Mastering the Morning Rush

Getting yourself out the door on time on weekday mornings is tough enough. But with kids to manage too, it’s a recipe for multitasking madness. Besides getting them up, dressed, showered, groomed and fed, there are lunches and snacks to pack, teacher notes to write, permission slips to sign, backpacks and homework to gather, and socks and shoes matches to find.

In short, there’s way too much to do, which gets compounded by the more kids you have. 

 

Even if you’re organized, the best-laid plans can go awry, when, for example, your preschooler has a meltdown or your grade-schooler wants to skip breakfast.

The good news? It gets easier as kids get older because they can take on more responsibility. The trick is to establish healthy habits and to get into a manageable drill that you can gradually delegate. What’s preventing you from getting everyone out of the house in the morning without going crazy? Here is some “a.m. advice” from mom experts who’ve found solutions to
common morning “time traps” and “sanity snatchers.”

 

Time Trap

Searching for backpacks, jackets, homework, purses, car keys, cell phones

A.M. Advice: Create a staging area for storing key items, preferably near the door you usually exit from. “Make your own version,” says Allison Carter, a certified professional organizer. Carter made her “command center” near the back door with a bench for backpacks, baskets for shoes and wall hooks for coats and totes. Another mom uses her entryway for outdoor gear and shoes and a butcher-block kitchen cart in the kitchen for backpacks, lunch bags, homework and school permission slips. Yours could be a similar combination or even just the dining room table.

 

Within your command center, designate a spot for specific items so you and your kids can grab things in an instant. Then train everyone to put things there, as in: This is where your backpack goes when you come home from school. Your command center can also have offshoots. For example, Audrey Cohen, a mom of 7- and 9-year-old girls, stores everyone’s socks in a community basket behind her bedroom door. “It was my solution to one of the most frustrating parts of our morning: finding matching socks,” she says. 

 

Time Trap

Your child sleeps in, leaving no time for breakfast

A.M. Advice: Get your child up earlier. If your kids would rather sleep than eat, wake them up 15 minutes earlier to make time for this important meal. Studies show that children who eat breakfast can concentrate more effectively and do better on tests. They also have healthier diets. 

 

“Breakfast-eaters have higher fiber, vitamin and mineral intakes and consume less cholesterol and sugar,” says registered dietitian Elizabeth Ward, author of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Feeding Your Baby and Toddler. Meanwhile, emphasize how important breakfast is by being a role model. “If you’re not eating breakfast yourself, it’s going to be hard to get your child to value it,” she says.

 

Ward says the ideal breakfast contains protein, such as meat, beans, eggs, or dairy (protein helps you feel full); whole grains for fiber, vitamins, minerals and disease-fighting phytochemicals; and a fruit or vegetable. Think oatmeal topped with almond butter and raisins or fresh berries.

 

Sanity Snatcher

You’re too rushed in the morning to get it all done

A.M. Advice: Do what you can the night before. “That’s when you have time to think the next day through,” says Jen Singer, author of Stop Second Guessing Yourself — The Toddler Years. The night before, fill out permission slips, locate library books that need to be returned, write any notes to the teacher and have your kids pack their backpacks and take their baths or showers. Check the weather forecast and have your kids set out the next day’s outfits, too. You can also pack snacks, make your child’s lunch and set the table for breakfast. 

 

Also, set the stage for events that don’t happen every day. “My kids have piano lessons on Tuesdays,” Singer says, “so it’s their job on Monday night to gather their piano books and put them on the front seat of my car so I don’t have to remember them when I’m flying out of the house on Tuesday morning.”

 

A couple of tips for lightening the load: Don’t go it alone. “Get your kids invested in the process with age-appropriate tasks,” says Mary Robbins, a licensed clinical social worker. Your goal is to train your kids to eventually get themselves ready in the morning without much, if any, help from you. Your preschooler, for example, can pick out her own clothes, especially if you give her choices, and put her shoes and jacket away. As your kids get older and better at each task, add another to the mix. Grade-schoolers can also pack their own lunches, snacks, and backpacks. To make sure they keep up the good work, “reward or praise them for acting so responsibly,” says psychology professor Dr. Linda McKenna Gulyn.

 

Don’t bail your kids out if they forget something. “We have a rule that once a year you’re allowed to forget your saxophone, and I’ll bring it to school. But after that, you’re on your own,” author Singer says. Not bringing forgotten items to school lets kids suffer the consequences and teaches them to remember, she says. Use a white board in the kitchen as a reminder center or encourage your older kids to set reminders on their phones. 

 

Sanity Snatcher

Your child won’t eat breakfast because she says she’s not hungry

A.M. Advice: Make up for it at snack time. “Anything kids eat before noon counts as breakfast,” Ward says. Just make sure the breakfast/snack is nutrient-dense. A whole-grain bagel, string cheese, and a Clementine fit the bill (grains, protein, fruit), so does a hard-boiled egg (boiled the night before) with a small whole-wheat roll and an apple. Sorry, Goldfish crackers and
fruit roll-ups don’t make the cut.

 

Other tactics: Go off the grid. Some kids just aren’t wowed by traditional breakfast foods like whole-grain cereal, whole-grain waffles, or eggs. But there’s no rule against having leftover pizza for breakfast with a glass of 100-percent juice or even half a turkey or tuna sandwich with a glass of non- or low-fat milk. 

 

“One of my kids eats homemade chicken soup for breakfast,” says Dr. Laura A. Jana, a mom of three and the author of The Toddler Brain. But keep the general breakfast formula in mind — protein, whole grains, and a fruit or vegetable — so your kids still get a balanced meal. Talk to them about what a balanced breakfast is so they can eventually make it for themselves.

Don’t be a sweets slacker. If your kids will only eat sugary cereal or sticky buns for breakfast, they’ve been trained to know these treats are coming, says Ward. To make breakfast healthier, start cutting sugary cereal with Cheerios or another low-sugar, high-fiber option. Look for cereal with less than 4 to 5 grams of sugar per serving and 4 or more grams of fiber and introduce better options, such as instant oatmeal made with skim or low-fat milk instead of water and dried fruit or slices of banana or apple. Also, stop buying tempting treats or designate a specific time when your kids can have them. “I buy very few sugary cereals, but when I do, they’re served for dessert,” Jana says.

 

Time Trap

Your kid is a slow mover

A.M. Advice: Establish a consistent and reasonable morning routine. “Although they might resist it at first, children thrive on structure,” Gulyn says. Make a morning-routine poster for your younger kids and put it on your fridge or other common area. The poster should outline the order of tasks, such as dressing, breakfast, putting on shoes and socks, and brushing hair and teeth. Use pictures to convey the message if your kids are pre-readers. Allow extra time. If your kids still dawdle even with a set routine, make wakeup time 15 minutes earlier instead of trying to get them to conform to your schedule. Also, make sure they get to bed early enough so they’re more apt to be up-and-at-’em in the morning. “Children ages 5 to 12 need 10 to 11 hours of sleep each night,” says Gulyn. Preschoolers need 11 to 13 hours of shut-eye.