Best of the Web: Children and Morning Madness

Have children? Have crazy mornings? Here's a collection of articles to give you ideas for improving those mornings.

Six tips for keeping school-day mornings calm and cheery

Here's (part of) one: Have a precise routine. This sounds counter-intuitive, and I’m not sure it would work for everyone, but in our house, we have a NASA-like countdown to get to school.

And here's another: Say "no" only when it really matters. Wear a bright red shirt with bright orange pants and bright green shoes? Sure.


Four Parent Hacks for a Nag-less Morning Routine

Here's one: What can your family take out of the morning routine that will make it easier or shorter? Make a nightly routine to lessen the chores for the morning. My family packed our lunches and our backpacks at night and always put them by the door. When we said goodnight, we had to take our backpacks downstairs.


Surviving bad socks and permission slips

While I wonder why the author didn't just get rid of the scratchy T-shirt and uncomfortable socks she mentions, there's still good advice here.

Here's one snippet: Following the "do everything you can the night before" policy, a father shared his tip with glee: "My daughters have to set their clothes out the night before, or else I pick what they wear that day. And they know I don't have very good taste."


The Mommy Files: On Task, On Time

Here's one of author Amy Graff's tips: Invest in an alarm clock. Let your child pick out his own alarm clock. My daughter chose a pink princess Disney castle alarm that projects stars onto the ceiling and plays songs from the movie Cinderella when it's time to rise and shine.


Morning Picture Routine Chart for Kids

While the previous listings each provide a series of tips, this article focuses on a very specific suggestion, the morning routine chart - and various ways to make one. (You can buy Routine Cards, but the items included might not match your routines.)


[photo by jessicafm / Jessica Merz]