Back to School: Tips to survive the chaotic morning shuffle

Getting back into the school routine has become a bittersweet event for me. On one hand, my days have freed up considerably without the stress of scrambling for childcare, but on the other hand, there is the ever dreaded morning battle that ensues between my daughters and me, and it's exhausting. Some of the problem is getting used to the early morning get-up-and-go deal. Some of it is the willfulness of my strong-headed girls, and some of it is just missing the lazy morning slumber of Summer.

After the first few weeks of school passed, I decided that it was time to stop the insanity, or at least try to make my mornings slightly less crazy. Here are a few ideas that will hopefully help you gain some control of the before school routine. Some of these ideas can even be useful if you don't have kids.

The most important part of minimizing the morning crazies is to prepare anything you can the night before...

1. Prepare lunches the night before; at least the stuff that won't get soggy.
If you are a procrastinator like me, don't wait until after the kids go to bed to do this. I have learned that when I tell myself I can do it later, I'm usually so wiped about after the nighttime shenanigans, that I have zero energy left to even consider setting foot into the kitchen. One way to avoid this problem: start bagging up dry goods while making dinner. If you're already in the kitchen anyway, why not kill two birds with one stone? You know, between your soup boiling over and the kids running around screaming :)

2. Get backpacks ready to go before kids go to bed.
This is something to teach your kids to do on their own even as early as Kindergarten. Of course help them and check to make sure they have everything, but the earlier they learn to do this on their own, the more responsible they will be as they get older.

3. Lay clothes out the night before (good for grown-ups too). I let my girls pick out their clothes because that is just another control issue I would gladly avoid. However, if they don't care which clothes they wear, then by all means, do it yourself.

4. Give kids their own alarm clocks. This way they have the chance to wake up on their own and learn the pleasure of the snooze button. More importantly, you don't have to be the mean mommy awakening them from their cozy dreamy slumber.

5. Set morning ground rules. Have a chore chart or some kind of set of rules that is a reminder of what is expected. My chart consists of getting dressed and brushing teeth (two of our biggest issues). The girls earn stars for doing both without arguing and/or procrastinating. After enough stars, they earn a little cash to put in their money jar, which will be used to buy Webkinz or whatever they so desire.

A note on Rewards and Bribery:

I fully support and use both, especially when it helps me get them out of the house on time. Sometimes it seems that no matter how prepared I am or how early the kids get up, they still find ways to dilly-dally. Find whatever makes them tick and use it! For my older daughter, the thought of me not being able to walk her to her classroom door is usually enough of a threat to get her booty moving. The younger one gets to have gum in the car. I've also used blowing bubbles in the garage, which was good a few times, but then lost its luster. It may take a little trial and error or re-evaluation, but is well worth it.

6. Lastly, know how long YOU need to get yourself ready and allow yourself that time, plus 5 or 10 extra minutes before getting the kids going. I have made that mistake of saving part of my morning routine to be done while making breakfast or brushing teeth. All that does is add more chaos and stress. If you are dressed with hair done and make-up on before the kids really need to get moving, you allow yourself the ability to focus all of your energy on yelling at your kids to hurry up. Plus it kind of nice to get ready in peace; the proverbial calm before the storm.

Three weeks into the year, and I think I have it down...only one hundred sixty something days to go!!! I wish you all the best of luck!