Morning Routines

by Diana Register | More from this Blogger

05 Mar 2006 01:00 AM

Mornings. It can be the best of times or the worst of times. Finding a morning routine is sometimes difficult, but it can be done.

I remember vividly my son not wanting to put his shoes on to go to school. I just remember standing there thinking to myself, "Do I take him to school with no shoes on?" And the question, "What do I do about this?" quickly followed. I felt like I was struggling in the mornings, I either had kids falling asleep in their cereal or rushing to get dressed. Whatever the problem, the mornings were not working. So, what changed?

1. Start your morning routine the night before: A few night before tips: Have your kids shower or bathe the night before so that they're not rushed in the mornings. Make their sandwiches for lunches the night before and lay out the rest of their lunch stuff. Encourage them to find an outfit to wear and lay it out in their room. Load backpacks and do whatever else you can do to prepare for the morning.

2. In the mornings, have a plan and be consistent. Do things in order each morning so they get used to knowing what comes next. Have breakfast, change clothes, brush teeth, brush hair, make beds, get ready to leave. Stay in that routine and eventually they will know what they are supposed to do without you telling them.

3. Let them have their own alarm clock. Explain what a big responsibility it is to get up with the alarm.

4. For younger kids, and sometimes older kids, have a list on the fridge of things that need to get done before they can leave (and write down the time).

Eventually, after you get a really good routine in place the goal is for them to do it on their own. I have been practicing this for a while now, and let me tell you, it works wonders. My two older kids now get up before I do, and have breakfast, load their lunch pails, get dressed, make beds and are ready to walk out the door before I barely have time to wipe the sleepies out of my eyes.

Learn more about Diana Register

I am a stay at home mom currently living in California.

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