With the first day of school over with, how did you do with the morning craziness of getting your kids out the door?
Did you pass with flying colours or did you receive a failing grade?
I’ve read tons of different articles on how to eliminate morning stress and find they are totally lying to us! To me there is nothing that can totally eliminate morning stress unless you happen to be a morning person…which I am not. So here are some things that help us save our sanity and keep my kids alive to meet another morning:
- Get up at least 10-30 minutes before your kids. This is a crucial time to get caffeine into your system before the craziness of the day begins. The earlier you get up, the more coffees you can consume!!
- Be in a good mood when you wake up your kids. Since I am not a morning person and would rather eat worms than be up before 9am, this is a HUGE challenge for me. My suggestion is connect with your inner Julienne Moore, Sandra Bullock, or Nicole Kidman and put on the act of your life. If your kids sense that you are unhappy to be awake they will use this as a super power against you that makes Superman’s heat vision look like child’s play. Your kids will absorb your energy so make sure that it is a good energy that they are feeding off you. The flip side is you will also feed off their good vibes and the morning will probably go a lot smoother with less fights.
- Have breakfast together. I know it is tempting to sit your kids down to eat while you rush around and get other things done. However, the little bit of time you spend with them while you eat will fill up their attention tank and you will be rewarded with better behaviour later on. Make sure you budget enough time so that you are not rushing your kids and making it turn into a negative experience.
- Get things ready the night before OR get your kids to help in the morning. I have tried and tried and tried to implement the “get things ready for the morning before going to bed” thing and it has never seemed to work in our house. The morning seems so far away in the evening that we totally forget to do any of the things they suggest. Instead what works for us is that the kids are involved in the morning necessities like packing lunches, getting dressed, making beds etc. Takes some coordination and going over what they can do but kids love to be involved. In our house we do them all together so its like a family fun activity…sort of. It does seem to work though 🙂
And the biggest thing that makes life easier in the morning is…
5. Use screen time as a reward!!! Yes I know it seems like total bribery but for some reason as soon as the TV is turned on or the iPad is in their laps they turn into complete zombies. Trying to get your kids to do anything with a screen in front of them is almost as impossible as me fitting into my pre-pregnancy clothes. So tell your kids as soon as everything is ready they can watch their show or have the iPad. Make a list of the things they have to do and tell them the faster they get their list done, the more time they have to watch/play whatever they want. Works like a miracle for us. Just make sure to set a timer for the time you need to get shoes and coats on so they know when they need to turn it off. Using the timer saves you from being the bad guy when its time to go.
Hope you found these suggestions helpful and please share your Morning Sanity Savers on our Facebook Page
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