Shadowing Practice: 6 AM MORNING ROUTINE | STAY AT HOME MOM SCHEDULE | Amy Darley - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hey y'all my name is Amy Darley.

I am a stay-at-home mom to two school-aged kids

and today I'm going to be sharing with you my 6 a.m morning routine.

My kids are in school from 8 a.m to about 3 o'clock p.m

so I'm going to take you along

and show you what a typical school day morning looks like for me as a stay-at-home mom.

My day starts at 6 o'clock a.m

when I get up this is our block to get ready for school and morning drop-off.

So the first thing I do do is head into the bathroom

and I take care of all of the necessities like brushing my teeth, putting my contacts in, just doing the basics so I don't scare anyone at school drop-off.

And then I'm just going to go ahead

and throw on my workout clothes so

that way whenever I get back from school drop-off I'll be already ready to go for my walk.

So my kids are actually in seventh and ninth grade so they're old enough to get themselves ready in the morning.

They just lay out their clothes the night before.

They packed their book bags the night before, all of that.

And then they set an alarm and get up, get themselves dressed and ready.

And then they head downstairs for breakfast.

Now over the years, I've shared so many of our morning routines.

So this wasn't always the case.

I started my YouTube channel back with my kids were in pre-K and first grade.

So you can definitely go check out our morning routines from over the years

and see how things have changed for us as they've gotten older.

Now while my kids are getting dressed, I do go ahead and pack their lunch boxes.

They do pick out everything that they want in their lunch boxes the night before

and then I just throw it all in there in the mornings

so that way it's all cold and stays fresh throughout the day.

Once the kids are dressed and downstairs, it's time for breakfast.

Some days I cook breakfast, some days Chance does, some days they'll actually just heat up like a breakfast burrito that I've prep for them, which you'll see later in the video.

I do a little bit of meal prepping.

And then some days it's just an easy cereal for breakfast or grab and go pop tarts or something like that.

And then after breakfast, we head off to school.

Now I put together this block schedule printable so that I could keep myself organized during the school week.

And honestly, it's helped so much.

So I went ahead and made a blank version too, in case you guys want to download it and fill out your own routine.

You can download it for free if you want to use it.

I'll link it in the comments and in the description box.

Once I get back from school drop-off, it's usually around 8 30 a.m.

I go ahead and start my devotional and do this for the morning

and then I also pull out my planner and just kind of look over my day.

Typically I will plan out my day the night before and then in the morning if I need to add anything, I can add things.

I can go ahead and highlight.

This is my favorite thing is throughout the day getting to highlight my checklist.

I don't know why, but it just makes me feel so productive.

And I think it really helps to keep me motivated throughout the day as well.

Now we do carpool with friends.

So some days I don't have to take the kids to school and actually start this little routine a little bit earlier,

which is nice because some days it actually ends up taking me longer to clean

and do all the things in my stay at home mom block that I have planned out for myself.

So it gives me a little bit of wiggle room.

Okay, now that my planning and devotional time is done, I'm actually going to go for a walk.

And I wanted to switch out my hats here

because I have a couple of hats that I typically wear for my walks just because they get super sweaty.

They're my walking hats and I don't want to mess up my cute ones that I wear out and about.

So now I'm ready for my walk, but I'm going to go ahead and throw a load of laundry into the washing machine.

I like to do this early so

that way once I get to my stay at home mom

block slash like all the cleaning I can go ahead

and throw the laundry that was in the washing machine into the dryer

and then by lunchtime it is dry and I can fold it.

And I did want to share that I actually created a new weekly cleaning routine and laundry routine for myself.

So I clean different areas of the house on specific days of the week

and then I even do certain loads of laundry on set days.

So I'll be sharing my full weekly cleaning and laundry routine in my next YouTube video.

So be sure to come back and check it out.

All right, now it is time for my walk and I am listening to Audible while I walk.

On this day, I was starting the book What Lies Between Us.

It's a psychological thriller, which is my favorite genre to listen to.

But over the summer, I did read a couple of romance books.

But after all the romance, I was ready for a good psychological thriller and this one is one that I saw recommended.

Now for my walks, I plan to do four miles a day Monday through Friday.

Some days I know that things are going to happen like Wednesday.

I wasn't able to get my walk in in the morning because the kids had an all-school chapel that I went to, but the goal is to get four miles a day done

and I guess the cats were just waiting on me to get back home too.

Now right after I got back from my walk, my groceries were actually delivered to the front door.

So I went ahead and took those in and unloaded everything.

