Posted on: 18.06.2019.
Author: Ana G
Families often face morning challenges while preparing for their busy day. As alarms blare and everyone struggles to awake, frustrating emotions can get the day off to a bad start. In spite of your best parental intentions, the morning pandemonium in your home can result in toddlers throwing tantrums and children arguing about eating breakfast.
Having an established morning routine, however, can turn your chaotic mornings into a pleasant time at home. In the first place, it will ensure that everyone looks their best and have time to eat a healthy breakfast.
Also, your entire household will get prepared for the day without getting angry or frustrated. Finally, you will improve safety because no one will be rushing to the bus stop or bending traffic laws to meet morning deadlines.
Now is the perfect time to start planning for a successful morning routine that creates the ordered environment your children need to prosper. To give your family the best possible experience, use the following five steps to set up a successful morning routine.
Everyone does better when they get enough sleep. After a good night’s sleep, well-rested parents and children have more energy to maintain their peak performance throughout the day. Knowing this, you should take measures to enforce a reasonable and age-appropriate bedtime for your children.
In addition to its obvious immediate benefits, sleep also promotes growth in children. In fact, while your children are asleep, their bodies secrete human growth hormone. Additionally, medical research shows that children who get adequate sleep have a lower risk of obesity, heart disease, and diabetes.
In the light of these facts, you should make sure your children get sufficient sleep. Also, keep in mind that a little extra sleep can substantially improve both your and your children's morning moods.
Prepare ahead of time to avoid feeling hurried in the morning. In other words, get as much as possible done before bedtime, in the absence of urgent time constraints. For example, you can get clothes out in the evening so you and your children don’t have to spend time in the morning deciding what to wear. Such a practice can also help detect clothes that need attention such as washing, ironing or mending.
Checking the weather report is another useful evening ritual. It can alert you to possible rain or snow, so you can prepare umbrellas, boots or any other gear for use in the morning.
Similarly, to avoid a common source of frustration, make sure your children pack their backpacks the night before. That way, when the time comes to load the car, forgotten items won't add to the morning experience.
If possible, take care of household chores such as washing the dishes and taking out the trash in the evening. This way, you will have more time to prepare breakfast and also fewer tasks to do in the morning. By using your time in the evening to get a head start on the next day, you and your children will have more time to get ready without rushing.
A healthy breakfast can jumpstart your children's metabolism and thereby contribute to the maintenance of a healthy weight. Additionally, a nutritious breakfast will stimulate their mind and give them a great start for the day.
Resist the temptation to skip breakfast or to grab prepackaged junk food for your children on the way out the door. Instead, place a high priority on breakfast and make sure it includes important components such as fresh fruit and whole-grains. Additionally, you can make breakfast more convenient by preparing baked items in the evening and placing them in the freezer for fast access in the morning.
If necessary, talk to a nutritionist to get some tips and ideas for preparing the most important meal of the day.
Find creative ways to engage your children. One way to do this is to try motivating them with small, easily achievable goals to help them move forward and resist stagnation. For example, you can challenge them to complete a task during the course of a song playing on the radio. This will give them three minutes or more to do things such as brushing their teeth or tying their shoes.
Additionally, you can create fun lists with pictures and colors that your children can use to check off morning tasks. Of course, if you have very young children, you can use pictures to help them participate in the fun. In addition to reducing forgetfulness, checklists can give your children a sense of accomplishment that can help them set and achieve goals in other areas of their life. Reinforce the benefits of this method by praising them for doing a good job getting dressed or fixing their hair.
As the morning progresses, keep your children engaged by reminding them of the number of tasks left to do before they can enjoy a small perk such as watching TV or playing a quick game. Of course, you want to avoid assigning household chores in the morning. Instead, focus on getting everyone ready for the day. Still, don’t forget to encourage spontaneity.There are so many wonderful memories you can make while spending time together with your family.
As an adult, you understand the ramifications associated with tardiness. When you feel the pressure of your responsibilities in light of frustrating morning delays, you can easily become angry at and frustrated with your children. This is especially true when they have trouble understanding the urgency of morning preparations.
Try to stay calm. You need a clear mind to get everyone back on track or else problems can snowball. As a result, you and your children might miss important events at work or school. Moreover, your negative emotions can unnerve your children and cause them to feel stressed and upset. Additionally, children might passively resist when you fly off the handle and intentionally start slowing things down.
When things go wrong, set a good example for your children and calmly explain to them how they can help you make things better. Such an approach will achieve better results than out-of-control yelling or pointing.
By establishing good habits, you can create a peaceful, stress-free environment for your children. Having a good morning routine will help improve their performance and encourage bonding. Start by ensuring that everyone in your family gets enough sleep. Also, if you get things ready in the evening, everyone will have fewer tasks to complete in the morning and, therefore, feel less rushed.
Preparing a healthy breakfast is just as important as creating a fun atmosphere. By implementing the tips mentioned above, you and your children can get ready for the day without feeling stressed-out. Perhaps, most of all, you should set a good example by staying calm, even when things go wrong. After all, harsh words and reckless behavior can disturb your children and teach them inappropriate ways to handle setbacks.
In the end, creating a successful morning routine may require some planning and testing, but your effort will pay off once everyone gets out of the house with a smile on their face.
