School is now in full swing and I now have both of my kids climbing onto the school bus in the morning!
Even when I only had one kid getting on the bus, I felt the mornings were a bit hectic or we were running to the end of the driveway to catch the bus, but after 2 years we have found what works for us and I wanted to share these routines with you and hopefully will work with your family have a calmer morning.
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How to Get Your Kids Out the Door and On Time!
- Pick out Clothes the Night before – Okay Mom and Dad…I’m not saying YOU pick them out but have your child pick them out..and if they’re a little wonky (shorts in winter) on their choices give the option of 2 outfits but have them choose. This eliminates the power struggle of picking out clothes in the morning.
- Back Packs Ready to Go – Grab the library books, homework, permission slips etc all the things your child needs to bring to school the next day. You don’t want to be scrambling trying to find the lost library book when the bus is coming.
- Masks Ready – If your child needs to wear a mask at school have the whole week ready to go by the door. We use Lanyards with our masks, so kids don’t lose them, they can swing them around when eating instead of trying to find a place to put it.
This year after I purchased a set of 20 lanyards for the masks. Last year we only had 5 between two kids and I was constantly trying to find them and move them to a new mask. Now it’s so simple to wash the masks at the end of the week, put them on the lanyards and hang them by the door for the whole week. This is the pack I purchased from Amazon.
4. Set different Reminders/Alarms on Alexa or your phone – One to make sure everyone is awake, one to have the kids grab their gear and put their shoes on and one that’s okay we need to go now. This way kids have an audio reminder of what needs to happen without you screaming at them to put their shoes on.
5. Create a list of what needs to happen in the morning – If you have young children that can’t ready create a list of pictures, if they can read make a list of actions. Brush teeth, grab lunch, snacks, water bottle, get dressed, eat breakfast. This way your children can double check the list to make sure everything is done. You can even incentivize the list..if you get everything done before xAM, you can watch one show or whatever.
Do you do any of these suggestions? Or is there something else that works for you and your family? Let me know in the comments and maybe you could help someone as well!