10 Morning Routine Hacks

(1) Lay out clothes the night before 
Until your child is ready to choose their own clothes, set some out the night before. When they start choosing for themselves, delegate the job to the child - but still lay them out at night. You can also lay the clothes on a chair, or the floor, the way a person would wear the clothes. For shoes-on households, optimum "getting ready" speed can be achieved by keeping shoes in the child's bedroom.

(2) Get a good night's sleep
Within the bedtime routine, budget for time to wind down. Very young children might need 30 minutes of stories read to them in a dimly lit room after a relaxing bath time. Once the child is a reader, offer to read aloud or have them read independently. Try valerian extract if sleep is a problem. Avoid screens and sugar before bed!

(3) Wake up before the kids
If you go on to work after dropping the kids at school, you might consider getting up a 30-60min before them. It might feel like you're sacrificing sleep, but having this "me-time" built into the day will provide some pockets of sanity and refreshment. Shower in peace, eat breakfast without having to mediate sibling disagreements, and maybe even see the sun rise with a good book.

(4) Wake the kids up 15 min earlier
Give your kids enough time to wake up slowly. A 15 minute heads-up might be the difference between getting to school on time or late.

(5) Checklist!
For children struggling with the demands of a morning routine, create a checklist (words for readers, pictures for pre-readers.) Have them get dressed first thing - you're already where the clothes are. Seriously, this will save you 5-10 minutes.

Basic Schedule (in order)... 
Wake up, get dressed (inc. shoes), use bathroom, breakfast, plate to sink, wash face/brush teeth/do hair, put lunch in backpack, get in car.

(6) Timers 
Most children are really motivated by using a timer. It's a competition against themselves! Write down yesterday's time for getting ready, try to beat it the next day. You'd be surprised at how much time this shaves off your morning routine.

(7) Responsibility sticker charts 
Delegate chores and responsibilities to your children, instead of doing everything yourself. Even the youngest children can take their own plates and cups to the sink after meal times. Around 4-5 years old, a child can start packing the plates/cups into the dishwasher or washing it by hand. Around kindergarten age, a child can be expected to make their own bed by pulling up the covers. Older children can be given tasks like; feeding pets, walking the dog, making their own breakfast, packing their own lunch etc.

(8) Lunch plans 
If packing lunch the night before leaves your sandwiches soggy, or food less-than-optimal, make a plan so there's no "decision fatigue" as you're packing. Know what's going in those lunch boxes, and rest assured that it's balanced and enough for a day of learning.

(9) Shoes without laces 
Parents - teach your kids how to tie laces, by all means! But if you're wanting to get out of the house quickly, make the daily shoe choice one without laces. (Watch for an upcoming blog post on Great Shoes without laces!)

(10) Incentives 
What will motivate your child to get ready in a timely manner? Extra play time? Extra Minecraft? Use incentives to make your life easier.