Tips for Getting Ready Quickly in the Morning with Kids

May 20, 2023 - Leave a comment

Mornings are the most difficult for parents because there is so much to do in a short amount of time. Getting the entire family up, dressed, and fed in the morning can often result in disaster, especially if you are a working parent and fear running late.

Every parent has had their fair share of morning meltdowns, however, if you follow a consistent morning routine every day, you can easily get ready on time in the morning.

Now whether you have to get ready for the office or your kids are getting ready for school, it won’t be a struggle. This blog post goes through steps you can include in your morning to get ready quickly along with your kids.

Follow these tips to start the day with happiness and relaxation instead of panic or stress.

Wake Up Before Your Kids

If you want to kickstart the day a little less rushed, you need to wake up before your kids. It’s a hard pill to swallow but if you take out these first few minutes to focus on yourself, you will be more than ready to tackle the day and your morning will be much smoother.

Now don’t worry if most of you aren’t early risers, you don’t need to wake up an hour early or even 30 minutes early, just taking out 15 minutes is just fine.

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This is plenty of time where you can get a peaceful cup of morning coffee in silence while scrolling on your phone or making a morning plan for the day. Moreover, this will make you less stressed in the mornings.

Anything you do before your kids wake up is one less thing to tick off the morning checklist.

Prepare A Night Before

To get more time to sleep in the morning and to make mornings a little less stressful you can try to minimize the number of chores and responsibilities you have in the morning by doing them the night before.

For example, you can ask your partner and kids to take a shower the night before to save a little time in the morning. In addition to that, here are some things you can prepare the night before;

Prepare Lunch

You can prepare lunch and leave them in the fridge overnight. In the morning all you need to do is heat it, put it in the lunch box and they are ready to go. This will save you time in the morning.

Prepare Outfits

Selecting clothes and preparing an outfit in the morning probably takes the longest time due to indecisiveness. Ask your kids to pick out their outfits the night before to avoid wasting time in the morning.

Preparing an outfit the night before is a way to minimize stress in the mornings. You can also keep the clothes at your kid’s level so they can take them and change them in the morning. This will keep them engaged and give them a little control over their morning routine.

Assign A Shelf Or Hook For Things

You should set a place for all the essentials you and your kids need in the morning. It can be backpacks, shoes, wallets/keys, lunch boxes, and jackets. Assign a shelf or hook for all these things so you don’t have to spend time searching and panicking for them in the morning.

You can let your kids know where they can find their shoes and backpacks. Once they know where their things are, they can get them themselves every morning and put them right back after. That’s one less thing to worry about on your own.

Make A Morning Routine

It is important to have a good morning routine where you know exactly what you’re supposed to do to avoid wasting time and panicking to get things done. Make sure to stay consistent and follow the same routine every morning.

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Here are some tips to make a good morning routine for you and your kids;

Create a Checklist

You can create a little checklist for the morning routine to show your kids. Make sure to include all the things you and they need to get done in that checklist in order. An example can be;

Shower/Wash your face
Brush your teeth
Comb your hair
Get dressed
Eat breakfast
Put on your shoes
Grab your lunch box and backpack

Go Over The Morning Routine With Your Kids

Once you have a morning checklist for your kids, you should go through all the steps with them separately. This will give them a chance to recognize any issues and talk to you beforehand so you can re-order or change some of the steps in their morning routine.

Plus, a checklist will encourage the kids to follow through all the steps with ease and without your direct assistance.

Give Out Responsibilities To The Kids

Apart from the checklist, you can even encourage your kids to take on small responsibilities or tasks to do on their own. It can be packing their backpacks to combing their hair. Appreciate them for their efforts so they can feel motivated to do these tasks more often.

Schedule Play Time In The End

As parents, we are all aware that kids can get cranky in the morning and throw tantrums which can become a hassle if you’re getting late. One way to keep your kids happy and convince them to continue with their tasks is to schedule a playtime after all the tasks.

This playtime can be a ‘reward’ for getting through the morning checklist. Getting them to brush their teeth and get dressed becomes much easier when they are guaranteed playtime right after.

Conclusion

Once you follow all these tips, you can easily get ready in the morning without panicking or getting late for your plans.

Remember the most important part of a morning routine is to stay consistent. This is because once your kids start following the same routine every morning, it will become a habit. Therefore, you won’t spend your mornings nagging or guiding them throughout the morning.

Filed under: Tips and Myths