Simple Tips

September 11, 2007 | Print

The Easier School Morning

As we bump along towards a school routine, we’re learning a few things:

1. Prep breakfast and pack lunch the night before. Or do a few steps: put out spoons and bowls for cereal, set lunch boxes on the counter with non-refrigerated items packed and containers ready for the sandwich to be made in the morning.

2. Kids lay out their outfits the night before. Sometimes this works, sometimes it complicates/extends the bedtime routine and/or the morning.

3. Find a reasonable wake up time. Kids get to sleep as late as possible and get ready for school with the least amount of rush. If our kids are dragging in the morning, we try putting them to bed earlier.

4. Preschoolers appreciate/need us around for dressing, and brushing teeth and hair. We gently nudge them from task to task. “Okay, brushing hair is next.” If we holler, “I SAID, PUT ON YOUR SOCKS” from our bathroom, they are less apt to follow through and desperate nagging ensues.

5. Watch out for the cranky sugar lows. If we don’t have time for our breakfast before walking out the door, we grab a few nuts or a piece of fruit.

6. Try not to be too late for school. If kids walk into class and their classmates are in circle time, they may feel like the party has started without them.

7. That said, everyone’s late once and awhile.

•