How do working parents with school age children streamline their school/work mornings to make them less stressful? There’s so much to get done in the mornings that by the time I drop the kids off and head to work I feel flustered already. What are your short cuts to getting out the door without too much stress? Thanks!
8 Replies
Pack snacks in their lunch box the night before if they don't need refrigeration. Do everything else food wise in the morning.
Have their uniforms out and ready the night before. Socks and shoes included.
If it's a swimming day at school pack it the night before not in the morning.
Make sure homework is back in their bag straight after they have done it.
All I do in the morning is put fruit in their lunch box, get the kids breakfast and make sure they get dressed. Everything else gets done the night before.
You can freeze some lunch items in advance so make up a big savoury slice, portion it and freeze. Make and freeze basic sandwiches. As the other poster said, do most things the night before, use sports day to wash and dry the formal uniform, shoes cleaned and put out with fresh socks ready for the morning. I even used to put my sugar and coffee in a little tupperware container so I just had to pour it into my travel cup and add water to be out the door (two jobs, one started at 8am and the other finished at 12am so these things were literally what gave me that extra 30 minutes sleep in the morning).
Get into a good after school/night time routine. Make sure everything is packed the night before as much as possible. Put school uniforms/shoes etc where they can easily be found and get into a routine. When things are done the same way each morning/same order things just get far easier over time.
Get everything ready the night before. Clothes undies shoes, bag packed, lunchbags packed in the fridge.
Make a chart for the kids. Nice and simple. Eat breakfast. Brush teeth. Get dressed. Pack bag with lunch water hat.
Make a list for yourself of all the smaller things.
Also try getting yourself up and ready earlier while they sleep or chill out it takes a lot of the stress out of it.
I'm a stay at home mum but I second doing everything at night.
Bathe/shower at night
Make lunches
Bags near the fridge ready to pack
Clothes out ready
Gather all your work stuff ready to go along with your purse, keys etc.
Get some housework done, waking up to a clean house feels less stressful.
Then all you have to do is wake up, eat, dress and clean, pack bags and go!
Lunch packed the night before, school clothes on instead of pajamas. Wake up, shoes on, walk dogs to get out whinging wake up moods. Cerial after the walk while I chuck on my uniform and then out the door
Have uniforms and bags done the night before, lunches and water bottles night before.
My kids are in Year 2 and 3. If they want to watch TV they need to be up, dressed had Breaky.
(My boy is motivated by this my girl not so much)
Showers night before or they need to get up earlier
I do my washing at 5am twice a week.
We get in the car 8am, otherwise it takes a 10 min drive 30 mins.
Hubby and I work from home, I like to either start my work day about 5am, leaves me with some space middle of the day or get house work done before I leave for school run.
Our school allows and states in assembly that parents can bring kids to school half dressed if they are not ready.
This threat works well.
I'm a mean mum.
Kids have to unpack their bags when they get home from school, eat anything left in their lunch boxes for afternoon tea, then wash and repack for the next day. We keep lunches simple, a couple of sandwiches, fruit, vegetable sticks and dip, pre-made snack item such as muffin or scroll, or trusty leftovers. I freeze stuff in single serve sizes so they just have to chuck the appropriate amount of food in their lunch box. The older kids generally make their own sandwiches, but in the past I've also made them in bulk and frozen them too.
Next is homework and reading which then gets out back into their bags.
After dinner and showers they are to put their clothes and shoes out ready to go for the following morning.
When they get up, they are expected to get dressed and make their own breakfast and move lunchboxes from fridge to bags before free time. They don't get ready quickly enough, no play time before school.
I also expect the kids to clean up after themselves at meal times, dishes in the sink and wipe the table.
If we are ready really early, I'll sometimes treat them to a trip to the park before school, or a flavoured milk on the way to school, or whatever it takes to reduce me yelling at them to hurry up. Last term it was ooshies if they were early for a week.
My kids are aged 3,5,8&9 and they all handle the responsibility very well. I'll admit though that starting this routine was hard for the first month or so, but now they thrive off it.