– Prepare The Night Before
Have as much done the night before as possible. By doing this you will save a lot of hassle and time in the morning as you will not be under so much pressure to get out the door. I mean things like laying the breakfast table with bowls, cups, cutlery, napkins, jam, butter, salt and pepper (for eggs etc.) glasses for drinks such as juices or smoothies. Have the cereal boxes out, the ingredients for smoothies in the fridge/freezer, pot with lid on with water for the eggs, bread on the counter and anything else ready that you would use for breakfast. Preparing school lunches, bags and sports equipment is a time saver and making sure the children have their school shoes, uniforms, bags and coats to hand the night before. Get everyone involved and taking responsibility for their own things as much as possible as this will help them to gain independence, become aware of consequences, develop proficiency in time management and see others as equal. The more you encourage them to take care of their own things the easier it becomes for everyone as the workload is shared.
Over the next week try to time yourself in the mornings to see just how much time you need from waking up to heading out the door. If it’s an hour then set your alarm to get up 30 mins before everyone else so that you can get that little head start on the rest of the gang. Use this time to take care of yourself – showering, stretching, 5 mins meditation and you will be good to go! It’s all too easy to let the morning get away from ourselves and it’s what happens to most of us most of the time but with a bit of planning and conscious living we can so easily grab some quality living even before anyone else is awake. Look upon it as a gift to yourself. Try it for a week or ten days and if you really hate it well then you really hate it! What can I say? But do think about what you really like and work that in somehow – maybe you could grab a quick 10 minute walk around the block, or listen to the birds as you have a cup of coffee/tea. Its really about setting yourself up for the day with a feeling of achievement and gratitude.
- Calling The Kids
When you are waking up the children try to do it as nicely as you can. Imagine that it is you who is being called for school and think about how you would like to be woken up. You coud try one of those apps that wake you between lets say 6.45 and 7.15 because it is attuned to your sleep pattern. I’ve never used one but believe that they are pretty widely used so you might want to give that a go. Or if you have a dog and don’t mind them coming upstairs to wake the kids in the morning then this is a lovely way for youngsters to be woken and they really do wake up quickly this way as its like seeing your best friend for the first time over and over again and they get a cuddle into the bargain which is hugely beneficial as this releases the ‘happy hormone’ serotonin. This will in turn lead to a happier child who is more likely to cooperate with Operation Morning! Either way making sure that you wake everybody in a gentle manner is definitely your best way to go.
- Breakfast Routine
Once they are up and have showered, dressed etc. Then its a matter of getting into the breakfast routine and everyone can help here if needed. Milk from fridge on to the table, Juice poured, kettle on and tea made, water for the eggs on and timer beside cooker, cereal dished out and bread toasted etc. Try to give one bit of good advice or suggestion to each child over breakfast and set them up in a positive frame of mind to go out there and do their best. Get everyone to help clear up after breakfast as well by bringing over their plates, glasses etc. and loading them into the dishwasher and putting away Milk, butter, jam and anything else that needs to go away. With team work it should only take a few minutes and this way they see that it is not just up to Mum or Dad to clean up after them but also their own responsibility.
To be continued...
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