A Fresh Start

Your kids don their favorite new outfit with their school supplies perfectly fitted into their trendy backpack. They finish up eating their fruit and pancakes, made from scratch of course. Their hair is perfect, ribbons and all, and they make it to school early enough for you to snatch a few pics that will grace your momentarily.

Oh, the first day of school. How moms everywhere love you. But the fanfare doesn’t last long. Pretty soon homemade pancakes fall away and cold cereal will grace your table in the mornings. Your daughter will be wearing a ponytail, every single day, and her favorite outfit will become old news. Your kids will wake up late, won’t be able to find that missing shoe, and you will be overwhelmed by 8 in the morning with the to do list of the day.

Some of it will be unavoidable. My kids eat cold cereal more than I care to admit. However, there are some things you can do to keep your mornings running smoothly past the first week of school. It all starts with a good bedtime routine.

Have a good bedtime routine in place makes your mornings less chaotic.

Here are some tips that have worked for me. 

1. In the evening, everyone in the family does a 10 minute clean up of the house. Toys get put away, dirty clothes in the hamper, and things generally tidied up.
2. Have children set out clothing for the next day, including shoes. Have them put their homework in their backpacks and have backpacks packed and ready to go by the door.
3. Once kids are in bed, make sure all clean laundry is folded and put away. This ensures an empty washer and dryer ready for the next day.
4. Start preparing lunches for the next day. Anything that doesn’t need to be refrigerated can go directly in lunchboxes.
5. Wash all dishes and turn dishwasher on. Nothing overwhelms me like seeing a sink full of dishes when I wake up.
6. Set car keys, cell phone, purse and anything else you need together in a specific place by the door.
7. Make a to-do list for the next day.
8. Go to bed at a decent time to ensure you are adequately rested for the next day. Everything is harder when you are tired.

Simple, am I right?! Realize you won’t follow this routine perfectly all the time. That’s okay. Just pick a few tips that might help you and start there. Pretty soon, your mornings will run smoother than butter going on fresh, made from scratch, pancakes.