Tackling Morning Organization

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Our blogging friend Janice Kanelos is here today to share her tips for tackling morning organization. Getting the kids dressed in the morning and getting everything all together can be a very difficult task. She shares her tips on how she manages and organizes her morning.

Every mother knows that morning routines can be difficult even at the best of times. As a mother of four who has survived many hectic mornings, I’m here to tell you that a hassle-free routine is entirely achievable when you make the proper preparations in advance.

Lay out clothes the night before

In an effort to start the day off right, I lay out the baby clothes and kid clothes the night before. It’s much easier to get a baby into baby clothes if they are already right there on the changing table for his morning diaper change. I lay out my own clothes to help myself get ready a little faster in the morning as well. When I’m dressed and ready before the kids are out of bed, they seem more eager to be dressed and ready for the day. I may not be as well-rested as I’d hoped, but the kids don’t see that because Mom is ready to go and has everything all laid out for them.

A balanced breakfast

Breakfast might be the most important meal of the day, but that does not mean breakfast has to be hard. Creating a healthy and balanced breakfast will fill tummies and relieve some morning stress for everyone in the house. Using a slow cooker, you can create oatmeal dishes or French Toast overnight with any ingredients you choose. Just dish and serve in the morning and everyone is happy. Sliced fruit with some Greek yogurt will make a balanced and delicious cold breakfast, and most of the prep can be done ahead of time. Slice fruit into an airtight bowl, and dish up the Greek yogurt into single serve containers. Those containers will go in your fridge and be ready for the early morning.

Pack all bags the night before

Pack the diaper bag, your purse, and the backpacks for your school-aged kids the night before. Then put them by the door. The bags will then be ready to just grab and go in the morning. Instead of wasting precious time looking for lost notebooks, your car keys or the spare pacifier, you can rest easy knowing everything is already in its proper place.

Create a shoe basket

Place a shoe basket for each family member near the door. When someone comes into the house, the shoes go in the basket. When we’re ready to leave, we know exactly where to find our shoes. In time, your child will learn to go to their basket and collect their own shoes when it’s time to leave home. No more searching for lost shoes!

Pack lunches the night before

If you pack a lunch for your school-aged kids, try to gather items and pack the night before when possible. It’s much easier to throw an ice pack in a lunch box and head out the door than it is to spend time trying to fill small bowls with a variety of foods while a child is clinging to your leg.

Using these few tips to gather and ready items the night before will make your morning smoother and eliminate the stress and hassle. Personally, I choose to do my morning prep just after the kids are in bed for the night. This allows me to enough time to clearly think about what they will need in the morning. Stress-free mornings are only a few minutes away! Try it tonight with your little rascals!

So what have you been tackling this week?

Janice Kanelos is a stay-at-home mother of 4 children, her youngest being less than a year old and her oldest approaching middle school a little too quickly. In her spare time, she maintains a blog 3 Kids and a Baby where she writes about keeping your kids stylish without breaking the bank.