Morning Madness Eliminator
Getting yourself and your kids going in the mornings can be an absolute nightmare. But I feel that with a little structure in your routine, you can get this under grips and ease the morning stress.
Master your morning school schedule with these GREAT Tips:
This is by far my most important tip - Set your alarm to go off, about 15 - 30 minutes earlier, than when the kids need to get up. It will allow you the peace and quiet to wake yourself up, while conquering tasks such as making breakfast (Healthy Breakfast Ideas) and lunches (Quick, Healthy Lunch Ideas), tidying up the kitchen / house and even get in your cup of coffee (breakfast); before the troops rampage through the house.
In order for you to master the morning routine, you need to have a set ‘evening routine’ in place:
- All homework to be done and homework diaries to be signed - bag must be packed and placed close to the door.
- All school uniforms / clothing (including sports gear) to be ready for the morning - no running around looking for socks in the morning as this will throw your entire schedule out.
- You need to also ensure that you have selected your outfit for tomorrow, in the evening prior (lead by example, mom!).
Now back to your morning schedule....
Make sure that your children have a set (recurring) alarm system, and set for at least 1 hour prior to the time that you need to leave.
Keep breakfasts simple and quick, such as cereals. Leave the fancy, time consuming breakfast preparations for the weekends.
Keep in mind that children need a healthy breakfast to start the day off right and what better way than with their favourite cereal.
While your kids are chomping away at their breakfast, take this opportunity to go and get ready (see the night prior, schedule)
You should be done getting ready for work, by the time the kids have finished eating their breakfast.
After breakfast the kids get washed up, teeth brushed and clothes on and you get to do a final tidy of the kitchen and make sure the kids are all dressed accordingly and rooms are tidy.
Tip: I usually give my kids a 10 (ten) minute warning, so that they know that they need to hurry up and then I give them a 5 (five) minute warning, so that they know that I am heading for the door.
This will give you time to do your final checks, make sure that all unnecessary electricals are switched off, all doors and windows are closed/locked and then you can get all your bags; and give the final call for all kids to exit the house.
In conclusion, I have been following this schedule for the past 7 (seven) years and it doesn't always work out 100% because kids sometimes are not feeling well, or they just feel plain fussy; but I would say that this schedule works 98% of the time, for me.
My boys don't have time to bicker with each other in the mornings because there is a schedule and a routine in place to ensure that they don't have the time to get in each others ways.
And most importantly (in my opinion) is that they know what is expected of them, they know what they need to do and they know that making mom late for work is a NON-NEGOTIABLE, because if they want mommy to buy nice stuff - I have to get to work on time.
Schedules and routines help all of our lives to stay on track and on time.
These tips work for me and I really hope it helps you too!!
All the best and please remember to share.
Warm Wishes
Emoji Mom
emojimom@outlook.com
