Last Updated on December 27, 2020 by HodgePodgeDays
When September rolls around, that means one thing – summer is over and it’s time to start a whole new school year. Whether you’re the sort of person who’s up at the crack of dawn, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and happily packing PE bags and lunchboxes, or if you’re the sort of person who’s desperately grinding some coffee beans in desperate need of caffeine, everyone needs some tips on how to make their school mornings go easily and smoothly. Here are a few tips…
Use The Night Before
If you aren’t a morning person, it’s especially important to make sure that you use the evenings to get as many preparations for the morning done as possible. Get out school uniforms, make sure that packed lunches are prepared, iron that last minute shirt, pack that PE kit, and make it a rule that your kids pack their school bags at night rather than in the morning. That means that they won’t be running around like headless chickens trying to find that piece of homework or that pair of socks.
Implement A Routine
It’s a good idea to make sure that you have a morning routine, especially if you have multiple kids who all seem to be fighting over who gets to use the bathroom at what time. If everyone has a designated time to get up and to use the bathroom, there should be far fewer fights in the morning. Use a planner to figure out who needs what items on which day – it should help you keep to your routine even more easily.
Avoid Screens
In the morning, you should avoid screens wherever you can. Even for yourself, it’s easy to get lost in Facebook and then realise you’re twenty minutes behind and everybody’s going to be late. If your kids get wrapped up in a TV show or in their tablets, it’s going to be hard and possibly argument-filled to peel them away from the screens and into their school shoes so you can get everybody out of the door on time.
Don’t Micro-Manage
It’s important to remember that you shouldn’t micro-manage your family. Once your routine is in place, it’s only going to create friction if you keep trying to control what each family member is doing at a certain time. Make sure that your kids make themselves breakfast – toast or cereal are items that they should easily be able to make for themselves – and that they are capable of doing everything for themselves in the morning so that you aren’t running around after them. Trust them to get themselves ready and they will be able to manage it.
Reward Yourselves
Finally, make sure that you reward yourselves! If you’ve managed to make it out of the door on time every day that week, treat yourself and your kids to milkshakes after school on Friday, or a family movie night with popcorn, or some messy artwork together, or a trip to a destination of their choice. Positive reinforcement is the best way to build good habits, after all – and you deserve to reward yourself for your own hard work too!
Mornings don’t have to be stressful – these tips should ensure that you don’t have any problems at all!
This is a contributed post.