Mondays are for my grocery deliveries and meal prep and everything.

So this is what I'm going to be doing during my stay at home mom block, which I'll show you guys in just a little bit.

Once I got all the groceries put away, it was time for a shower and to get ready for the day.

I did have to wash my hair.

So it was like a full on blow dry and curl the hair day.

I don't wash my hair every single day, but I do typically wash it every two or three days just because it's really hot here.

So of course I'm going to sweat when I walk, but some days I can get away with like blow dry my hair and using some dry shampoo.

And I'm just showing you a little bit of the skincare

and products that I use after I get out of the shower.

And then, like I said, I'm going to blow dry, curl my hair and put on a little bit of makeup for the day.

Thank you. so now

we're moving into my stay at home mom block

so this is the time that i have blocked out for a house reset

so basically my daily cleaning routine so the things

that i do every single day are make my bed

and then tidy up around the house

so the kitchen gets cleaned the dishes get unloaded

or loaded into the dishwasher i wipe down the counters

and i straighten up the living room you'll also see

that my robot vacuum is going around this time

so it's actually vacuuming for me so i don't have to worry about

that now i will share more details in my weekly cleaning routine

but i do still use my vacuum my stick vacuum i'll actually pull that out and vacuum the floors

100

once a week i have a couple days so like the days

101

that i clean the bedrooms i'll actually vacuum upstairs

102

and then the days that i am cleaning downstairs i will vacuum the carpets

103

or the rugs and then i will actually mop the floors

104

but this little robot vacuum is so great because it does vacuum

105

and mop i don't always use the mopping feature

106

but i definitely let it vacuum my floors every single day

107

and then it has certain days of the week where it mops okay now

108

that the bed is made i'm switching over the laundry really quick

109

and like i said i do this so that way

110

when i'm done with my stay-at-home mom block i can fold these clothes while i'm eating lunch

111

Now we're moving into the kitchen and like I said I'm going to unload the dishwasher, wash any dishes that need to be washed by hand,

112

and wipe down the counters and the breakfast table.

113

Now some days the kitchen is a lot messier than this

114

but we've actually been trying to do a good job in the evenings at cleaning up the kitchen after dinner

115

because we have the help of the kids.

116

They usually help with loading the dishwasher, cleaning up the kitchen, taking all of their items upstairs so

117

that way it's not as big a mess in the mornings

118

but we're not perfect so some nights the kitchen doesn't get fully cleaned

119

and i do have a big mess to clean the next morning this happened to be a pretty good morning

120

so really i just had a bunch of dishes to unload

121

and then for some reason we have like a bazillion cups in our sink i think it was

122

because they wouldn't all fit in the dishwasher the night before

123

so we've got cups and of course the dishes from breakfast this morning

124

that need to be cleaned i like to run our dishwasher at night

125

so that way i can unload the dishwasher in the mornings

126

and then we can load any dirty dishes throughout the day into the dishwasher

127

and not have them sitting in the sink this is a routine

128

that we have stuck to for years and years and years

129

but sometimes we forget to run our dishwasher at night and

130

that really stinks the next morning

131

because then i'm like oh i have to run the dishwasher wait for that to get done

132

Before I can get the dishes out of the sink or I just have to hand wash those dishes

133

I'm not asking for much but it feels like the two of us are golden, they're gold you see Won't do you good so take a chance,

134

take a chance on me It's magic open, you are close, so get close to me Won't do you good cause I'm golden, I'm golden

135

You're not really looking for a friend so never die for me

136

Never thought that loving would be easy but it's all for free Won't cause the thing, so it's yours worth to try, oh This is the real thing,

137

I'm down if you're down, boy Get next to me, get next to me, all that I want Is get next to you,

138

get next to you Not asking for much, buddy This I bet to offer, circle, hold in the gold, you see Won't do you good,

139

so take a chance, take a chance on me It's my trickle when you are close.

140

I'll give it always a bit.

141

What do you good?

142

Cause I'm going, I'm going.

143

Now once all the dishes are clean, I do like to wipe out the sink, especially if there's been dishes sitting in here.

144

So I'll just spray it with some Dawn Power Wash and scrub it down really quick.

145

And the sink is all clean.

