Organization is even more important when your child is not a morning person (do we hear sympathetic groans?). Here are tried-and-tested tips to get kids up in the morning and out the door!
Wake Them Up!
Raise the blinds.
About 10 minutes before my kids need to wake up, I go into their bedrooms and quietly raise the blinds so they can slowly get accustomed to the light.
Play upbeat music.
Set the radio alarm for a station with energetic music your children can wake up to. Or play a CD of your own selection, especially one they like and that gets their bodies moving. It’s hard to stay in bed when the tempo is fast.
Get Them Dressed!
Shower before the troops.
I make sure I get up in time to shower before the rest of the family. And speaking of time savers, I adore my Scrubbing Bubbles® Automatic Shower Cleaner. After everyone is done using the shower in the morning and while the shower is still wet, I just press a button once and the Scrubbing Bubbles® Automatic Shower Cleaner sprays cleaning formula on all four walls. After about 27 seconds, I have a fresh, clean shower. No more heavy scrubbing to start attacking mould and mildew stains and soap scum—just a press of a button every day.
Schedule the bathroom.
If you have more than one child, or only one bathroom, set a monthly schedule of who uses it and when. (Schedule some children to take their baths/showers at night, others in the morning, and specify the exact time each child has to be out of the bathroom.) Do ask each child for his or her preference. Warning: This plan won’t always work, but knowing you have a plan may give you some peace of mind!
Prep the gym clothes weekly.
Like taxes, dirty gym clothes are inevitable. So every weekend, I wash and dry my children’s dirty gym clothes and put them back in each child’s gym bag. Then I hang the bags on the doorknobs of their respective bedrooms. In the morning, all they have to do is snatch the bag on their way out. Depending on the child’s age (e.g., high schooler) and the weather, gym clothes may need to be washed more than once a week.
Kid-proof the closet.
I have two closet rods for hanging clothes in my son’s closet (if you only have one, lower extension bars can be found at your local department or hardware store; shirts go on top, pants on the bottom. It’s the same for my daughter, but with skirts and pants on the bottom, shirts on top). Shelves are not so practical for children because they’re hard to reach and stuff just starts to pile up in multiple layers! I usually store off-season clothing on these shelves.
Label everything.
My mom (bless her heart) sewed name labels into every piece of my clothing when I was a child. Today, most elementary schools ask parents to label each individual marker, crayon, glue stick and plastic supply as well! For me, the easiest way is to mark everything (including non-clothing) with a fine-point permanent marker or a permanent marker laundry pen. You can either write directly on the item or write on adhesive address labels and cut them to fit the item.
Get Them Fed!
Make lunches the night before.
Whether it’s egg or chicken salad, vegetable or bologna, Ziploc® brand Sandwich Bags keep the taste of any sandwich fresh. My kids love to pack their own snacks in little snack bags, so we use the smaller Ziploc® brand Sandwich Bags to hold after-school treats such as carrot sticks, cookies, cereal, and nuts and raisins. My son and daughter, who are always rushing somewhere, love to grab them from the counter or fridge.
Set the breakfast table the night before.
After my kids are in bed and the kitchen table is cleaned, I put out plates and cutlery for breakfast. That way, the table is ready in the morning. That’s one less last-minute morning chore.
Bake cookies for the week.
One Sunday each month, I bake a couple of batches of my children’s favourite cookies—chocolate chip—and freeze them in individual Ziploc® brand Double Guard® Freezer Bags with the Double Zipper Seal. The bags protect the cookies from freezer burn, and all you’ve got to do is open the bag and place them on a microwave-safe dish to defrost them and they’re ready to go! I keep them in the freezer up to three months.
Give a choice of breakfast foods.
In my house, nobody wants the same breakfast. So I offer two choices: For instance, cereal or eggs on one day; oatmeal or frozen waffles (the ones with no trans fat) on another. If they don’t like the choice, they can get a granola bar from the cupboard or toast a frozen pancake (I make a double batch on Sunday and freeze the rest in a Ziploc® brand Double Guard® Freezer Bag.) My kids can also request “Mommy’s Concoction”—a mixture of half OJ and half cranberry juice with ice—our favourite!
Get Them Packed!
Check the school folder nightly.
Every night, I check my children’s school folders (where they keep teacher notes, announcements, etc.) to make sure that permission slips are signed and I am not expected to bake three dozen cookies by the next morning!
Program and recharge your child’s cell phone.
If your child has a cell phone, make sure you program it with emergency numbers (work and cell numbers of parents/caregivers, other relatives, adult family friends, hospital, taxi, etc.). And make sure the phone is charged every night.
Repack backpack the night before.
Make sure all homework, books, pens, etc. are packed in the backpack the night before. Then leave it right next to the front door or in the same place, every day.
