With two kids, one of them being a two-year-old, most mornings, we get caught in the vortex I’m convinced exists between the bottom stair and the garage door. No matter how much time I think we have when we come downstairs “ready” to go, we always seem to end up rushing out the door. Someone can’t find their shoes, changes their mind 12 times about what they want for breakfast, takes their shoes off after you’ve put them on, argues and throws a tantrum because they still don’t understand why they can’t have cookies or chocolate for breakfast, spills their milk or juice on the floor, or gets distracted by a cool toy they forgot they had…The kids sometimes cause delays as well;)
Being the practical EconMommy I am, I’m always looking to make things more efficient, so I look for places to save time.
Here’s some Morning Time Savers for other time-starved parents, and those who hit the snooze a few too many times:) Most of them involve preparation the night before.
- Lay out clothes the night before
- Bathe children the night before
- Try to wrestle the kids to bed at a reasonable hour
- Skip the late show
- Pack the kids’ lunches the night before
- Put backpacks, jackets, etc in the car the night before
- Get their milk or juice, cereal, etc ready the night before (don’t pour the milk yet unless your kids like soggy cereal)
If you get really desperate, or really like that snooze button, you can get really radical and do the following:
- Shower yourself the night before (don’t forget lots of deodorant afterward)
- Sleep in your workclothes for the next day
- In the morning, run the shower with really hot water as you comb your hair and brush your teeth so the steam will let out some of the wrinkles from sleeping in your clothes (BTW, this also saves $$ on pajamas:) )
- Shave everyone’s head to save time on combing and styling hair (you’ll have to think of something else to do while the shower’s running)
- Pour the milk the night before and choke down soggy cereal
Now, if only I could feed my kids breakfast the night before…
