If, like mine, your mornings are frenzied and full, and your kids seem not to remember from one day to the next, what they need to do to get ready to leave the house, then perhaps a list might help.
After years of trying to brush my teeth, whilst hunting for lost shoes, peeling half naked kids away from the television, and scraping peanut butter toast off the floor, my husband and I drafted a ‘to do’ list for the mornings, which is strategically dotted around the house, and relies on natural consequences for enforcement.
As a result, some of my kids have been to school in their slippers, each one of them has had to manage without his lunch on occasion, and one regularly attends kindy in his PJs. But that’s ok, because looking like a bit of an idiot because you forgot your socks, and missing lunch here and there aren’t going to do my kids any real damage, but they are punishment enough to teach them valuable lessons. Which I can see are being learned already.
And, most importantly, mummy has stopped shouting in the mornings, the boys help each other to get ready, and sometimes, there are even treats for great behaviour and team work.
What’s on the list? Well, it’s simple really, and it looks like this:
Every morning…
Breakfast
Brush teeth
Wash face
Get dressed
Pack bags – lunch, homework, water bottle…
Bags to front door
Hats
Shoes
Good luck with your list, and please, don’t expect miracles straight away.
They may be able to train chimps to do anything, but training kids is completely different !
What do your mornings look like?
