E2: Uncle Jamie and the Little Train

Boots on, radios crackling, orders received, the scrubbing squad is standing by. Ready for real-world missions, adventure, and fun! And there is one hero they cannot start without. You report for duty. Heroes start here.

Hero HQ, calling all heroes. This is Uncle Jamie. Fall in Heroes. Today's mission is about to begin. And it is Tuesday, Heroes, which means this radio belongs to the man who runs the table. Sergeant Peck, the trading post is open.

Thank you, Commander. Heroes! Good morning, and welcome to the trading post! One table, one card, and this is the first card of the season. So listen close. Today's card belongs to the member you met yesterday, Uncle Jamie, founder and base commander of Hero HQ. The card is called How to Start a Morning Routine. And it is a common and everyday hero of the pack.

And around this table, the everyday ones earn the biggest respect. On the front, Uncle Jamie and a window with the curtains going back and the morning light coming in. And at the foot of the card, the passport stamp. Remember the passport stamp. It matters on Thursdays. Commander, the table is yours.

Thank you, Sergeant. Ah, there you are, heroes. I have been hoping to see you. Yesterday I told you about a boy who was hopeless at mornings. Socks lost, shoes in two different rooms, the morning winning before his feet hit the floor. That boy was me. And I told you about my gran and the curtains and my one small job.

Today I give you the rest of it because a morning routine is only ever one small job with friends. Here is the whole skill in three steps. Step one, pick your three, not ten. Three things you will do every single morning, and your one small job from yesterday is already the first of them. Step two, the same three in the same order every morning.

The order is the secret heroes, because once the order is fixed, you stop deciding and you just go, and one job pulls the next one along behind it, like a little train. Step three. Lay out your armor the night before. Clothes on the chair, shoes together, bag by the door. A morning routine, hero, is armor laid out before the day's adventure. And the hero who lays it out is being kind to the hero who wakes up. And if you forget one or the train comes off the rails entirely, you have not failed. You have found out which morning is the hard one, and that is useful. Say what I say. Oh, that did not work? Excellent. Now we know exactly what not to do. Then you run it again tomorrow, because mornings are the one thing in this world you get a brand new one of every single day.

Three feels like a lot. Then start the engine with one, and one is a real routine, no arguments. Draw your one or your three on a piece of paper and put that paper where your feet land when you get out of bed. So the routine is waiting for you before you are awake enough to remember it. Same order every morning, same mission. Your way.

Now, heroes, the table! One duel, one round, played exactly the way you will play it at home. Uncle Jamie puts down the morning routine card, and it is a common. And across the table, Auntie Ellie is dealing herself in, and heroes, her card is a legendary. Commander, you are the caller. Call it.

I call slot one. Education 75.

And Auntie Ellie's cover answers slot one. Education 44. Ha ha! 75 beats 44! The commander takes the round, and on my clipboard, that goes down as a thing done right. Now hear what happened there, heroes, because it is the whole game. The shiny card lost. Rarity makes a card more wanted, never stronger. A favorite common can topple anyone's legendary. And it was not luck either. Uncle Jamie called the slot his card is strongest in. That is the skill.

And that is the part worth keeping, heroes. My card is not weaker than his. It is simply not a morning's card. And I shall live. The card does not care whose face is on it, or how rare it is, or what anybody paid. It asks one question only. Who did the work? Uncle Jamie's 75 is a lifetime of opening the curtains before anybody asked him to.

A trade both heroes smile about is the only good trade. Everyone keeps their own cards, and there is no other kind worth making. Heroes, your mission, straight from the card. If you are four, five, or six, tomorrow morning, do your one small job, and then do one more thing straight after it. Two things in that order. That is a routine starting right there. If you are seven or older, write your three down tonight. In order. Put the list where your feet land and run the same three in the same order for three mornings.

And when the third thing is done and the order has held, Hero, that is a mission complete. One last thing tonight before you sleep. Lay out your armor. Tomorrow morning's hero will thank you for it.

Mission done? Tell a grown-up and tick Tuesday's box on your squad mission chart. Free at ScrubbingSquad Podcast.com. Back to HQ.

Heroes, this is Uncle Jamie. Mission accepted.

Little missions, big heroes. Heroes start here. Thank you for listening to the Scrubbing Squad Hero Missions Podcast. For free episode downloads, visit ScrubbingSquad Podcast.com. Scrubbing Squad and Lobster Bob Scenic Tours are the property of Mike J. Midgley. Operated under licence by Scrubbing Squad Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction or adaptation of this podcast in whole or in part is strictly prohibited without written permission.

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