5 Ways to Make Your Morning Routine Less Stressful {with kids}

I have been getting kids up and out the door for what seems like forever. It is sometimes the most excruciating thing I have to do all day. On some days I would rather walk across a room covered in Lego pieces. That bad! So lets make it a bit easier. I can't calm all of the "but I don't wannas" and the "she looked at me" drama but I can help you to get it go a bit more smoothly.

1- Pick out their clothes the night before. Have your kids help you pick out their clothes either for the week on Sunday night, or every night before you go to bed, with the shoes they want to wear, because shoes like to mysteriously walk away when you are trying to find them at the last minute in the morning.

2- Make lunches ahead of time. If you make their lunch, do it the night before. I have been known to procrastinate this. It never works in my favor to do it in the morning. It also helps to have an extra lunch box and drink container for the one that forgot theirs at school.

3- Load and Go Area. Have a dedicated place for backpacks and coats. Have them look at the weather and put anything they will need next to their backpack. This is a really great time to sign folders and read all of those science project is due tomorrow notes.

4- Me Time. Wake up 20 minutes earlier than you normally do. Okay, I am the worst at actually getting up earlier than I'm supposed to. Hell, I struggle with getting out of bed at any appointed time. I am a self proclaimed night owl living in an early birds house. I hate it, but when I give myself that extra 20 minutes things really seem to go much more smoothly and I am more calm. Or maybe it's because I've had my coffee earlier.

5- No TV. Leave the TV off. That is unless they are all done and waiting. The kids know that I am more than willing to let them watch TV if they have eaten their breakfast, got dressed and brushed their hair and teeth. Only then. TV's have some insane, mind controlling laser that makes it to where they can't do anything without their eyes glued to the screen like little zombies. I consider it more of an incentive than a bribe. It's understood that it will happen if they do what they are supposed to but I don't ever use it to get them to move their keister.

Do you have anything that works really well for you?

Here they are on a successful morning where they did exactly what they were supposed to do!!