How to Have a Productive Morning Quiet Time with Littles Underfoot!

Do you have regular “quiet time” with the Lord? “Quiet time” is Christian jargon for the spiritual discipline of daily Bible reading, meditation and prayer (and many people include journaling as well).

This is a wonderful practice and is extremely beneficial to having a growing, personal relationship with God.

But when you have little people underfoot… “quiet time” can be anything but!

My girls are 9, 7, 4, and 1… and our mornings can be a little crazy.

As soon as they wake up the requests, pleas, messes, fights, and chaos begin.

I have friends who recommended teaching my girls to stay in their rooms until I came and got them in the morning. And that worked fine with one of my girls. But I have another daughter who struggles with high anxiety and when she wakes up in the morning she needs to touch me as soon as possible. Forcing her to stay in her room leads to big issues for her heart and for the noise level in our house!

So several years ago I began the “open book rule”.

It’s simple – if my Bible is open, then I am not going to jump up and meet their demands. I’m not going to make them breakfast, or help them get dressed, or play with them. They have learned that the open Bible means I am spending time with Jesus, and I will not be moving off the sofa (unless it’s an emergency, or a poopy diaper – ha!).

However, the girls also know that they are welcome to come and join me in my space! They can sit with me, snuggle next to me, read their own book, or journal or color quietly. The older girls can get themselves breakfast or can help the younger ones with what they need.

Once my Bible is closed – I am available to help them and begin all the normal “mom” tasks of the morning.

There is lots of grace with this, and not every morning works the way I want. But it has created a good balance for our family.

The girls still get the benefit of my presence. But they also understand that there are boundaries. And I think it’s important for our kids to learn that mom is a person too. Mom gets to shower. Mom gets to eat (her own food, not your leftovers). And mom gets to spend time with Jesus and get filled up before beginning her tasks for the day.

A surprising result of this practice has been seeing my girls learn about spiritual disciplines and begin wanting to participate alongside me. Watching them learn to read their own Bibles, pray, and journal their prayers has been a joy for my momma heart. And making it a “normal” thing to start your day with the Lord will hopefully stay with them the rest of their lives.

If you have a quiet time routine that has served you well during your “little people” years – I’d love to hear about it in the comments!

And if you’re looking for a way to begin the “open book rule” in your home – check out the Encouragement Shop where I have elementary age templates you can use to help your kids have “quiet time” next to you! (Pre-school templates are coming soon!)

May you rest deeply in the love of Jesus this week!