Kids’ Morning Routine Checklist: Get Your Kids Out The Door Happy And On-Time

(Inside: A kids’ morning routine checklist that will help your morning run smoothly. It’s an editable morning routine chart so you can make it your own.)

There was a season when the terrible-horrible-very-bad-worst part of our elementary school mornings was when I announced “Time to go!” We all simultaneously lost our brain cells.

One kid couldn’t find his shoe, the other his homework, and the third decided to take a firm stance against why kids must go to school anyway. Common sense and patience died and I found myself out-of-body looking down on a crazy woman yelling: “Get in the car! Right now!”

I hated that the last words my kids heard when I dropped them off at school were, “Remember, a bad moment (our morning) is just a bad moment. It doesn’t mean you’re going to have a bad day. Goodbye! Love you!” (Big cheesy smile to make up for all the yelling.)

Somebody help.

We had tried all the tricks: getting ready the night before, allowing more time in the morning…No dice for us.

I thought about why when given a FULL THIRTY MINUTES, we couldn’t leave without tears. My conclusion was that my kids’ only morning priority is to play. They woke up early to transform Optimus Prime, shoot hoops, or protect our home from our sweet retired neighbors. 

So, getting ready was like having a big, fat fly buzzing around their heads. They might start the process but soon they were shooing away the thought of fixing their hair and grabbing their lunchboxes to hurry back to play.

However, I knew we needed to get on the same page: Get ready first. Play second. But how do we get there? 

Enter the heroine of this story: THE LIST 

Of course, a friend gave me this idea. When deep in the I-hate-can-we-play-video-games-whining conversation, she flashed her phone in front of me with a beautiful kids’ daily routine checklist that her children must finish before screen time.

Then, angels started singing, the skies parted and streaks of light came down spotlighting THE LIST. (People and their ideas are ah-maze-ing.)

 So, I made my own. This checklist is what my kids MUST FINISH BEFORE THEY CAN PLAY.

Now you think I’d remember THE LIST in parenting, but I sometimes like to learn the hard way.

Fast-forward to the middle school years.

One kid and I conflicted over everything, and he couldn’t get homework completed and turned in to save his life. I was at a loss as to how to get our home back to peaceful. THE LIST was forgotten. 

I was at such a loss on how to move my son from A to B that I checked out a stack of parenting books and plowed through. Do you know where I landed back at?

A LIST.

Together, we listed out his daily responsibilities and agreed to communicate through the list. He would check off what he got done and I would not nag him about it. Before bed, we’d go through the list together. If he got stuff done, he got screen time the next day. If not, no screens. We took the emotion out of it. The agreed-upon list was the bad guy. 

After about 3 weeks of being consistent, my son was back on track at school and peace had re-entered our home.

THE LIST has saved us twice?

But what about you? What is the thing that sends you out-of-body yelling at your kids? Would THE LIST help organize your family? Or give you a better way to communicate?

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The crazy lady is gone in the morning. (Well, mostly…) 

Be encouraged by the full Help Your Kid Thrive in School Series.

As a high school teacher for over two decades, I love, love, love watching kids learn. It’s okay if there are struggles in their educational journey. Not just okay – normal, even. We just keep stressing the importance of education and giving them the tools of success. And then we encourage our kids and love them well.

I hope you enjoy these articles.

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ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PARENTS

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