5 Ways to Get Your Mornings Moving with Kids
An old friend of mine would have described my family in the morning as "Slower than a herd of turtles in a rainstorm." He would have been half right, we're not moving slowly but we never seem to get anywhere on time. If your house is like mine, mornings are a little chaotic. My four year old can never get the right clothes, her underwear feels funny, the tweety bird on her flip flop is missing an eye and it’s the end of the world, the water’s too hot, the toothpaste is too spicy (we now have two types of toothpaste but sometimes the other one is too pink), and on and on from there. So, I’ve started to look for some help, I’m tired of being the one who’s late all of the time. Here are some of my favorite tips that I’ve found.
1. Use visual helpers. Make a chart with pictures of what needs to happen in the morning, in order (see the example here). For some it might work with Monday to Friday check boxes (that slows us down because she can’t just make a regular check, it has to be pretty and in the right color), for others just seeing them in order is enough to remind them what needs to come next. We’ve laminated ours, put it on the bedroom door and move a little piece of ticky-tacky when we’re on to the next item, but sometimes that’s not necessary. This has helped my daughter to start learning how to keep herself moving, she doesn’t have to wait for a prompt from me every time.
2. Do it Ahead of Time. Have her pick her clothes the night before, and do anything else that can be done the night before. Of course, in our case, picking the clothes the night before doesn’t mean she’s still going to want to wear that in the morning, but it gets us a little closer to our goal. Snacks & lunches can be packed and put in the fridge. Shoes can be found the night before, hairbrushes (the ones that seem to grow feet and wind up between the books) should be tracked down and put back in the bathroom the night before. This will save on aggravation for everyone during the morning rush.
3. Start at the same time each day and take 5 minutes to cuddle. Starting at the same time each morning, helps build consistency to the routine and cuddling helps your child feel recognized. It may sound strange, but it works. When we take a few minutes to cuddle and chat before we start running around, we’re all in a better mood and my daughter isn’t feeling brushed aside because we’ve already taken the time to connect. Sometimes it works better than others and sometimes the “cuddle effect” will wear off before we get out the door and she’ll revert to needing everything done for her, but in general with a good snuggle and chat to start it off my daughter is much more willing to go with the routine.
4. Keep Breakfast the Same. In my house, we eat basically the same breakfast every day. I used to try to vary it, but that caused DRAMA. Some days she likes Cheerios, some days she doesn’t. Some days yogurt is great, some days it’s not. We switch it up on the weekends, but even pancakes aren’t a guaranteed hit so by eating essentially the same thing every day for breakfast, we don’t run into the “I don’t like that!” wall. Because, I know she does like that, and she knows it’s what’s for breakfast, end of discussion. It helps.
5. Talk about the day to come. During breakfast, do a quick summary of what’s happening for the rest of the day, who’s picking up whom, classes or lessons or practices, any dinner requests. This gives everyone a clear idea of what’s to come, and in my case, helps me to get an idea of what to make for dinner. It also helps pave the way for a smoother day.
Basically, it seems like the trick to making mornings go smoothly is to prep ahead and make it as close to an auto-pilot situation as possible. Every day will be different in small ways but the more you can build a routine, and stick to it, the more easily your child will be able to anticipate the day ahead and learn to get themselves going.
