Getting Your Kids to School on Time

Getting Your Kids to School on Time

Article by Ashley Aikers

The joys of parenting abound as you welcome new milestones of your child’s life into the family. But just as the perks are amazingly rewarding, so are the downsides of fighting to restore stability into your household. The morning shuffle transitioning smoothly from home to school is one of the hardest jobs in parenting to overcome but one of the most crucial to address.

Prompt and consistent school attendance sets a stage for teaching responsibility that yields a lifetime of residual effects. Timeliness equals reliability but it also helps children stay ahead of the game when it comes to remaining motivated to participate in school, taking pride in completing assignments promptly and encouraging a sense of independence. The short term inconvenience of not getting to sleep in or have the morning to yourself leads to long term favorable results to your children and the entire family.

It might take a few tries and tweaks to find the right format for getting the kids to school on time but once you hit a good groove remain consistent. Use the following tips to create the best fit for your family’s schedule:

• Start with a family meeting. Address the issue of timeliness to school in clear yet short conversation. Avoid long lectures that your children will likely tune out and stick to the positives of getting to school on time. Encourage your children to be a part of the family team and assign each child her own responsibility as part of the team. Children thrive on successfully completing tasks and your motivation is the foundation of inspiring them to achieve goals. Limit each child’s team tasks to no more than two per morning and rotate the tasks every few months.• Stick to the same bedtime each school night, preferably an early bedtime to give your kids optimal rest and rejuvenation.• Stick to the same routine every morning. Make sure your kids are woken up at the same time each morning and accomplish their tasks within the same time frame. The consistency of routine helps the kids establish patterns that they can look forward to achieving. • Prepare lunches and wardrobe the night before. Many parents spend too much time looking for that one red shoe, wasting valuable minutes of shuffle time in the morning. Avoid this at all cost by picking the next day’s clothing and placing it in the same location each night so your child can hop out of bed and jump right into his clothes. As you prepare the next day’s wardrobe use simple options instead of open ended inquiries. For instance, give the choice of jeans or skirt rather than asking what the child wants to wear. That is a big burden with unending possibilities that your child should not have to worry over. Prepare lunch ahead of time and in the morning place it in the same spot on the counter so the kids can grab and go. • Review homework the night before and pack all school supplies in the satchel. Place the back pack in the same location each night, so the kids can grab and go in the morning. • Allow yourself enough time to get ready and prepare the kids in the morning. Ideally one hour seems perfect but you have to account for little contingencies and meltdowns. Consider the time it takes for you to get ready and add one hour more for the kids. • Always express your satisfaction in accomplishing the morning routine. Encourage every day. You get more flies with honey than you do with a stinky attitude.

About the Author

Ashley Aikers is a writer who enjoys writing on a number of different verticals. For more on parenting, Mommy Rantings offers readers information on surefire ways to get your kids out of bed in the morning.