In preparation for back to school I thought I would share a few tips to help get your morning off to a great start.
I’m not going to give you a list of things you must do. I am going to give you an example of what a normal morning looks like in our own home. Remember organizing is not one size fits all. What works for me may not work for you. However, I do recommend having some type of schedule in place so your children don’t feel stressed before heading out the door.
Here is our typical morning…
5 am: I get up and have quite time, check email, write or if I so choose roll over and hit the alarm clock. (I don’t hit the snooze button that often but it has been known to happen.) I should get back to the treadmill during this time!
6 am: My oldest gets up to his alarm clock. You shouldn’t have to poke and prod, teach your children early on to use an alarm clock. You can’t go to the college dorm with them and roll them out of bed! We started the alarm clock in 1st grade because it seemed not to effect him in kindergarten and this might explain why he didn’t hear that type of sound.
6:10 am: Son comes down dressed and I make him breakfast.
6:20 am: Son finishes getting ready, brushes teeth, etc. while I pack his lunch.
6:30-6:50 am: We have 20 minutes here where my son can just hang out, relax and do what he wants which is usually read a book or pet the dog. My other 2 children wake up sometime at this point. Whether they eat or get dressed depends on the time they wake up.
6:55 am: Pile into the van and drive to school.
7:05 am: Back home and finish getting the younger ones ready and start our day.
Our schedule does not always go perfectly smooth but my son is wide awake, calm, ready and on time when he goes to school. Every morning. With little or no complaints. That definitely works for me.
One thing I do not allow before school are video games and TV. We’ll chat about that another time.
So what does your morning routine look like?
Can you think of ways you can make it less hurried?
{ 3 trackbacks }
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I was just working on my routines, now that the youngest is starting Kindergarten in 2 weeks!
7:00 We get up, get dressed & head down to eat, I throw laundry in the wash
7:30 DH leaves & older DS catches the bus, younger DS & I clean up kitchen
8:00-8:30 take walk or other exercise
8:30-9:00 Laundry in dryer & one quick cleaning task (flylady zone)
9:00-9:50 Free time with youngest DS, plus quick snack for him
9:50 DS gets ready for school
10:10 Walk DS to bus stop
10:30-2:00 My time to clean/shop/work (nap?)