How to get your kids out the door on time

Mornings often end with a mad dash to the door for most people - especially if you have children. 

Yip, we have all been there. No matter how much you run around like a crazy person trying to get your family ready, there just never seems to be enough time to do it all.

But I am here to tell you there is, and your morning can go as smoothly as taking a stroll in the park – well, almost!

 Here are a five time-saving tips to help make sure you get your whole family out the door on time.

Prep the night before

One of the best ways to save time in the morning is to do most of the stuff the night before. Setting out your children’s clothes, and your own, before you go to bed will save you a lot of time in the morning. No endless searching for missing socks and shoes (trust me, this will drive you insane), no last minute ironing or realising your kids actually have nothing decent to wear because everything is in the dirty washing basket. You can even pack your children’s lunches ahead of time – especially foods that don’t need to be refrigerated. You can even leave their schoolbags waiting for them by the door. Prepping breakfast meals can also be done the night before, depending on what you are making.

Don’t hit snooze

Hands up if you have hit snooze on your alarm clock one too many times (oops). By the time you drag yourself out of bed you are an hour behind schedule. Avoid this bad habit by making sure you go to bed early at night. If you are not a morning person place your alarm clock out of reach, so you actually have to get out of bed to switch it off. Better yet, set multiply alarms on different devices just to be safe!

Get yourself ready first

I like to get myself ready in the morning before even attempting to wake up my little rug rat. This way once he is ready we can leave immediately. A lot of the time moms get everyone ready first, and then have to spend less than 10 minutes seeing to themselves. While you are getting ready, your partner is probably moaning about how you are making everyone late, the kids are running around getting themselves dirty, and you end up leaving the house looking like a hot mess.

Start a routine

While you know exactly what you need to do in the morning, most times you just wing it and hope for the best. But being a bit more organised can really save you lots of time. Make a schedule for your kids that will ensure everything happens in as orderly as possible. You can even include times next to all the actions to make sure there is no procrastinating and time wasting.  Here’s an example of actions you can list: Wake up, mom gets ready, get the kids dressed, breakfast time, brush teeth and hair, head out the door.

Keep calm and carry on

Stopping in the middle of your morning rush to scream and shout at your children to get stuff done will not only slow you down, but drive you insane. Rather give specific orders, if you have older kids, and set a timer to make sure they are getting stuff done within a specific amount of time instead of dilly-dallying. Keep your tone firm, but not angry. You do not want to start your morning in a bad mood, and you certainly do not want your children to feel down before they even start their day. Send them out the door with a huge hug, and lots of love.

These tips are only guidelines, so find out what works for your family and what doesn’t, as children of different ages require different morning routines. As long as you keep your sanity in the mornings then you are on the right track!

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