3 Simple Steps to Streamline Your Morning Routine and Get Your Kid Fed and Out the Door on Time

Sometimes it can be challenging to get my son, A, fed and out the door on time for preschool. Gradually, I have found some ways to improve our morning routine to get him to school on time. These improvements have led to more laid back mornings when getting ready for school with time to watch a little bit of news and sometimes even style A's hair a little differently. When we're running on time, I am far less grumpy and, therefore, have much more patience for other things. Below is my routine to get my son fed and out the door.

Get up Early

I usually get up at 5am even though A doesn't need to get up until 7am. This gives me plenty of time to wake up, have some quiet time to myself, get some homework done, and read a little bit before my day gets busy. By time I need to get A up for school, I'm plenty awake and ready to get going. Because I've already done the things I need to do to get going, by time it is time to get A up and moving, I can just focus on getting A ready for school. Being up so early, I also have time to gradually get him woken up if he is struggling to get out of bed. For example, I will open his door, turn on his closet light, and let him know it's time to wake up. If he is still tired, I leave and come back a few minutes later to give him another gentle reminder.

Give him Choices

A is usually more motivated to do things when he is offered a choice. For example, I pick out two outfits and let him choose which one he wants to wear. This motivates him to get out of bed and get dressed in the clothes he chose. If he needs to take a bath that morning, I will let him pick which bath bomb he wants to use. Instead of focusing on how he doesn't want to take a bath right after he wakes up, he then starts focusing on what color the water will be in his bath.

Keep Breakfast Simple

A isn't really a breakfast guy so he doesn't like to eat much in the mornings. However, I still like to make sure he goes to school with something in his belly. Because of this, we usually have something like a protein shake and vitamins for breakfast. If we are out of protein powder and A is up for it, we may switch out the protein shake for something like orange juice or milk and sometimes he'll choose to have a granola bar or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich to eat on the way.