Planning!

I am not organised at all, however, we do have one school night ritual which we always stick by. After dinner each night Riley helps me pack her lunch for the next day. She does the sandwich while I pack the rest. A lot of mums I chat to do the lunches themselves to save time. Fair call, mum life is busy. However if you make time to do it the night before, when you aren’t in a rush then it is 100% worth it for a few reasons.

Motor skills. Watching a kid try and spread butter is super frustrating. Let them practice every day though and they learn pretty quickly. How will they improve these skills if we don’t take the extra minute to let them practice?

The next reason is it actually saves time. At the start...not so much, but once they get the hang of it they will have their sandwich done but the time your part is done.

Lastly, whenever we go out for breakfast or lunch with friends, Riley now likes to do it all herself. I no longer have to butter her toast and chop her crusts while my eggs go cold. I can start when she starts. The satisfaction on a small humans face when they can do things all by themselves is priceless. Plus, it keeps them in their seat for longer J

No TV!

When we get up in the morning, Riley goes to the bathroom and dresses herself while I make breaky. Once she eats her breakfast, the TV can go on. Riley used to turn it on straight away, this resulted in it taking 45 minutes for her to eat her breakfast with constant nagging from me. Now, she eats her breakfast in under 5 minutes because she knows, that’s her last thing for the morning before cartoons. So now that she is ready for school, and distracted by cartoons, you can get ready for work without running around like a mad woman juggling 5 things at once.

P.S. Before anyone pulls me up on too much TV, we are definitely outdoors people! Afternoons are all for adventures.

Keep it simple!

This applies in all aspects. I keep Riley’s outfits for school basic so she can handle it on her own. I keep her jobs for lunches simple so she doesn’t get frustrated and give up. If you give them tasks to complete then it is easier to get out the door. There is nothing that slows you down more than a little shadow following you around while you’re on a deadline getting tangled in your legs.

Kids like to be able to do things on their own and feel achievement. Let them know when they did a great job. If they are struggling with something, suggest a different way before you completely take over. If Riley has a good week of helping, learning and listening we go for ice cream on a Friday night. It’s nice to be able to reward your kids for what they do and it shows them that good behaviour pays off.

Some kids (definitely mine) don’t respond well to being told what to do. If this is similar to your munchkin, then try adjusting your delivery of instructions. I can tell immediately when Riley wakes up if she is in a mood to listen or if she is feeling stubborn. Instead of telling her ‘Go to the bathroom and get dressed, please’, I change it to a question ‘Do you remember what we do first when we wake up?’ letting her come up with the answer makes her think the bathroom was her idea and it makes her happy to go and be right. Kids love to be right all the time! Another good trick to avoid stubbornness is options. Where possible give them two options to choose from. For example, with clothes, I would put out two T-shirts or two different dresses and ask her to pick one to get dressed in.

REMEMBER: make sure you give them two options that you would be equally happy with them choosing, because 9 times out of 10...they will pick the one you didn’t want!

Once you find out what works with your kids and their personalities be consistent. Having a routine means that the kids know what to expect. Things are much easier for Riley and I now that we have done the practice and found what suits us. There are still tricky days, but they don’t come around often :-)

Here are a few other things that you could let your kids do for themselves

Gather their towel and swimmers for swimming lessons, and then unpack them for washing when home
Stack their breakfast plate/bowl in the dishwasher when done
Refill their own drink bottle
Put their bags next to the door ready to go
Checking the mail box

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