Getting back into the Rhythm for School Mornings

The time has come for back to school, with a mixture of feelings of excitement, dread, fear, and so much more, the hectic morning schedules are about to begin. Throughout summer, the rules are little more flexible, maybe going to sleep a little later, sleeping in, and just days filled with fun rather than being in school. I remember summer days just filled with my brothers and I playing outside all day long and just feeling like we had complete and total freedom.  Then as the summer days slowly started to fade away, getting school supplies and uniforms ready for back to school was the downer for what felt like a never-ending summer. But now as the adults and parents, we are having our kids get back into these routines and trying to figure out what works best for not just us but them as well.

I know I cannot be the only one who had parents to this, but two weeks before school even starting it was getting our bedtimes back in order. Bedtimes where on a strict schedule and my dad made sure that we were getting to bed earlier. Now as an adult, I completely understand this process, not only do we need our rest, but as an adult, now we need to get ourselves ready and the kids ready as well, while making sure we get out of the house on time for all of us to make it to our destinations. So, when it comes to practicing getting ready for school, I one hundred percent agree with practicing this.

Mornings are forever hectic, now adding kids getting ready for school, while you may have a kid that is fighting you all morning that they don’t want to go to school, this is now playing with your time that you must get everyone out the door and to school on time. So, morning breakfast can sometimes be a difficult especially for picky eater. Grab-and-go items are going to be you best friend. Grabbing bottles of yogurt that the kids can eat on the way, fruit, and even mini boxes of cereal, items that can be eaten on the go are going to be real life savers when you are cutting it close with time.

I lived in a big household, we are a family of 6, as you can imagine, mornings were super hectic just everyone getting ready and looking for items they know they left somewhere, it was a pretty crazy morning. My parents finally put their foot down and knew something had to change, so we became a home that made sure we left everything ready the night before.  We got our uniforms out the night before, ironed and left out to just put on and our backpacks where all good to just grab and go. This saved us so much time, cut out the time of figuring out what to wear, if it needed to be iron, or the notebook I knew I left on the table.  Not leaving things out just seemed to have a snowball effect on our mornings, so I highly recommend leaving your stuff ready to go the night before.

Setting an alarm for getting into the car can be so helpful. Kind of like having a warning bell, setting the alarm for 5 minutes before the kids need to be in the car gives them an opportunity to finish up getting ready and grabbing their stuff and start heading to the door. This way everyone is on the same page and helps you stay on time.

Setting expectations for what your kids morning routines should look like, to help with this using a chart could help them get all their morning routines done and in a timely matter. Like getting up and making their bed, brush their teeth, feeding your pet (if this applies to you) comb their hair, eat their breakfast, and so on. Set those expectations upfront so they can get into a rhythm each day.

Mornings are rough for all of us but being a kid and having so many expectations sometimes is a lot for a kid. Getting them ready but letting them be independent about it is also a great for them as they are growing. So get ready parents, those hectic mornings are about to begin!