What are your morning rituals? What does the first hour of your day look like?

Life is about change, and definitely, as transwomen now able to be myself at work, this has meant getting a bit more organised in the morning. After all, it does take a little longer to get ready these days, especially if I need to wash my hair. This year, especially starting a new job and my son’s first term at school and the rush is on as a form organised chaos.

Slow out of the block

The alarm rarely fails to do its job, but with 2 hours before, I need to get to work, I can afford a little little lye in. Of course, if I fall back to sleep, it could get a bit risky but with a five year old that normally doesn’t sleep in past 7 o’clock, I feel like I have a reliable safety net. Even so, I always try and get up by 6.30 so I can take some time for myself and have a nice shower. Admittedly, these are always longer than they should be, but this is the only time in the morning I really get to myself. The warm water rolling down my back really helps get me relaxed and focused on the day ahead. Once I am out, it’s onto my skin care routine. Making sure to use a good SPF is essential, especially after regular laser and electrolysis sessions.

Time to move

After the shower, it is no stop, making coffee, getting my son breakfast, and ironing our clothes for the day. All while my wife is making sure his lunch is ready and his school bag is packed.  Next, we trade places as I pack my own lunch, and she pushes him to get a move on and jump into the shower.

IF everything is going well. This is sometimes where I slow down a bit as I get in the bathroom to do my makeup. Normally, doing the whole box and dice from primer, corrector concealer, foundation, contouring, eyebrows, liner, and mascara probably takes about 10 to 12 depending on the interuptutions to do my son’s teeth and hair. Having to dry my fair a couple of days a week does blow this out a little, which often puts me out, and I ditch the contouring (not ideal as a trans woman since I’m trying to visually make my face more feminine by highlighting specific features.) Even so I have a decent look that I’m generally happy with looking in the mirror.

Finally, in the mad dash to the finish. I quickly style my hair with a curl moisturiser and normally pin the front into place. Shoving my laptop into my bag and grabbing my stuff, my son and I are out the door normally around 7.50. Hopefully, with a second coffee in hand.

Drop off

The run to the school bus is reasonably quick, and we haven’t had a problem yet. That doesn’t mean that my wife isn’t always anxiously pushing both of us out the door. Thankfully, while there is always a fair degree of traffic, it is a pretty smooth run we have always made with a few minutes to spare. Taking a minute to watch him get on the bus and wave at the moment is the reward as I can’t help but smile at his maturity and general cuteness in his school uniform. After that, it’s time to click into gear, get to work, and start the rest of the daily grind.