Good morning! I hope you are having better bedtimes (read previous post). Now it’s time to get your children out of bed and off to school. Here are some tips to help de-stress mornings at your house.
- Help your child establish the habit of laying out his/her clothes the night before.
This one tip is worth its weight in blog posts! If every single thing (s)he needs is already laid out, including underwear, socks and shoes, it makes getting ready so much easier. Think about establishing a “tomorrow drawer” in your child’s chest of drawers. Put everything (s)he will need the next day in here, including the backpack. By the way, laying out your clothes the night before will make your mornings easier, too.
- Get up and get dressed before your children get up.
Yes, I know you need your sleep, but just try it for a week and see if this tip doesn’t really, really help your mornings.
- Do not allow your children to have TV time or iPad time until they are completely dressed, have had their breakfast, and are ready to go.
This might be difficult for you to establish at this point, but it is really worth it to introduce and stick to this rule. If you have decided on complete abstinence, it will be even easier! You won’t have to look at your child in his/her undies with hair standing on end insisting that (s)he is “completely dressed”. Ha!
Last but not least, going to bed at a decent hour will make getting up less stressful. This goes for you too, parents! I would like to encourage you to stop expecting so much out of yourselves, and to start taking care of yourselves and allowing yourselves to enjoy life a bit more. Hope these tips will help.
