Evening Routine Helps!

Having an evening routine in place can greatly enhance your morning and free up more time so that you and your family are no longer rushing to get out the door, but can move at a more leisurely pace (as long as you don't hit that snooze figuring that you now have "extra" time!)

An evening routine should be SIMPLE; otherwise, chances are you won't do it, will you? And consistency is the key. Easier to add an evening routine with only 1-3 steps than one that has you doing 6-8 things and causing you to feel so overwhelmed and tired that you don't even bother most nights.

My evening routine consists of about 10 minutes of prep time. Now granted, I don't have children I'm getting ready for school, except one... and he's a junior this year in high school... "You're on your OWN, buddy!"

1) I lay out my clothes the night before keeping in mind what the next day's plans consist of and what the weather will be like.

2) I make sure to clean my kitchen before heading up stairs, making sure there are no stray dishes in the sink that my family snuck in at the last moment - there's nothing worse than coming downstairs first thing in the morning to dirty dishes or a sticky table or a cluttered countertop.

3) I run the dishwasher each and every night, whether it's full or not. I just like the routine of having clean dishes in the morning to start the day. That's just me. :)

If you get up from the TV every time a commercial comes on, you can get your entire evening routine accomplished in pieces here and there by the time your favorite TV show is finished!

Families that have the busiest mornings are those with school-age children. Which is ironic... because if you have school-age children in your home, you have built-in "helpers" in your home. Use them!

Some suggestions:

1) Lay out their clothes (or get them into the habit of choosing an outfit the night before)

2) Have the kids set the kitchen table for breakfast next morning.

3) Have the kids empty their lunch boxes and set them out on the kitchen counter (you can have them begin packing their lunch the night before).

Speaking of lunches, I really do love those individual pre-packaged cookie/cracker packs... yes, they're a lot more expensive, but if you can hit a "buy one, get one" free sale, STOCK UP! Much easier for a child to reach into the pantry and grab an already pre-packaged container of 4 Oreos than to fill a ziploc bag with a package of regular Oreos, and yes, my sons would literally FILL the bag! Hmm... maybe those pre-packaged snacks aren't so expensive after all...

4) Shower/bathe (if you have a few children all getting ready in the morning, in addition to you, this becomes a necessity to stagger shower times!)

5) Set the backpacks, jackets, and all other needed school items by the front door ready to go. All you need to do is add the lunch pack in the morning.

Don't be afraid to get your kids involved. Turn it into a nightly family ritual and then enjoy that unrushed morning time together.

No snoozing allowed though!