your kids are out of school, or for afternoons when you’re finishing up work, adopting the “morning basket” at any time of day can be useful.
Fill it with activities, toys, or even treats that will keep your children occupied — and change it up every once in a while.
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Get them excited about what could be in there, including old and even new toys they’ve forgotten about — it’ll be worth it in the end. “You had been judgment-free and ‘didn’t buy anything new,’” one mom wrote in the comments, alongside hundreds of other parents celebrating the idea.
“The mornings are when I’m feeling the most chaotic and overstimulated,” another admits, “especially before having my coffee. Trying something like this would be perfect for me.”
She urged other mothers to ignore critics who claim that ‘distractions’ for their kids are a bad way to start the day and adopt a similar routine.
“My daughter has a bit of decision fatigue,” Lanai said. “She never knows what to do or where to go. Having the morning basket with a couple of items has really helped to focus her and lead her to having independent play without me facilitating it… That’s the whole point.”
Especially considering that mothers tend to take on more of the childcare responsibilities and household burdens in their kids’ lives—even if they’re working from home or in a two-parent household—it’s important that they not only keep their children occupied but also make space for themselves.
Even if it’s a quiet living room for morning meetings as a remote worker or time to relax with a coffee in peace as a stay-at-home mom, they all deserve to have a break from the 24/7 job of being a parent. If they don’t have a partner to help provide that space, “morning baskets” can be an easy solution.
These baskets don’t have to be luxurious — they can be a round-up of old toys and gadgets like Lanai suggested. Of course, if there’s no time to craft a morning basket or the kids get tired of the contents, she also admitted to using screen time as a way to reclaim her mornings.
Sometimes, we just need a quick fix or a quiet house, especially for full-time mothers who work at home and can’t afford nannies or childcare.
Starting your day on the right foot sets the tone for everyone in the house — including kids.
Zayda Slabbekoorn is a News & Entertainment Writer at YourTango who focuses on health & wellness, social policy, and human interest stories