Mornings can be tough. If you have kids and are juggling multiple schedules, then they get pretty crazy. Getting everyone up and dressed and out the door on time can seem like an Olympic event. It’s on those particularly harried mornings that I usually regret not following the advice I’m about to outline below. And even though this particular post is about the managing morning madness, very few of the tips will actually take place in the morning. That’s because for busy moms, preparation the day before is essential to not losing what’s left of your mind.
- If you, like me, are not a morning person, take care of showering and personal grooming at night. Also lay out complete outfits down to the accessories for yourself and the kids the night before.
- Prep bottles, sippy cups, water bottle for you and snacks for the day (at least until lunch time) the night before.
- Keep a small Lazy Susan in the fridge loaded with your breakfast essentials like syrup, butter, creamer, sugar and lidded carafes of orange juice and milk. In the morning, all you have to do is place it on the breakfast table and you’re all set!
- While cooking dinner, go ahead and prep breakfast and make lunch for the following day. Place lunches into containers and inside lunch boxes and put them into the fridge.
- If you enjoy smoothies in the morning, a great trick is to fill your blender with your favorite ingredients, cover and place in fridge. In the morning all you’ll need to do is add ice (if you wish) and blend. This works even better if you have a single serve blender like the Ninja Pulse. In the morning it only takes a few seconds to blend our smoothies.
- Set the table for breakfast at night after you clear away the dinner dishes. This really saves a lot of time and leaves less chance for our morning routine to go off the rails before we even step out the door.
- Any items that you must take with you like packed backpacks, diaper bags, library books or a dish to return to a co-worker place on the floor in front of your front door before going to bed. That way, you will literally trip right over them on the way out the door which lessens the chances of you forgetting them.
- If you have pets, you can put food and water in their dishes the night before.
- If you know you have a particularly busy day or week ahead, assemble some make ahead breakfast options like quiche or my favorite frozen hash browns from Trader Joe’s. I just stumble into the kitchen in my morning stupor, turn on the oven and throw it in, set the timer and get back to the business of getting out of the door on time!
- Place a diaper, wipes and clothes for the day next to where your children sleep. That way you can get them changed and dressed in one place before they start running all over the house. There’s nothing worse than chasing a half dressed kid around when you’re running late. (Quick Tip: You can auto order diapers and wipes to ship on amazon so you never run out!)
If having kids has taught me anything it’s that life is exponentially easier when you are disciplined enough to do the things that must be done even when you don’t feel like it. I have to admit that I don’t follow my own advice every single day. And on the days that I don’t, I truly regret it because these tips really do work. What are some of your go-to tips for managing morning madness?
