Tip for a less busy morning
February 11, 2009 by Marci
This little tip is fresh in my mind, because I neglected it myself last night and I am just now caught up with where I usually am by 8 am. (It is now 11 am.) You see, I do not like stress or being rushed. If you have kids in school, work or have somewhere else to be early in the day there is not a more stressful, rushed time of day than first thing in the morning. There is the getting the kids out of bed or, if you have little ones, the trying to keep up with the demands of a wide awake 2 year old at 6 am! There is getting everyone dressed and fed. Then the check list: Are the school lunches made and the bags packed? Can everyone find two shoes that match? Where are the coats?
My little tip of the day is one I learned from a mom of 8 years ago and more recently from www.flylady.net and her routines. To try and keep the morning rush stress down to a minimum, start preparing for it the night before. After dinner, clear off the table and wash the dishes or put them in the dishwasher. Make it a family activity. Divide responsibities. It will get done faster and the kids will learn that you are not the maid! Having a clean kitchen now will make your life a lot better in the morning. No one wants to tackle a messy kitchen first thing in the morning while hungry kids are moaning for breakfast.
Next, 15 minutes or so before bed, take a laundry basket and head for the kitchen and living room. Grab all the clutter that doesn’t belong there and take it to the appropriate rooms. Don’t put the stuff away. Just put it in the right rooms and let the owners put it away in the morning. Now, head for the kitchen sink. Make sure it is empty. Put away dry dishes and load the dirty ones in the dishwasher. Turn the dish washer on so you will have clean dishes in the morning. To save even more time in the morning, you might want to set the breakfast table or get out the cereal, sugar or other breakfast items.
Hope that helps someone. I sure appreciate my little routine today since I skipped it last night! I’m looking forward to a much less stressful tomorrow morning!
Comments (2)
Marci,
I totally agree with you! Whenever I leave everything till morning I regret it! And it only takes like 15 min to do. Everyone has 15 min – even if it is during commercials!
One thing that I learned when my girls started grade school was to not start with breakfast. If they started with breakfast, they tended to piddle around then run out of time to get dressed, etc. Now they start by getting dressed (shoes and all), doing their hair and putting their lunch in their backpacks BEFORE they sit down for breakfast. They know their bus schedules and they have never missed it. Sometimes we even have a few minutes to chat or knock out a chore or two off their list for the day.