Tips For Getting The Kids Out The Door

Too many families rush through their mornings. They may oversleep, struggling to get breakfast on the table, get ready, and make sure that the kids are ready on time. Many times, they run late, which can start their entire day off on the wrong foot! They may feel like it takes them all day to catch up, which can really mess their entire day up.

So, what can you do? How can you get your kids up and ready for school on time? 

Make sure that you set an alarm to make sure that you give yourself plenty of time in the morning. You need to be realistic about how much time you really need in the morning to get ready and set your alarm to give yourself enough time. 

You also don't want to set it too early so that you hit snooze too many times. If you are used to hitting the snooze button, you may hit it too many times, which may mean you will still start your day off running late. If you know that you can't hit it even once, you are more likely to get up when your alarm goes off. 

Come up with a morning routine. You are going to want to figure out everything that you have to do in the morning, including waking up the children, getting a shower, and making lunches. 

Then, you can decide the order of things that need to get done, and figure out who can do what. You may need to make your children more accountable for the things that need to be done. As your children get older, they can help you out more and more, taking some of the stress off of your shoulder. 

Get things ready the night before. You should choose and set out your children's clothing for the next day before you go to bed. Not only will you not have to go through all of their clothes when time is tight, but you will also make sure that they have clean clothes for the next day. 

Make sure that you also have shoes ready, along with their book bags. If you are able, you may want to pack their lunch boxes, so all you have to add is their sandwiches and other cold items in the morning. All of this can be a big timesaver in the morning. 

Make bedtime a priority. When you put your children to bed at a decent time, it helps them wake up when they need to. If they stay up late, you are going to struggle to get them out of bed in the morning. 

Teach your children to be self-sufficient. If your children are able to get themselves ready in the morning, it can really be a time-saver for you. So, you should make sure that everyone is able to get themselves dressed and brush their teeth. This gives you time to get ready in the morning. 

If your other half is some, expect him or her to pitch in. Too many parents try to do the morning routine by themselves. However, when there are two parents at home, both can pitch in which helps everything go more smoothly. One can focus on breakfast, while the other can focus on getting the children ready. 

Remember that breakfast doesn't have to be fancy. Too many parents feel like their children need a big breakfast. However, simple breakfasts work just as well. Cereal, toast, and fruit are a great way to start your children's (and your) day off right. Too many people skip breakfast in the morning and find themselves hungry before lunch. 

Keep chores to a minimum in the morning. Though you want to clean up the house and focus on things like that, the truth is that in the morning, you don't always have time for all of the chores. Just do the bare minimum and save the rest for the evening and weekends.

Getting up and ready in the morning can be really hard. However, if you make sure that everyone goes to bed at a decent time, and you get as much ready the night before, it doesn't have to be that way. You want to plan your your mornings, so you know what time you need to get up. You shouldn't plan on hitting snooze, or you may do that multiple times and find yourself running late. You may also want to keep your chores to a minimum in the morning so that everyone can get out of the house in time!

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Previously published on Medium and/or Newsbreak.