Morning Routines

Do you or your husband usually walk out the door in the morning and come back in because you/he forgot his wallet/lunch/etc?  How about the kids, do they usually run to the bus stop carrying their jackets and with untied shoes?  Get out the door on time and organized with a few simple tips:

1.  Prepare lunches the night before.  I know it only takes 5 minutes to make a quick sandwich and throw in some snacks, but that's 5 minutes less for the morning routine!  Place lunches in their respective bags in the fridge so they are completely ready in the morning. To go along with this idea, make sure backpacks are packed too.  I set reminders on my cell phone to remember library day, etc so we don't forget to pack those extras too.

2.  Pick out clothes the night before.  Give your child 2 or 3 choices to pick from, and they will still feel like they are making a choice - and you have now eliminated the daily argument about what they are wearing to school.  If you have room in the closet,  get one of those weekly clothes organizers that hang.  Place their 7 outfits inside and tell them they can pick any cubby of clothes they want each day. 

3.  Always place backpacks, wallets, purses, keys, cell phones, etc. in the same place.  That's right - no more crazed search on the way out the door.  You may want to try a nice shelf with hooks near the door.  Keys, coats and purses go on the hooks - wallets and cell phones on the shelf.

4.  Have a morning routine.  We get up an hour before the kids need to leave.  First, they get dressed complete with socks and tied shoes.  Then, it's breakfast time followed by teeth brushing.  We then make doubly sure backpacks and coats are packed (see #1 and 3), and read our scriptures.  None of these things take  more than a few minutes, but because we have allowed extra time, we are generally not rushing out the door.

Anyone have ideas to add?  Comment below!