Getting Organised for Mornings with Kids

Winter has been a bit hard for us here in the Little Billies household! My children have experienced a lot of sickness and I am hoping that summer will not only bring warmth and sunshine, but good health!

During winter, we have fallen off the ban wagon for a few reasons. But now it is time to get organised! I had a great reminder of this, just this week from one of our customers, Stacey. Please take a moment to go & read her blog it is a refreshing reminder to keep positive & look after yourself so that you can be a Sunny Mummy too!

So where to start? Well, my big boy is off to PREP next year. So, two days a week we will need to be out the door by 8:30am. We have previously had a great morning routine, but I want to build on it. I want to teach my son independence. We are going to start building our way up to what our morning routine will look like for the days when he goes to 'school'. We are going to take it slow, adding a couple of steps each week. This way he will feel that it is achievable along the way. Then hopefully by the time school rolls around it will be well established.

Our morning routine (here is what it will hopefully look like by February):

1. Wake up on time (no issue here, the kids are usually awake by 6:30am) but have learnt to play quietly in their rooms until mum or dad come and get them.
2. Get Dressed - clothes laid out the night before
3. Pyjamas away - they get hung on a hook behind the door
4. Make Bed - all the really have to do is pull up the covers and pop the pillows on, we will cover the neat part when they are older. (then wait for 7am to roll around so that they can get out of their rooms!)
5. Breakfast - simply eat it
6. Wash up* - empty contents into sink, rinse and put in dishwasher
7. Pack lunch* - one fruit, one snack, one sandwich, one drink of water (they will be able to choose the items from a shelf in the pantry and a draw in the freezer)
8. Pack bag* - hat, lunch box, and check 'My Week' for what's on to see if a library bag is needed, etc
9. Bag in Car* - for us this will actually be putting the bag at the door that we walk out of to get in the car
10. Brush Teeth
11. Wash Face
12. Sunscreen On
13. Toilet Trip (if there hasn't already been one)
14. shoes & socks on*

Ah, we made it! Then the kids can have some free play, if there is any time left.

The * ones, are ones that we have not yet established in our house. There are 5 steps that I need to introduce between now and February which should give us plenty of time to get things under control again in this household!

All the steps listed above are actually magnets that are part of our My Morning Routine Chart

I am not usually this organised, however while I am sitting here writing all of this down, I thought I would organise how I am going to implement this (seeing as though I have an end date for this in mind). To help keep me on track!

The dates listed are all the Mondays between now and the first day of school. Each week I am going to introduce a new magnet and really concentrate on the new aspect of the routine for the whole week. If all goes well and the kids are managing at the end of the week, with the new magnet, we will roll to the next magnet. However, if the kids for whatever reason aren't managing it will be all revisited and adjusted to meet where they are at. The routine will be to serve us in a harmonious morning. If it is creating conflict it will be adjusted!

16 Nov - Wash Up

23 Nov - Pack Lunch

30 Nov - Pack Bag (we will have bags to pack in the interim for wherever we are going that day)

7 Dec - Bag in the car

14 Dec - Shoes and Socks on

21 Dec - week off introductions and just maintain for a lovely Christmas :)

28 Dec - revisit any steps that an individual child is struggling with

4 Jan - revisit pack lunch (all being well) to get them to help make their sandwiches

11 Jan -revisit any steps that an individual child is struggling with

28 Jan -revisit any steps that an individual child is struggling with

4 Feb - The real thing! First Day of Prep for Zach, First Day of PreSchool for Mackenzie!

Will you join me in preparing our kids and giving them the gift of independence and creating a happy morning routine? I would love to hear if you have any plans!

I wish you all happy mornings!