The school-days are back!
Whether you’ve begun shipping the older kids out to secondary school each morning again or you’ve started saying goodbye to your little one as they begin primary school this September, one thing is for sure, there is a mammoth task ahead of you.
No, not the heavy uniform washing or the upcoming stress of a Leaving Cert in the family, not saying an emotional goodbye to your four-year-old school-goer in the morning, this is something every mother deals with five mornings a week across the country… getting the kids out of bed.
Ironic enough, but even though it’s the last place they want to go to every evening, they’re stuck to their Spiderman covers in the morning.
Result: a rushed morning of trying to organise school lunches, breakfasts, uniforms, art boxes, sports bags and, of course, kids.
That’s why we’ve put our heads together here at Her.ie and come up with a few tips to help you get your child out of the bed in the morning. Let us know if they work, or equally if they don’t!, and do feel free to share some tips of your own…
1. Mornings Must Be A Routine
Morning madness can be avoided by letting your kids know from day one that a morning routine is a requirement, and not an option. A non-negotiable routine must be established and the kids must know the consequences if it doesn’t work. Tell your young son or daughter that if they don’t get up on time, their own bedtime will be fifteen minutes earlier tonight… and stick to it! Oooh, scary!
2. Early Bed-Time
These words speak for themselves. As a body-clock goes, a young, energetic kid should find it easy to get up in the mornings if he is going to be at a reasonable time. How many hours sleep should they get? Check it out here…
3. Make Breakfast The Place To Be
A variety of cereals, some tasty fruit juices and a friendly atmosphere will make every child run down the stairs for their first meal of the day. Keep breakfast healthy and full of fibre, it will be setting the kids up for a busy day at school.
4. Stagger Wake-Up Times
If there is one child that needs to be dressed and another that moves at a snail’s pace in the mornings, see if you can stagger wake-up times. It may be easier to concentrate on just getting one child out of bed and dressed instead of trying to manage the three of them at the one time.
5. Be A Morning Person
You may not be a morning person yourself but try and keep the mood light-hearted in the morning. Have the curtains open for light, the radio on for a bit of music, open the back door or a window if it’s warm. Children should be awake and alert heading out to school. They won’t feel like that if they leave a dark, quiet house in the morning time.
6. Avoid A ‘What To Wear’ War
Uniforms make life so much easier but if there is any chance something different will be worn to school, decide what it will be the night before. The children should have their uniforms ready to put on each morning too. You know the minute you hear “where’s my tie?” the place will erupt.
7. Just Do The Necessary
Keep the household jobs for when the kids have left for school, or equally for when they return. Trying to be productive and tackling the dusting before they leave for school will end up in a mad rush to be on time. If you want the kids to make their beds every morning, then make that a requirement. But, something like cleaning out the toy boxes can surely wait until they come home.
8. Give A Bit of Responsibility
It shouldn’t be up to you to have to wake the household once kids get older. Except for youngsters of course, kids can learn to wake up by an alarm clock and get themselves ready themselves. Let them see what is a good time to rise… cause and effect, it’s a good way to learn!
