Tick tock, tick tock, the school day morning begins..rush rush, lunch boxes, raincoats, OH NO! someone is wearing sandals and not shoes. "Where’s my tennis racquet," one shouts, "MUM can we do a spelling test revision now," the other screams..OOPS..the little one's dropped the bowl of cereal…. this is a typical school day morning at my house.

 

I have multi-tasked to the umpteenth level, my nerves are more frayed than my daughter's ballet tights and I am very close to screaming like a banshee! Tick tock..

 

From one mother to another I know how hectic the weekday morning routine of getting kids out of bed and into school is. We do it for almost 200 days of the year, day in day out, we are troopers, everyday knowingly we face the recurring battles and emerge victorious since our children usually do end up in school, lunch box and homework in hand. But I agree with you mothers it is stressful!!

 

Hopefully the following tips will give you some helpful hints at how alleviate some of the stress and make your mornings run smoother and sweeter.

 

First of all it is understood that bad behaviour can stem from kids who have not had enough sleep. Make it a priority to make sure your children receive the adequate amount of sleep. Early bedtimes mean happy and rested kids in the morning.

 

Try and make breakfast as simple as possible. School day breakfast in our house usually consists of cereal, yoghurt, fruit, cheese and milk. Anything that is easy and quick for the children to eat. The lengthy breakfasts of kiribath and stringhoppers are left to enjoy over the weekends.

 

To make life easier in the mornings do all the prep work the night before. Layout clothes, pack school bags, fill water bottles etc.

 

Get your kids to pack their extra curricular bags the night before, this helps to figure out which child has what for the day. I learnt this the hard way when my son took his sister’s ballet outfit to his swimming class. He was not amused.

 

Have a ‘HELP MUM BOX’, which is a box with extra pencils, erasers, change for tuck shop, needle and thread, anything that you can think of that might be needed quickly and urgently during the morning chaos. I would keep it in a central place for quick and easy access. It is definitely a life saver when buttons fall out at the last minute.

 

Despite how much I cherish my sleep I find that getting up a bit earlier before my children and having fifteen minutes of quiet, alone time does wonders and gets me ready for the day. I don’t feel irritated, I’ve packed lunchboxes whilst I was having my tea and I am ready and prepared to deal with the kids all with a smile.

 

 

 

 

However difficult it is to enforce, children do enjoy organized routines. Create a chart that has the following activities – Brush teeth, get dressed, comb hair, make bed, eat breakfast, put on shoes. Put the chart up in your kitchen and make it a challenge for the children, to see who will finish first, reward accordingly. This can keep easily distracted kids focused.

 

Most importantly STAY CALM. Your anxiety and frustration sometimes has the effect of making your children move in slow-motion. We have all been there when we throw out the guide to good parenting and end up shouting and screaming to get anything done.

 

As long as you have children in the house, your weekdays mornings will be delightfully noisy, busy and chaotic. The trick is to learn how to roll with the punches and make the best of the situation. See you on the school run…hopefully looking less harassed!