There’s yelling, there’s chaos and sometimes there’s tears. That’s no good. We’ve got to do this 167 more times before it’s summer break again. How are we going to survive this mad rush every morning?
PREPARE, PREPARE, PREPARE
The night before might be the key to the whole thing.
Lay out outfits. Program the coffee maker to go off in the morning automatically. Pack lunches the night before. Fill water bottles. Pack backpacks. Get creative. Simple tasks like making sure the jelly is in the front of the fridge and not buried in the back can pay surprising dividends. Whatever you can possibly do to eliminate steps in the morning, do it. Small actions add up.
HAVE CHECKPOINTS
If you need to get out the door by 7:20, establish some regular check in times. For instance: everyone has to be dressed by 6:30. Breakfast has to be eaten by 6:45. Shoes on by 7:15. These help in two ways. First, they help break up the morning’s tasks into smaller pieces, so no one gets overwhelmed. Second, they serve as helpful reminders of everything that needs to be completed by go-time. This particularly prevents that moment when you’re a mile down the road and someone says, “I forgot my lunch!”
REWARD LEAVING ON TIME
It can be as simple as letting them pick the music in the car or earning 30 minutes of video game time after school.
NEGATIVITY DOESN’T HELP
Be encouraging, even if you don’t leave on time. Disparaging won’t make the situation any better (trust me). It just puts everyone in a foul mood. Praise what goes right, point out what needs improving, fix any kinks in the system and move on to tomorrow.
EXPLAIN WHY
And this isn’t because I said so. We need to get to school on time because it means daddy or mommy can get to work on time. It means that you’re not disrupting your class. It means you get to start your day a little more relaxed and you might get a little extra time to play on the playground in the morning. Kids are far more likely to cooperate when they understand the purpose behind the routine instead of feeling like they’re following arbitrary rules.
CUT YOURSELF SOME SLACK
This is never going to be absolutely perfect. The whole operation rises and falls on sleepy kids and even sleepier adults. So, yes, let’s do our best to get to school on time, but learn to accept that it’s not going to go down without a hitch. There’ll be grumpy feet-dragging. There’ll be reluctant teeth-brushing. Some beautiful mornings, it’ll all just happen smoother than butter. But when it does feel like herding possums, there’s no sense in being grouchy at the kids or frustrated at yourself or your spouse. Just try again tomorrow. Remember, this is setting the tone for the rest of the school day and your day. And don’t try to make up lost ground by driving unsafely — that’s never a good idea.