Getting out in the morning with little kids can be nuts! What are your suggestions to ease the morning madness?

Easy Eats

Set their clothes out at the beginning of the week, either in bins or hanging in the closet.

Do easy breakfasts they can take on the bus or in the car with them, like rice cakes and cheese, granola bars, healthy muffins, a banana. There are also a bunch of recipes for kids with only two or three ingredients that you can make at the beginning of the week.

M.L., NY

In Twos

Dress them the night before.

Wake them in twos so the first two are finished with the bathroom by the time you wake up the next two.

R.F., NY

Take Your Pick

I give the younger ones a sense of involvement to make it fun. They love getting to choose things. I buy different color bowls to pick for cereal and have three different color apples. I’ll have a basket of clothes that my youngest can wear, and he’ll do his best to put on something. Then he’ll come in and show me, so proud of himself — and now he’s half dressed!

T.W., Israel

Sleep On It

As a busy mom of five, with both parents working full-time, I find being extremely organized helps. My house itself is often a mess, but we need to have priorities. For me, getting the kids out on time is one of those. We lay out all the clothing the night before and put breakfast on the table the night before (or in the front pockets of backpacks for those who don’t eat at home). We line up the lunch boxes on the counter with all the snacks inside, and put in the perishables — which we made the night before — as soon as everyone wakes up. Sometimes buying school lunch might be helpful for a super busy parent, and it might be worth it to budget for that.

S.K., FL

Keep Calm

The calmness of the school morning is directly related to how calm I am. And the greatest determiner of my calmness is if I wake up at least half an hour before my kids, take a deep breath, have a coffee, and say brachos with yishuv hadaas.

R.P., FL

Tune In

Make different alarm ringtones each morning, so the song they wake up to will be a surprise. When I did this, my kids loved the suspense and would sing that song all day.

Anonymous

By the Door

Keep a box of snacks by the door. If they get to the door by a certain time, completely ready, they get to choose their snacks for the day... otherwise Mommy chooses them.

T.H., NY

Train Them In

Teach them young to fend for themselves and you can sleep in! But seriously, we make prepping the day before part of the “coming-home routine.” The kids take their lunch bags out and empty them, then put in new lunch and snacks for the next day. We do half-freeze water bottles, so they take theirs and put them in the freezer. The younger kids need more direction and training on this, but as they get older, they do it more independently.

Y.G., Israel

And here are my tips:

It really helps when I don’t check my messages or missed calls before everyone is out. It’s such a distraction, and most messages put me in a bad mood — which I can’t afford to be in in the morning.

I picture the worst-case scenario… they’ll be late, and I will, too. Okay, not the end of the world (except for the time my daughter’s teacher called to say she’s missing davening too often… oops!).

Mindel

(Originally featured in Family First, Issue 921)