It’s that time again! Everyone is getting ready to head back to school! Mamas have a love/hate relationship with this time of year. On one hand, we hate that summer is over already! We loved the lazy days, the zoo trips, the lake life, the ice cream lunch dates. But on the other hand, we are so ready to welcome all things pumpkin spice, fall-scented candles, and sweater weather!
Lots of mamas are dreading re-establishment of the back-to-school routine. The running around like crazy chickens with our heads cut off, trying to get everyone dressed, groomed and out the door on time chaos. But it doesn’t have to be that way!
My twins are still toddlers, so we aren’t quite to that stage of back-to-school yet. BUT, I am a working mama, so every day is an all out effort to get everyone out the door on time. I failed at this for the first year at least! I was never on time to work! Not once!
After lots of trial and error, I finally have my crew out the door on time more often than not! And we’re all smiling too! Well at least most of the time… I mean we are still human and they are still two! Here’s the top 5 hacks that got me to this point! I hope they can help you too!
With love, Amanda
1. Meal Prep
If you’re like me, you are definitely not an organized meal preppin’ mama by nature. (If you are, more power to you girl… maybe we should chat!) We eat dinner out more than I’d like to admit because I don’t have my ducks in a row when it comes to dinner time. And when it comes to lunches, poor planning and prep is one of the biggest reasons we would end up late to work and school and why we would end up eating unhealthy convenience foods. I had a Lunchable and half a candy bar for lunch today… see what I mean, no prep work happened last night!
So here’s how we do it:
- Plan your menu for the week. What days can you send dinner leftovers? Plan that first. Then fill in the gaps with nutritious meals. Here are a few ideas: turkey or ham pinwheels; hummus and vegetables; mini pancakes with strawberries and yogurt; yogurt parfaits; peanut butter and banana roll ups; boiled eggs with fresh fruit and veggies; apples and nut butter; Greek yogurt and fresh fruit wraps; guacamole and black bean wraps; crackers with meat and cheese; pizza bagels; pizza pasta salad; bacon, lettuce and tomato pita pockets; scrambled egg cups with meat and/or veggies.
- Everything for the week (except dinner leftovers) gets assembled and packed on Sunday and stacked in the fridge so it is grab-n-go in the mornings. Don’t forget drinks and fillers! Fillers can include things like cheese sticks, raw veggies; fresh fruit; yogurt drinks; granola bites; yogurt covered pretzels; almonds; trail mix, or zucchini chips.
- Lunch bags are stored on a designated pantry shelf. So each morning, lunch, drink and fillers get placed into lunch bags with any necessary ice packs and out the door we go!
2. Lay out clothes
Everything. Clothes, underwear, socks, shoes, jackets, hats, gloves, scarves, backpacks fully packed with completed and checked homework. All.The.Things.
You do not want to be searching here for what to wear!
3. Plan to be early
This sounds like a no-brainer, but it’s actually much harder than it sounds. I was late to work for an entire year after coming back from maternity leave. No.Joke. Why? Because I was always planning to get to work on time! But something always would happen… one of the babies (or both!) would poop as soon as we got buckled into the car seats; I would forget the bottles on the counter and have to return home; I couldn’t find my scrub top, or my shoes, or my lunch bag; I rummaged around for lunch and snacks way too long; I hit the snooze one too many times; we couldn’t find the pacifier or the blankie or my sanity; there was an extra long line at the coffee shop. You’re getting the picture, right?
Plan to be EARLY- at least 15 minutes! This will ensure that when something happens (and it always does!) that you will still be on time. And if everything goes smoothly, and you show up to work 15 minutes early, well hot dog! You can enjoy that coffee in peace and just relish in the silence of your car!
4. Set alarms
Now, obviously you need to set an alarm to get up in the morning. (Well, most of us at least! Not K though! His internal rooster crows at about 5:14 am!) But set alarms for each activity in your morning routine.
For example, if the kids get up at 5:45, and you want them to brush their teeth first thing, then set an alarm for 5:55. When this alarm goes off, they know they better have those pearly whites scrubbed!
Another alarm at 6:10- Clothes and shoes better be on!
6:20- You better be sitting at the table eating your breakfast!
6:40- Plates better be in the dishwasher!
6:50- Lunches better be packed!
7:00- Seat belts buckled!
Whew!
These alarms will help your kids (and you!) to stay on track in the mornings!
Pro tip: Use Alexa or Siri to help you set your alarms up! You can even have her announce when the alarm goes off where at in the morning routine your kiddos should be!
5. Create a goodbye routine
Every mama’s morning goodbye routine is going to look a little different. Some mamas drive their chickens to school and wait in drop off lines. Some mamas walk their babes into daycare. Some mamas watch their littles get on the school bus. Whatever your gig, we all face the goodbye struggles! Setting some simple expectations can change the game!
Now, granted, my chickens are still tiny tots, so if yours are in middle school, then your struggles are going to look a little different. Hopefully a little less meltdown-y by this point! Our struggles looked like this:
P&K insist on walking into daycare themselves. Cue all of the distractions possibly known to man: a plane flies overhead; we hear a choo-choo; there’s a bird hopping through the grass; it rained, so everything is wet and must be called out as such.
We fight over who gets to hit the automatic door button.
Then we fight over who gets to open the door that’s opening automatically.
We must ensure the automatic door will indeed close on it’s own.
It shut. Good. Shall we run down the halls to our classroom? Or is this morning better suited to crawl down the hall like a puppy, whoofing all the way?
We make it to the classroom. Cue K’s inner spider monkey as he latches onto my legs .
Screaming and wailing as Ms. Alison pulls my child off of my body.
I holler goodbyes and I love you’s as I run down the hall, leaving the chaos behind me.
Listen! There has to be a better, more efficient, less traumatizing way! Welcome your new goodbye routine!
Once I established with P&K what goodbyes were going to look like from now on, and talked about it frequently with them, morning goodbyes started to get a little easier! P&K were allowed to walk into daycare without holding my hand, as long as they indeed would walk! No puppy crawling allowed. P gets to hit the door button in the morning, and K gets to hit it on the way home each night. “No bullshit” meant no screaming, crying, clinging to Mama. (Ya, ya, I know I should have chosen my words more wisely. But, hey! It worked, so there’s that!) Mama gives each one their own bear hug, complete with Mama Bear growls before she has to go to work. Wah-Lah! No more morning meltdowns!
Not only does this take a fraction of the time, but everyone is happier and less stressed! When everyone knows what is expected of them, the morning rolls on so much more smoothly! I get to drive to work less frazzled, and I get an extra 5 minutes alone with my coffee! Win-Win!
So that’s it! Adopt these 5 hacks and watch your mornings transform! Before you know it, mornings will be your favorite time of day! (Okay, so I can’t promise that!)
Do you have another morning hack that you swear by? Let me know!!
I LOVE the morning alarm clock thing with Alexa definitely going to try that one out! Also your are not alone with the distractions of walking into daycare!