When I think about last fall, I cringe.
It was my first official season of getting one child ready for school while also preparing my twin toddlers for the day. Mornings were a chaotic mix of tears, rushing, and frustration for all of us. And while I hate to admit it, it never really got easier as the school year went on. I had to find some quick fixes to make mornings with kids smoother.
That’s why I decided that this year HAD to be different.
With this in mind, I dove head-first into the wide world of the internet and learned from moms who seemed to have mastered this horrible morning routine thing. We all have to endure the morning madness, but I knew there had to be a way to manage my family’s morning routine that didn’t leave me needing to decompress or leave the country and change my name. After reading countless blogs, free articles, and a few not-so-free e-books, I found a handful of changes that felt doable. I call them my quick fixes to make mornings with kids smoother.
Tell me I’m not the only one who has looked at themselves in their rearview mirror and found mascara smeared on their eyelids and breakfast crumbs on their cheek. I’m definitely not a Kardashian, but I do still have a little self-respect left after having 3 children within 3 years. I don’t need hours to get ready in the morning, but I’ve found that using 10 minutes to make myself feel like a somewhat put-together human being can be life-changing. But without having a solid morning routine, these 10 minutes were a pipe dream. I’d be forced to start my day feeling scattered, overwhelmed, and gross… and that really sucked.
And what about the kids? If a lack of morning routine resulted in me feeling stressed out, I started to realize that my kids must feel some of that stress, too. Maybe that’s part of the reason why my kindergartener had a tough transition into his new school day. Maybe it’s part of the reason my toddlers so often crashed mid-morning. And (drumroll, please) maybe it’s part of the reason I got so massively burned out. There are only so many times you can fight the same fight before you realize that something, most likely you, needs to change.
When August came around this year, I knew I had to commit to my quick fixes to make mornings with kids smoother. This year, all 3 of my children are in school and I knew our mornings would become hectic AF if I didn’t try something new.
I can now officially say that I’ve completed one whole month of this new, revamped morning routine and I’m NEVER going back! My mascara isn’t smeared and my cheeks are crumb-free, but best of all, all four of us aren’t stressed out. We leave home feeling pretty good each morning… well, most of the time.
Quick Fix #1: Wake Up Before the Kids
Oh boy, this one’s tough for me! If your kids are waking you up in the night or you deal with insomnia – I get it. I’ve been dealing with both on and off since Day One of parenting and I know how good an extra 20 minutes of sleep in the morning can feel. I read this tip over and over during my quest for morning routine advice and I’d literally say “NOPE” out loud each time I read it. But every morning when I woke up to the sound of crying, I couldn’t help but think how nice it would be to wake up calmly, without being startled. I could already have a few sips of coffee in me before hearing those cries. And wouldn’t that be so much less stressful, right from the start?
As hard as it is, as tired as I am, and in contrast to everything I know about myself, I now try my best to get my butt out of bed at least 20 minutes before the kids wake up. It’s a slow, sleepy walk to the kitchen to make my coffee, with no one around to bother me. It’s heavenly.
Quick Fix #2: Do It at Night
No, I’m not talking about that. I’m talking about prep, baby, PREP!
Prepare those lunchboxes, pack those backpacks up, line up the jackets and shoes, and make sure school papers and homework are done and ready by the door. I absolutely love to see them all lined up and ready to go. It’s energizing in a way I never imagined. Last year, I’d find my kindergartener’s backpack dumped in random places around the house each morning, filled with drawings and papers from his teacher that required time and energy to go through. It’s much more enjoyable (for both of us) to look through his folder together in the evening when we’re not trying to rush out the door. It’s also really satisfying to just grab his pre-made lunch from the fridge, toss it in his lunchbox, and be done.
As for the backpack hunt debacle, I found an easy way to create a little backpack station so that I never have to search for backpacks again. You just need to buy a cube shelf (3-cube shelf for one child, 6-cube shelf for two, and so on). The key is to simply skip assembling the top shelf. You can add hooks to hang jackets and bags if you want to (I didn’t) and a basket at the bottom for shoes. Lunchboxes go on top. It’s fabulous.
Quick Fix #3: Make a Breakfast Bar
Over the summer, I realized that I’d sometimes make 2 or 3 different breakfasts, depending on what my kids asked me for. WHY ON EARTH was I doing that? It just slowly became a habit and definitely not a healthy one for a busy mom. Luckily, I came across the idea of creating a “breakfast bar” for kids. At first, I pictured a Holiday Inn-inspired continental breakfast and I immediately shot the idea down. Why would I create more work for myself? But, that’s not the case at all.
A little prep on Sunday results in a week of smooth breakfasts. Each Sunday, I make 2 breakfast items and cut up some fruit. Examples would be muffins, hard-boiled eggs, and diced melon. Then, I wrap them up and keep them on a special (low) shelf in our fridge that’s dedicated to our “breakfast bar”. I bought 2 condiment dispensers and filled one with maple syrup and the other with milk. I also bought a cereal dispenser that holds two different types of cereal. My last step was to move the kid dishes to a low drawer.
Here’s what breakfast looks like for the kids:
- Wake up and come over for a morning hug
- Go to the drawer and grab a dish
- Walk to the fridge and choose your breakfast or walk to the cereal dispenser and fill your bowl
- Ask for help with anything that needs heating
- Climb into your chair, pour your own milk and syrup, and dive in
This has been a game-changer for our family. My kids are only 3 and 6 years old and already learning some important independent skills. Plus, I love how I can see how proud they are of themselves for being able to do this. It’s not perfect – they still spill milk sometimes while pouring it or ask me to make them something different. My response? “Nope!” We can save that for weekends and vacations.
Quick Fix #4: Download a Routine Checklist App
The first step for this quick fix is to jot down what you need your kids to do each morning in order to get out the door on time. It will most likely consist of tasks like: get dressed, brush your teeth, eat breakfast, make your bed, and so on.
There are many different routine checklist options available. If you prefer an old-school approach, you can create a checklist for free in Word or Canva and print multiple copies at once. Just hang it on the fridge and teach your kids to check off tasks as they complete them. Or, you can buy a dry-erase board, write your kids’ checklist on it, and hang it on the fridge for the same purpose.
But, if you’re like me and love a good tech hack, then you should download a free checklist app for kids, such as the one we’ve been using called “Kids ToDo List”. I think it makes the whole process more fun for kids and once they’ve completed their list, there’s even a little game they can play as a reward.
Quick Fix #5: Pick Out Clothes on Sunday
This one’s easy! All you have to do is pick out 5 days of outfits on Sunday and set them aside.
So far, I’ve picked out my kids’ outfits for them but I have a feeling they’re going to want to start doing it themselves eventually. Then, when a weekday morning comes along, your child can grab an outfit and get dressed by themselves. Again, it’s an awesome way to practice independence. I bought each kid a shoe hanger with 5 sections for each of the 5 school days. You can buy cute ones that are already labeled Monday through Friday or just get a basic one. Either way, it simplifies the morning routine because everything your child needs is ready to go. No more running down to the laundry room to look for your child’s clean socks or a pair of pants that actually fit them. Plus, I can see this being really helpful when we need to pack sports uniforms later on.
This has worked so well with the kids that I’ve started doing it, too. I find it especially helpful for staying motivated to exercise, too. If my workout clothes are already chosen and laid out, it removes one more obstacle to fitting in my workout.
So that’s it! Now you know my 5 quick fixes to make mornings with kids smoother. It’s all about small changes that can make a big difference in how you and your family feel each day. Try them out and let me know if they work for you, too!
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