A SMOOTH MORNING WITH CHILDREN

„Morning with the kids was going well until I served for breakfast oatmeal in bowls without a picture of the Paw Patrol”.

Mornings for parents are half marathons. My children: Patrick – 5 years old and Dorothy – 2 years old, continue the tactic to throw me off balance with innocent morning behavior as soon as possible.

What my children have in the morning is:

• a reluctance to get up,
• dressing in the slowest mode,
• morning moods worse than hormonal moods,
• lack of appetite, and at the same time terrible hunger.
• lots of unanswered questions: What will be at school today? What will they do after school? What new challenges await me? because a day without new challenges for Mommy is a day lost. 

The best part is that every morning, whether it was a tearful morning or a happy morning, my children erase it from their memory very quickly. Unlike me, morning experiences with my children stay in my head all day. So, I found some helpful tips that work well in making our mornings easier.

In the morning I avoid sentences like:

“Wake up please, it’s time for school.”

With this awakening, I understand it myself. Who wants to get out of a warm bed, who wants to listen to commands like do this or that from the morning? I don’t stress them unnecessarily and most often I turn on the radio, and calm music helps me wake up my kids in the right mood.

“Hurry up please, mom will be late for work.”

It works quite the opposite. Patrick is busy assembling the Lego he didn’t finish last night. Still in pajamas, of course. Dorothy has her own world and either cries for no reason or throws leggings out of the drawers.

“Sit down for breakfast, we don’t have much time.”

Patrick put on socks and panties and sat down for breakfast. Dorothy is still in her pajamas, she makes a drama that she wants to eat cereal, but only from a bowl with the image of a Paw Patrol.

“Please get dressed.”

Here we go back to showing the parents’ morning marathon. My kids combine dressing time with play time, making up nonsense, tickling, and throwing clothes. Anything that might delay our going to school even further. 

“Please brush your teeth.”

Here the running competition began. Just because they have toothpaste applied doesn’t mean the brushing process has started. There are indeed mornings when children in peace, without leaving traces of toothpaste everywhere, will brush their teeth but that’s one school day out of 5. https://littlepuzzlesandme.com/new-moms-theory-verus-practice-3/

In the morning, I apply sentences like:

“Time for morning music.”

I have no other way to wake my children up than music. I’ve been doing it for years and I really like it. While doing all my other morning duties, such as: opening the blinds, turning on the coffee machine, or preparing breakfast those help wake my little ones up, without drama.

“In what bowl would you like to eat your cereal for breakfast?”

Leaving the children to choose what they want to eat for breakfast, and which plate or bowl they want to eat breakfast on has greatly improved the timing and quality of our breakfast. 

“Let me help you get dressed.”

This sentence especially works for Dorothy, who still needs help with socks or tights. Patrick is doing great on his own, but he’s very slow in the morning, and I’ve helped him a few times, too. Patrick also loves to compete with Dory. Often dresses faster to shout: “I’m first, I won.” Thus, the problem of dressing two children is solved, but a new one appears – Dora is so pissed that the dressing process stops.

“Please come with me and choose an outfit for school.”

In Dora’s case, it works best and I had to get used to it to make school mornings easier. Patrick doesn’t mind if it’s a blue, red, or green sweatshirt. Many times he is already dressed and repeats to Dora: “I’m sweating, come on.” Uniforms such as those worn by children in the UK would solve the clothing selection problem.

“Time to brush teeth.”

We came up with a special prize – a superhero star – such a sticker was given to Patrick and Dora after brushing their teeth. We stick it on paper on the wall in the bathroom. Stickers need to be different and best match what your kids love. Dorothy only has dog stickers, and Patrick has cars, motorcycles, and recently a “Toy Story” cartoon stickers.

Mom’s smooth mornings

Introducing error-free morning sentences has made the whole process of getting my kids ready for school so much easier.

I also noticed that children respond better to my properly structured sentences. They still have time for childish antics, but they obediently return to breakfast, get dressed, and brush their teeth.

Leaving them to choose from, giving up short commands, and introducing praise make every morning better for me. I hope you find something useful in these tips. It doesn’t guarantee that the morning half marathon will be taken off the list, but it will be a marathon with a smile on your face.