How do I get my Kiddo out the door?
The school routine has been chugging along, but everyone’s getting just a little tired of it, right? Maybe their not as enthusiastic or just plain tired. Whatever it is, no one’s getting out the door on time anymore.
Where are my shoes? I have to go to the bathroom! Where’s my water bottle? It’s enough to make us all go insane. Oh wait, I already did ;-).
How do we solve this problem? How can we teach our kids that being on time is important?
It really does start with organization and an appreciation for how time ticks away. Or better yet, time management. Time management skills are not innate, we are not born with them (maybe some of us are, but definitely not most), we have to be taught.
Start the Night Before
If you’ve ever been to a Parent Ed class at your elementary school, you’ve probably heard that the morning routine starts the night before. It may sound odd, but it’s the truth. If your kiddos spend a few minutes putting things in order the night before, the morning runs that much smoother.
What will the kids need in the morning?
Shoes ✔️
Backpack with homework inside ✔️
Lunchbox ✔️
Clothes (let’s check the weather for the next day) ✔️
Designate a specific drop zone for all school items. Whether this is a built-in cubby area or just a spot by the front door, it’s important to have a place where the kids know where to find their stuff. Both of my kids have a hook that their backpack lives on (I hate seeing a backpack laying around the house). They have to drop it there after school and they know where it is when it’s time to grab it in the morning. We also have a shoe basket by the front door that they drop their shoes in when they come in the house. Finding shoes is no longer a problem because we know where they are!
Lists, Lists, Lists
I’m a big list maker and putting together lists for kids is now second nature for me. We have lists for what goes in the lunchbox, to-do lists for getting ready in the morning and at night, lists for what to pack in the suitcase. If you provide your kids with steps on how to get to the finish line, all you have to do is remind them to keep on task and help them understand how much time is passing. If your kids aren’t old enough to read, use pictures instead of words!
Create a Night Time checklist of what they’ll need for the next day. Put the shoes by the door, backpack on the hook, homework IN the backpack, empty the lunchbox and refill it (yes, pack the lunch the night before!). Whatever it is that your kids need to get out the door in the morning, make sure the bulk of it is on the Night Time checklist.
The Morning checklist should be a majority of personal care. Eat breakfast, brush teeth, brush hair, wash face… I try to have the morning be as stress-free as possible. I don’t work well under extreme time pressure, why should my kids have to? If all the hard stuff is taken care of ahead of time, we can breeze through breakfast and walk out the door with time to spare.
I typically create my own checklists, but if you want to buy/print one, there’s no shortage online. While I haven’t used the example checklists in the images, I love how they’re customizable and can be used for littles and bigs.
Wake-up Time
A stress-free morning requires a realistic wake-up time. I ask my adult clients to time their morning routine from the moment their alarm goes off, to the time they walk out the door. It can be shocking to realize how long it really takes to get ready when faced with the hard number on the stop watch. But this is a necessary step! If you don’t know how long it takes you to get ready, how are you going to know when you should wake up? If you think it takes 30 minutes to get ready, but it really takes 1 hour, no wonder you’re running late! Now you can plan an earlier wake-up that will allow you to get out the door on time. This works for kids, too!
We also have a drop-dead time to go back upstairs after eating breakfast. I’m a big proponent of breakfast and no one can leave the house without it. The kids have learned that if they don’t focus on their food and get it done by 7am, they’ll have to wait until after they’re fully dressed and prepped before they can worry about what else to eat. They did that once and it’s never happened again!
Use a Timer
Now the whole time management thing can get a little tricky, especially if your dealing with a preschooler or even an early elementary kiddo. What I found that works wonders is a visual timer. These things are GREAT at allowing kids to actually watch the time pass. You set it and they can see how much time they’ve got left. I still give reminders every so often, just to make sure the kids are moving.
I also factor in a good 10 minute buffer before we leave for anything - school, an appointment, whatever. That way we have time for one last potty break or snack. To be honest, I do this for my husband, too. He is a chronic under-estimator of how much time passes. I guess I’ve become his timer ;-)
Cheat Sheet
So now what? Here’s a quick personal check-list for what you can do to get out the door:
Create a drop-zone (big or small) where kiddos know their stuff will be
Create to-do lists so the kiddos can be in charge of what they need to do (no sense stressing yourself out, share the load!)
Start the night before! Prep lunches, get backpacks filled, find the shoes
Wake up on time - time yourself and your kiddos to make sure you’ve given yourself enough time to get ready
Use a visual timer - help the kiddos understand how much time is passing so they can speed up their process if needed
Try out these tips and let me know how they work for you.
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