My family has a huge schedule shift this year. We have a six-month-old daughter and a kindergartner. Last year, I had the luxury of dropping my son off at 7:55am and I was at work by 8:00am. My family’s new routine has my daughter at daycare by 7:00am and my son at school by 7:30am. This has created a whirlwind of running around like crazies trying to get everyone to school and work on time, so we have started some activities to help us manage time better.
Here is some advice to take your mornings from Nascar pit stop to a well-oiled machine:
- Waking up earlier. This is definitely my weakness. Who wants to give up 10 more minutes of precious sleep?! I had to admit I was often the reason behind the chaos in the mornings. This year, I am waking up 30 minutes earlier. You may have a child who needs a fog horn and threats of violence (kidding!) to get out of bed. I started waking up my son 15 minutes earlier than he needs to get up to allow time for groaning and complaining.
- Pre-packing lunches. I have started making sure all lunches are made and packed the night before. I pre-make my son’s sandwich and fill his lunchbox with snacks. My daughter’s bottles are made. I even have my own lunch packed. That has shaved off at least 15 minutes to my morning routine. While the last thing I want to do at night is make lunches, it has truly helped me to (1) not forget anything and (2) stay on time.
- Laying out clothes the night before and having a “place” for all other necessities. Laying out clothes the night before went viral on Pinterest a few years ago, so I bought a hanging shelf organizer and we pick out our clothes for the week on Sunday. All I have to do is remind my son what day of the week it is (he is in kindergarten) and he is able to get himself ready. We have a spot for everything to make finding things easier. This is a great way to decrease the amount of time spent looking for lost items. We have a spot for our backpack, shoes, glasses, etc. We aren’t in the Chromebook stage yet, but we are always using the same plug to charge things which is a great reminder to not forget it at home.
- Meal prepping. One of our Knoxville Moms contributors has started meal prepping her family’s breakfast. She makes a batch of breakfast sandwiches that are stored where her daughter can reach them. If she’s still getting ready, her daughter can get breakfast by herself. This helped cut down on the “what are we eating for breakfast” decisions and arguments.
- Morning chore lists. Another one of our contributors uses a morning chore checklist. This serves as a visual reminder for her daughters. On the checklist are things like making the bed, getting dressed, brushing teeth, and fixing hair. These are all tasks her children can do on their own. Once they are done with the checklist, they know they can eat breakfast and watch TV if time allows.