146

get next to me get next to me

147

getting next to me now the last thing

148

that i'm doing here in the kitchen is wiping down the countertops

149

and the breakfast area i feel like in the mornings these aren't too bad unless we've cooked a big breakfast

150

but majority of the time we like i said clean the night before

151

and the counters aren't too too bad

152

but i do like to do this in the mornings especially once I've gotten the clutter cleaned up

153

and everything off of the counters

154

It's magic

155

the living room

156

and like i said i'm just doing a quick tidy in

157

here i'm not cleaning this area today it's just basically fixing the blankets

158

and pillows on the couch so that they look nice

159

but we all know that as soon as the kids

160

and everybody come home these are going to be thrown all

161

around the couch blankets are going to be pulled off

162

and it's just going to be back to normal

163

but at least throughout the day once i have everything straightened up it looks nice for me

164

and then once the room is tidy I do finish it off with spraying the couches with this Caldrea linen spray.

165

I also use this in my bedroom.

166

You probably saw me spray it on my bed after I got done making the bed.

167

I love this stuff.

168

It's so good.

169

Okay, so now that I've done my daily house reset, I'm going to move into my daily cleaning routine.

170

And on Mondays, I typically do a crock pot meal.

171

So I'm gonna start with getting that going in the crock pot.

172

And then I'm going to actually prep some snacks and breakfast for the week.

173

Now today's crock pot meal is Swedish meatballs and egg noodles.

174

I've shared this recipe before, but my whole family loves it and it makes a ton.

175

So we end up having lots of leftovers

176

and I will share with y'all the finished product of this recipe at the end of the video

177

But we're gonna go ahead

178

and get into some snack prep I found these little reusable snack containers on amazon

179

and i'm going to use them to make a couple of snacks

180

that we can throw in The kids lunch boxes for the week

181

and also chance really loves those little protein packs

182

So instead of buying them at the gas station or buying a bunch at the grocery store for a lot more,

183

I decided to get all the stuff and make them at home.

184

So first we're going to prep some apples.

185

I'm just going to slice them all up and let them soak in this ice water with lemon juice.

186

This is to help keep them from browning throughout the week.

187

It's kind of crowded here, but I know you see me too.

188

Everybody's singing.

189

Oh, everybody's singing.

190

Oh, I don't know what it is about you It must be in the way you move Okay,

191

while I let my apples soak, I'm going to go ahead

192

and start on these little protein packs We already had stocked up on some Chomps beef sticks

193

So I decided to take a few of these

194

and cut them into little bite-sized pieces and throw those in here

195

And then we're going to add in some cubed cheese I went ahead

196

and bought the bag of already cubed up cheese and I did check on Walmart.

197

If you buy the block of cheese that's an eight ounce just block and you cube it yourself, I think it's like a dollar cheaper, but this saved me a little bit of time.

198

So I went ahead and bought the cubed cheese.

199

I'm going to throw that in there.

200

And then I did some of these with regular almonds that are just salted.

201

And then I did some with dark chocolate covered almonds.

202

Now, like I said, these are chances favorites but I love them too.

203

They're perfect to take with me like when I'm going for carpool pickup

204

because usually by that time I'm ready for a snack.

205

So I'll just grab one out the fridge and take them with me on the go.

206

The kids also love these.

207

They're a great little snack to have before practice.

208

So I think next time I'm definitely going to make a lot more of these.

209

I only made six and we ate these within just a couple of days.

210

you're looking so old now i'm moving closer to you and it's getting dark in this room

211

tell me what you want to do baby let me love the next little snack

212

that i'm doing is just apples

213

and peanut butter i did plan on doing the pretzel sticks with some hazelnut spread

214

which is supposed to be like the pretzel sticks and nutella

215

but the pretzel sticks were too big for these little containers

216

so I'm gonna actually go get the bag of the little mini pretzels

217

and then I'll be able to make some pre-made little containers for that.

218

So this week the kids will just have to have pretzels

219

thrown in their lunch box as a snack in just like a ziploc bag or something.

220

just say the word and we can leave this place

221

i'll take you anyway now the next thing

222

that we're going to prep are some breakfast burritos

223

so we're going to actually do some steak and egg breakfast burritos

224

so i cook the steak on the stove

225

and then now i'm cracking 10 eggs i'm going to throw

226

in a little bit of milk to make them a little fluffier I'll give those a good whisk

227

and scramble them up on the stove and then I'll start assembling our breakfast burritos.

228

Now Kacen, my ninth grader, is not a fan of cheese.

229

So I'm going to make some of these with cheese and some without.

230

These are such a good quick and easy breakfast to have on hand once you have them all prepped.

231

They are full of protein

232

and I feel like they keep the kids you know full until lunchtime

233

because they do have a little bit of a later lunchtime

234

but we just store a couple of them in the fridge

235

and then we'll put the others in the freezer

236

and then we'll pull them out the night before if we're wanting to cook them the next morning.

