Schools

5 Tips to Calm School Morning Pandemonium

Are school mornings chaos in your home? Here are five simple ideas to help.

By Linda Clevenger

By now you've survived the first days of a new school year.  Take a deep breath and know things can run more smoothly.  Here are five tips to reduce the stress of those early morning whirlwinds.

1. Simplify. The beginning of a new school year is a great time to go through closets and toss, purge and eliminate. So, go through your child’s closet and take out everything that either doesn’t fit, isn’t in style or your child just doesn’t wear any more. This will help your child make a quick and easy decision about what to wear for school.

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2. Plan ahead. There are a lot of things that you can do in advance to ensure that your school morning run as smoothly as possible.  First, lay out their clothes the night before; second, have lunch money (or bagged lunch) ready the night before and third, prepare the backpack the night before.  Being proactive will help avoid morning chaos.

3. Assign a specific place in the home for: backpacks, paperwork to be signed /checked and even for shoes.  This will allow you to “grab and go” in the morning.

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4. Develop routines for the entire family. Set specific bedtimes and wake-up times for everyone.

5. Use a family calendar to stay on top of everyone’s schedule and avoid stress (a white board works well).

For more information, sign up for the Organization Direct newsletter.

Please share YOUR family’s ideas and tips below.

Editor's Note: 
"Organization Direct works side-by-side with you to organize your space and make it functional again," Linda said.  The owner of Organization Direct is also a frequent blogger on Fredericksburg Patch.  Read some of her entries.

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