Well here in England the school term has started and for many of us that has meant a huge shift in gears. Gone are the family breakfasts, the playing before getting dressed, the little lie ins – or telling your children it’s not time to get up yet – and back are the parents stressed about the school run!
Here’s a list of a few things to consider to help ease the stress of the morning routine:
- Do the lunchbox and the school bag the night before
If you are not a morning person, don’t try to be, prepare the night before. Personally I love being up before dawn and that’s my busiest time of the day, however I still get things lined up the night before to help me be super-efficient in the morning. This is a small change, but small changes make rituals and rituals are the key to changing your family! Some of you will scorn me for saying this, some of you will say you are doing it, but if you are doing it then you know that it can work.
- Have homes for things by the door
If your child is always losing their shoes or their bag, set up somewhere near the front door where they can live. That way they won’t get lost on the way to wherever they are supposed to be in your house, as soon as you walk in the door then they can go in their home and you don’t need to get angry with your child for losing something again and they don’t need to get stressed trying to remember where in the house they left it.
- Change the way you wake your children up in the morning
The way we wake up can affect the rest of our day, think about the times you have woken up late and how panicked that makes you feel. Your heart beats faster and the adrenaline kicks in, so you start to stress about little things that normally don’t worry you. Sometimes (it does happen) we snap at other people. Well these feelings will apply to your children too, so even if you are waking them up late, think about the words you use. Try “Good morning, what would you like for breakfast?” rather than “wake up, you’re late!”, there’s less blame and you are speeding things up by getting them to decide what they want to eat so that you can have it ready for them. Even if it’s just the components on the side for them to do themselves, you are still speeding up the process of having breakfast.
Which ones do you do already and which have given you ideas about things to try?
If mornings really aren’t your thing I have plenty more suggestions on my YouTube channel.
