After a bit of a hiatus the question of the week is back! As usual I am looking to you – the wise readers, friends and family of Evolving Mommy – to help a mama out. It’s time to spill your secrets, how do you deal with the morning rush?
(Subscribers, click through to Evolving Mommy view this weeks question)
As always, thanks for sharing your thoughts!
17 comments
LOVE THIS! Morning rush is helped by doing as much as possible the night before. I try to pick out clothes, prepare breakfast, do whatever I can to make the only thing that needs done is eating, dressing and getting OUT the door 🙂
What sort of breakfasts do you like to prepare the night before, Annie?
My kids are naturally early risers so that is really helpful but I am NOT a morning person so I do as much as I can the night before. Clothes for the day are set out, back packs are packed and ready and every ones shoes are found and placed by the door. Also, I don’t give the kids a choice in breakfast. I just make them something they I know this good for them and they eat that way there is no stalling in deciding… no, whining because he is having this etc.
The kids know to get up, get their clothes on and the sit down and eat. If there is time they then get to watch TV other wise away we go.
Oh and I do drop off in my jammies with a travel coffee mug. 🙂
I do not envy the time your children get up in the am, Jen. I like the idea of not giving a breakfast choice. I bet that saves you lots of time in meal prep.
My kids are also early risers, so the issue is usually that they started playing and NOW our time is short to get out the door.
I’ve worked on this by giving them a morning checklist. Once they have the checklist done, then they can play, but not before.
What sorts of things are on their checklists? Maddy has a checklist of sorts to but we have neglected it lately.
Hi Catherine,
I have a system. First I make sure their food is close to the door so dad or I can feed them very quickly in the morning. I make sure that their water bowls are full at night. I also have a dog door so I don’t have to get up to early if they have to go to the bathroom.
As you can see I have system as you can also see I don’t have children.
Some of these same systems worked for my young family but I must admit sometimes the system just went out the window.
Donna
That’s funny! Maybe I should put Maddy’s food by the door too? 🙂
I wish I had some good tips but mornings are crazy in our house. With three boys all in school and me working full time there is not much that is calm and collected in the morning.
On our good mornings everyone gets up when their alarm goes off. Me first, I get ready for the day then wake the boys. They get dressed (hopefully clothes were picked out the night before to avoid and last minute arguments as to why a sleeveless shirt in the winter with flip flops and a swimsuit aren’t appropriate for December in Colorado), brusht their teeth and head down for breakfast.
Hopefully we will have made lunches the night before so that we can just grab them and place them in their backpacks which are conviently hanging up by the garage door (usually though it is a mad dash to find the lunch box from the day before, which is usually still in their backpack, but nobody remembers where their backpack is let alone if they even brought it home from school the day before.)
Good luck, starting school was such a wonderful time for all of my kids, they truly started to become amazing little people after they started kindergarten (not that they weren’t amazing before)
Night before night before night before! Have a checklist that they do (not before bed, either, right after they do their homework) EVERYTHING should be done. Clothes laid out complete with socks and shoes and everything, backpack by door, etc. For the days where “stuff happens” just always have a backup breakfast that can be eaten in the car like a granola bar or muffin or dry cereal or whatever! I am starting kindergarten too, so good luck. I am going to try hard not to cry!
Have as much ready the night before. Be ready for plan B when food or weather for clothes does not go as planned.
My ‘baby’ starts kindergarten this year too! I know I’ll cry, I always do, just a little and with him, well, I know it will be my last child to send off to school….until grandkids. My advice? Keep it simple. Simple breakfast, maybe just a choice to two menu’s, rotate through the week. Have water bottle and any lunch packed as much the eve before and backpacks cleaned out and ready, papers signed, on the table or by the door. Mine shower in the morning, so they can wake up, start fresh, but I know some bathe or shower the night before or every other. Have fun with it!
I’ve discovered that how you feel sets the tone for everyone else. I like to wake my kids up half an hour before they need to get up. I tell them it’s 7am and rouse them a little – they know they don’t have to get up until 7.30am, but some will rise around 7.15am anyway. At 7.30am they know breakfast is ready, and they come for that. Anyone who does not come gets a very cheery mother singing good morning songs loudly by their bed. 🙂
Lunches made the night before. Hanging clothes organizer in the closet which is labeled with the days of the week. Every Sunday the organizer gets filled with the clothes for the week.
Do what you can before bed and sleep as late as you can is my MOTTO!
Gosh, I feel like I’m out of it! One of my daughters likes to pack her lunch at night so she can have a leisurely breakfast in the morning, or sleep in later. The other, she’s a quick riser so I don’t have to worry about her. I feel like my issue is the evening hours between 4-6. HELP ME!
Mornings can sometimes be crazy here with 3 in school but over the years things have gotten easier.
-as much as possible the night before, shower, pick out clothes, and pack lunches are all night before “musts” at our house. This does lead to an earlier get ready for bed time (7 or 7:30pm) on school nights but makes things much less stressful overall.
-AM checklist. You’ve seen my star chart but AM has get dressed, make bed and pick up room, eat breakfast, brush teeth and hair, do chore.
-Allow ample time. Wynter and Brennan get 45 minutes. Phoenix gets 1 hour and 10. Phoenix is the slow mover in our family. All three of them should be able to finish in 30 minutes if not messing around.
-Reward with TV, video games, or other special time if ready early. There are no electronics in our house in the AM unless their lists are done. Great motivator to get ready quickly is a quick TV show (or part of a TV show) before school if you get ready quickly.
Good luck! You’ll get it figured out. But really, why does school have to start so early? I still can’t believe my big kids have to be on the bus at 6:48am each morning. At some point soon Orion will still be sleeping then. Thank goodness a bus comes to our neighborhood. I would not be a happy mommy if I had to wake my baby to take big kids to school.