237

Personally I think the best way to reheat these so that they taste good are in the air fryer.

238

I would take them out of the tinfoil.

239

You can cook them in the tinfoil but I just feel like they take a little bit longer that way, but we usually cook ours in the air fryer for about eight to 10 minutes.

240

Usually I do it on 400 degrees, but you could cook these in the oven or even in the microwave or on the stove as well.

241

Now, another thing that I like about breakfast burritos is I feel like you can switch these up.

242

So like this week we did steak, but you could do breakfast sausage.

243

My kid's favorite is to have just bacon, egg, and cheese.

244

Well, not cheese for casein but bacon and egg for casein

245

if i was cooking these for my husband and i'd probably go ahead

246

and add in some bell peppers onions hot sauce all the things

247

but my kids like things pretty plain they don't like a ton of condiments

248

and extras so their breakfast burritos end up being very basic As long as we're together,

249

everything will do You got me going, oh, you got me going,

250

oh Now I'm moving closer to you And it's getting dark in this room Tell me what you wanna do Baby,

251

let me love you, let me love you Let me love you, let me love you Baby, let me love you, let me love you Let me love,

252

let me love All right, so now our burritos are done and they can eat on these a couple of days during the week.

253

I actually ended up putting just a couple in the fridge and then I put the others in the freezer.

254

And also when I wrapped these in tinfoil, if it had cheese in it, I put a big C on there.

255

So that way Kaysen knew not to grab those because those are the ones with cheese.

256

Okay, so that is all of the meal prepping that I did this day.

257

But this is just a little glimpse of some of the things

258

that I do on a typical Monday to prep for the week.

259

But y'all let me know if you want to see my whole weekly meal planning and prepping routine.

260

And I could definitely make a whole video on all of that as well.

261

Around 11 30 is my lunch

262

and laundry block Sometimes this ends up being a little bit later

263

if my cleaning took me a little longer

264

But typically I try to have lunch around 11 30

265

because i'm usually starving by this time anyways

266

So i'll make up some lunch and i'll usually eat

267

that first and then i'll try to fold

268

that load of laundry Now i'll be honest

269

if for some reason I have lunch a little bit later and I still have a ton of work to do

270

Then I will skip folding the laundry

271

and I will either fold it at night before we go to bed

272

Or i'll just leave it for the next day

273

and fold it Then I do like to have it folded the same day just

274

so it's not all super wrinkly and sitting in the laundry basket forever But like I said,

275

i'm not perfect and this all doesn't always happen Sometimes I have a ton of work to get done in the afternoons.

276

So I will make laundry folded

277

laundry a last

278

priority now

279

my last block of the day is my work block

280

this usually starts around 12 p.m to 2 p.m this is

281

when I have my meetings with my virtual assistant or I'll do some editing I'll do filming for TikTok shop,

282

voiceovers, planning, scheduling, all the things for content creation.

283

And then two o'clock PM is my evening block.

284

This is when I will go get the kids, take them to sports, do all of the evening routine things,

285

which I'm not going to share all of that in this video because this was a morning routine video, but I did want to kind of share that two o'clock starts our evening block routine.

286

Also, since I did share that we were doing a crockpot meal, I wanted to show you all the finished product since this is one of our favorite meals to cook.

287

So I filmed these clips after we got back from practice.

288

Pretty much all I had to do for dinner was throw in the sour cream

289

and cook my egg noodles and then throw that into the pot, mix it all together, and dinner was done.

290

Now if you're a busy mom and you need simple meal ideas like this one, I just came out with my Dinner Made Simple digital cookbook.

291

It has 20 easy recipes and it also has clickable links that takes you to the video of each recipe

292

as well as all the ingredients so that you can shop it.

293

So if you wanna download that cookbook, I'll have a link down in the description box and in the comments.

294

I hope y'all enjoyed seeing my 6 a.m morning routine.

295

Hopefully it was helpful.

296

Also, don't forget to download the free daily planning sheet so you guys can set up your own block schedule.

297

I hope y'all have an amazing week and I will see you in my next video.

298

Bye.

299

I look at you smile.

300

I don't know how, but it feels like I'm drunk on you.

301

It feels like I'm drunk on ya It feels like I'm drunk on ya

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing Practice: 6 AM MORNING ROUTINE | STAY AT HOME MOM SCHEDULE | Amy Darley - Learn English Speaking with Video

About This Lesson

What is the Shadowing Technique?