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| Morning routine |
| how to ease the chaos |
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Those 30 minutes before you head out the door every morning can often be the most stressful of the day. Speedily coaxing breakfast into hungry mouths, nagging kids to brush their teeth, and where oh where do those shoes always disappear, just as you think you are ready?
Workday mornings often feel like a race of clock versus parent, and little ones never seem to be able to move fast enough to keep up.
Though it's impossible to ever truly master the morning chaos, there are a few things you can do to make mornings a little easier and reduce the nagging or yelling that always seems to eventuate on a stressful morning.
Do as much as you can the night before
There is plenty that can be done the night before to ease the morning rush. Prepare bottles and formula, make lunchboxes and stack in the fridge, pack bags and place by the front door, and have fussy dressers choose their clothes before bed and leave them out. Set the table with bowls, spoons and cereals, you can even have children decide on what breakfast they would like the night before, to avoid those moments of mind-changing and indecision. Make sure your bag is also packed the night before, so you aren't hunting for the car keys as you are trying to run out the door.
Create a morning routine
Giving older children a jobs list, which they can tick off for every task they need to do, puts the responsibility back onto the kids to get ready. They will enjoy collecting ticks or stamps and it gives them a routine to each morning. This can still be done for younger children, just use pictures to indicate tasks. Collecting stickers as they finish a list can motivate children to get ready for daycare further. To help make children more conscious of time passing, use a kitchen timer that counts down or one where they can see the timer moving.
Be ready before they get up
Though you want as much sleep as you can get, getting yourself ready before the children get up can be the difference between a stress-free morning and a chaotic one. If you are ready to go, then you know that no matter what the morning throws at you, when the children are finally ready, you are also ready to face the world. Get to bed 20 minutes earlier so you don't lose out on that much-needed rest.
Keep your cool
Kids always feed off your stress, so try and stay calm; shouting won't get you out the door any faster and often brings on tears for everyone involved. When the planets don't align and the stress creeps in, take a deep breath and keep the mornings positive. Don't be too hard on yourself, most families struggle in the morning, so don't beat yourself up when it doesn't always go well.
Build in some quality time together
Try and include just a few minutes of quality time together in the morning by eating breakfast together. Reconnecting together and talking about the day's plans with the kids will find you starting the day calmer and less stressed.
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