Last winter one of my kid's teachers was watching a last minute straggler enter her classroom. This child came flying out of her parent's car with jacket undone, stuff falling out of her backpack, and sandals on her feet (there was a pile of snow on the ground at the time). Mom was still in the car yelling "Hurry up, you are going to be late!" The child was late before the car drove in. As she climbed up a small hill in front of the classroom door, she slipped. Her pants, coat, socks and the insides of her backpack were instantly soaked. The teacher looked at me and gave an exasperated sigh, "Why can't parents get their kids to school on time? And why aren't they dressed right for winter?"
We have all been there. I am sure that every one of us has missed the alarm, lost the car keys, misplaced the backpack, and yes, dogs actually do eat homework! These kinds of mornings provide great coffee break conversation starters, but they do nothing to getting your little ones off to a good morning.
Do you find yourself using any of these words in the morning?
- Hurry up!
- We are going to be late!
- Where are your glasses?
- Did you finish your homework?
- Did you brush your teeth?
- Where are my car keys?
- Why didn't you tell me this the night before?
- You need how many cookies this morning?
- Does anyone have $3.00 for the class trip?
- Why did you leave your lunchbox at school?
- The bus is here!
- Go go go!
- You are late!
If the answer is yes, it is time to make a smart change. The most important thing we do in our home is use our evening to get ready for the next day. It takes no more than 10 minutes and it easily saves us at least a half hour in the morning. We call it: "THE LIST".
Every parent knows that a child faced with the prospects of bed time will do whatever is in their power to delay this as long as possible. When my kids were three, we took advantage of this desire to delay and created the list. It was a list of all the things the kids still got to do before they went to bed. Did you catch the wording? Not the things they had to do, but the things they got to do. This made the list feel like an ally, a friend, a reason to stay up a little longer.
"What's on this list," you ask? As little as possible. I built the list with the kids. The original list was 18" across and about 3 feet long. We taped it to the wall outside their bedroom door. Since they couldn't read yet, I drew pictures of what they were doing alongside the words. Don't worry if you are drawing-challenged, your children will know what that squiggle is LOL. The kids get to color it in. The three-year-old list looked like this:
- Put on pajamas
- Brush Teeth
- Read Story (this was mom and dad's job)
- Get goodnight hug and kiss
- Tuck into bed
As the kids got older, a couple extra things were added to the list:
Pick up toys
Dump dirty laundry into the hamper
When the kids started school, a few more things were added:
Homework in backpack
Permission slips and money in backpack
Lunch made and in the fridge
Backpack by garage door
Shoes by garage door (I hate the morning shoe hunt!)
The neat part is that the list is no longer written on a huge piece of paper and taped to the wall beside their bedroom door. They know it by heart. They have been doing the same thing every evening for so long that it has become a habit (they don't even know they are doing "a list" LOL).
Build a list with your child. Keep it short and simple - don't overwhelm your kids. The trick is to be consistant. Every night, rather than saying "It's bedtime!" use the words "Time to start your list!".
Good night and good morning everyone!
Cindy
