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There is nothing that quite measures up to the pressure and stress you can feel on a school morning. No matter what you do, you will likely feel rushed and agitated before the day has even begun. It doesn’t matter whether you live a short walk away, or have to drive to school. Whether you have an ample amount of time in the morning, or a quick half hour to get everything done, many mums will agree it is hectic. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
The school morning can go seamlessly, and with a few tweaks to your routine and implementing a few tricks and hacks here and there, you will have it working perfectly. So much so, that you may even enjoy your morning coffee or tea hot. Sound too good to be true? It isn’t! Here are some quick and easy hacks to help you on a school morning.
Get up earlier than everyone else
One of the first things you should consider doing would be to get up earlier in the morning yourself. This may sound like you are being the one that has to make some big changes but it can work in your favour. Getting up, even ten minutes earlier than everyone else, will enable you to get dressed, use the bathroom in peace, and perhaps ensure you eat and drink something. Which is likely often forgotten in the chaos. Take this time to ensure you are ready for the day. It may feel hard at first, but like any routine change, you will soon adapt and benefit from the extra time.
What you can be organising the night before
The night before is a time that should be utilised more. So make sure you take advantage of it and prepare what you can ahead of the morning. Here are a few ideas to help you get started.
Breakfast
You can prepare breakfast by filling up bowls and adding spoons, just leave the milk out. Or make up little breakfast pack-ups and store them in the fridge. A yoghurt, piece of fruit, whatever they like. This saves any issue and even enables children to organise their own breakfast in the morning.
School bags
Packing up the school bags the night before gives you that extra bit of time to ensure that you pack everything that is needed. If your child is a little older, you could encourage them to pack everything they need the night before.
Lay out uniforms
Last of all, consider laying out the school uniform the night before. It gives you and your child the opportunity to be able to dress themselves easily in the morning without the panic of wondering where something is.
Check what is needed for the following day
You could use this time to check your family command centre, diary or planner to see if there is anything needed. It might be PE day or you need to send in a swimming kit.
Packed lunch
A great way to be organised is to pack the lunches the night before. Most people have sandwiches and these can easily be made the night before and then put into the fridge ready for when you need it. This can often be the biggest time-saver in the morning, so you can feel prepared and ready.
Any money, permission slips, letters
Do you need to send your child in with any money, ingredients for cooking class, permission slips and letters? This is the ideal time to organise the night before.
Staggered wake-up times
If you have more than one child and only one bathroom, then there may be a fair few arguments in the morning when everyone needs to use the same space at the same time. So it could be a good idea to stagger the wake-up times. This might be starting with you and your partner getting up first and ready, then starting with older children and working your way down. Or if your younger children are up first, get them sorted and then allow the older children to be able to take their time.
Timers
Set timers throughout the morning for when you want things to be done. It could be a timer to eat breakfast, a timer to do their hair or clean their teeth. It might not work for everyone, but it can be great for when you have younger children to help them understand what is involved in a morning routine.
Aim to leave five minutes before you need to
If you can, give yourself a goal to leave the house five minutes before you need to. You are bound to feel rushed as it approaches this time, so it gives you a little opportunity and grace period to leave at the time you really need to.
Other hacks to try
There are a few other hacks that you might want to try to help you with your school morning. Here are some of the other things that you can try.
Shoes, coats, bags at the door
Make sure you leave all of the coats, shoes, and bags at the door. This gives you easy access for when you want to leave the house and also avoids any issues with lost items right at the time you want to leave. It can help you to ensure that things run smoothly.
Dumping box
It is a great idea to have a box or basket at the door. This is more to use at the end of the day but can help to make things easy in the morning. This box or basket can be sued to place reading records, homework, letters, and other things that your child might bring out of school. It is all in one place which you can then take the time to organise through the night before and get what needs to be actioned done. It also helps to avoid you losing anything.
Hopefully, these hacks will help you when it comes to the school morning.
