| Hi read,
How are you today? How has the transition back to school been for you and your family?
It's been a few weeks since school started and we're hitting our groove. Yay! Over the years, I've figured out ways to get out of the house faster or gotten amazing tips from other moms or even teachers. Think of this as an extension of creating a great morning routine. I've got 5 ideas that might help you. - Plan/Prepare the night before. Have kids choose clothes, pack their backpacks, etc. the night before. Prepare the baby bag, label diapers, and choose your outfit the night before. You get the idea. Don't try to cram everything into the morning.
- Limit choices. The more choices you have, the more decisions you have to make and often the more time it will take. So, limit your choices and those you offer your kids. I'm talking about food and the other kajillion decisions you make each morning. Limit the choices and options, especially with younger kids.
- Keep everything in a designated place. If your kids are looking all over the house for their shoes or you can't find your keys every other morning, that is valuable time you're wasting. Figure out a logical place for things to go and keep them there. And feel free to be creative. I recently saw a video about a mom who stores clean socks for kids in the piece of furniture in her entryway.
- Set 2 alarms to get out the door. The first alarm is a warning. Essentially, it's a countdown alarm (e.g., you have 10 minutes to wrap things up before we leave.) The second alarm is the "time to go" signal. When kids hear it, they walk out of the house. Use the timer on the oven or microwave or an alarm on your kids' phones.
- Let kids count items. This is a trick I got from the boys' preschool teacher years ago. Let kids know how many items they need to have to walk out of the house each day. And they must put all the items together and count when they hear the first alarm. That way they have time to find whatever is missing. We started this when our kids were 3 or 4. It was helpful and empowering. And it works!
What helps you get out the door with your kids each morning? Struggling with this? Let me know how I can help!
You've got this!
Suzanne
PS Another thing that helps with your routine is already having things labeled. Check out my favorite personalized stick on labels from Mabel's Labels so that your child isn't losing items and contributing to the school's lost & found. (affiliate link)
PPS Don't forget to share your thoughts on my survey for employees who are working moms and dads, especially those in the US. I'd love your help in getting employers to better understand what working moms like you want and need.
| 
No comments:
Post a Comment