Ready for school

I talk to a lot of parents in my children’s school.  We talk about a lot of different things, teachers, stuff going on in the schools, what the kids like to do, our hopes for our children, ect.  One of the biggest issues that I hear from many of them is getting their kids up in the mornings and getting them to school on time.  It has become such a struggle, that one parent says her children are late almost every single day because she can’t get them motivated in the mornings.  But many of these kids are not on any kind of schedule, they go to bed whenever they want, then it is hard for them to wake up in the mornings and the TV is always on in their house.

That’s something else that I hear a lot.  Families have TVs on in the morning or their kids are on computers, phones or tablets.  Parents are always asking me how I do it with 4 kids, getting everyone ready for school every day and having them ready to go by 7:30.  I tell them there is no secret or anything special that I do, other than my kids have a morning routine that they follow.  It’s as simple as that.  If there wasn’t a schedule or routine for my kids to follow, things would be a whole lot more hectic in my house.

There are specific rules in our house for mornings.  First, NO electronics until after everyone is ready to go.  That means the TV doesn’t go on, and no laptops, tablets or phones are on until every child is dressed and ready to walk out the door.  This prevents one child from getting distracted from the task at hand.  I don’t have to keep asking “have you got shoes on, is your hair done, ect,” because no electronics are turned on until everyone is ready to walk out the door.

The second rule in our house is, you get out of bed and get ready before doing anything else.  We used to have lists all over the house of what get ready means, however, the lists have gone to the wayside now as every child (even 5 year old Kyle) knows what it means.  Get ready means, get up, go to the bathroom, wash up, get dressed, including shoes on, and get hair done.  It also includes taking any morning medications that are necessary.

The third rule, we are still kind of working on, because I still have to remind Lorianna, is make sure you have everything you need to walk out the door.  On school days, this is coats, backpacks, any papers or homework and violin.  Other days it may just be coat or jacket.  I don’t like having a mad last minute rush of “I can’t find…”  If we are going out that day, I want everything to be ready to walk out the door.

Fourth rule is a struggle for all my kids and I’m not a big enforcer of it, though we are working on it.  It is to make sure beds are made up and dirty clothes in the laundry.  All the kids leave their bed clothes and dirty clothing strewn all around the room.  I may find a sheet in one corner, blankets all over the floor and who knows where the pillows get off to at times.  I walk into the room and find their night clothes laying on the floor where they took them off at.  This next year, I’m going to become more of an enforcer of this rule though, now that all the other rules are routine now.  I want all beds made every morning.  They don’t have to be perfect, but I want the sheet and blankets pulled up and the pillows actually on the bed.  I don’t want to have to wander through the house looking for dirty clothes.  All the kids are old enough to take their dirty clothing to the laundry room when they take it off.

The fifth rule before we walk out of the house is all lights out and bedroom doors closed.  This is also one that I have to remind a few times before it gets done, but it does get done before the kids are allowed to leave the house.  This way I don’t get home to find the stray light on later and it help keeps our electricity bill lower.  It also keeps the pets out of the rooms through the daytime and we don’t risk having one get shut up through the day when I go to close doors.

Finally, there is the bed time routine.  The kids once again, know that when we say it’s time to get ready for bed, all electronics go off.  They get baths and showers and get their night clothes on.  All clothes are to be taken to the laundry room.  Shoes are put up where they can find them in the morning.  All lights go off except for a lamp in each bedroom and the kitchen light.  Backpacks are to be by the front door, easy to grab in the morning.  Once they are ready for bed, they can read a book or play quietly with toys until it’s time for lights out.  Lights out is 8:30 for the elementary age kids and 10:00 for my middle schooler.  Once they are in bed, unless they need to go to the bathroom, they are not to be out of bed for any reason unless it’s an emergency.

These rules keep my kids motivated in the morning and help get everyone out the door smoothly in the mornings.  It takes a lot of time and devotion to get the kids used to following any sort of morning routine.  For a while, it’s a constant stream of reminders.  Have you brushed your teeth, is your hair done yet, ect, however, once they have done it for a while, it becomes second nature.

I can remember a time when we didn’t have a routine and the extra stress that it caused the whole family.  I lot of yelling and panic as they look for stuff that should have been put away the night before.  Now though, the kids get up and get cleaned up, dressed and ready to walk out the door without any prompting and there isn’t a last minute rush or constant “I can’t find my …” when you are in a hurry to get out the door.  I can get my kids up and out the door within 30 minutes, if necessary, because they know what needs to be done and can do it quickly.  I will sometimes allow an off day when there isn’t any school and I don’t have to go out, where they can still lounge around in the mornings.  The kids love these days and will take full advantage of them, sometimes spending the whole day in their pajamas (and every once in a while mom does too).