Morning Mayhem…Not Anymore!

Ever since Landon started Kindergarten, school mornings have been a little hectic. When I just had Zoe to worry about, it was no problem getting her ready, but add just one more kid into the equation and POW, mayhem!

Now that Zoe’s in high school (or is in her LAST year of high school!) she does all of her “stuff” on her own, but I still have Landon and Harper to worry about. No, Harper doesn’t go to school, but he’s still under my feet all morning, and the boys gotta eat, right!? So, to make things a little easier on myself I made this chart for Landon to use in the morning.

First of all, Landon uses an alarm clock to get up in the morning on his own. He has used one since Kindergarten and it works for us. I never have to walk up and down the stairs ten times to make sure he’s up, it’s great! He never sleeps through it either, and I’m hoping he’ll stay that way. I know I could sleep through an alarm for hours when I was a teenager!

On the chart, I have listed the 5 things he needs to do before he leaves for school in the morning. He is responsible for taking care of the dog in the morning, taking his allergy medicine, putting his lunch in his bag, eating breakfast and locating his shoes. After school he only has to worry about eating a snack and doing his homework then putting it all away for the morning. I put the clothespins on the board just so he can check himself, and so that I don’t have to ask him every five minutes if he’s done one of the items on the board…I can just look at the list.

I also made one of these charts for Landon to use in the bathroom. Half the sheet is for before school, the other is for before bed. I have to say that these charts have helped tremendously. Landon goes straight to them and is done everything in record time each morning.

In addition to the charts, I’ve also banned all television and video games before school. Landon just has too hard a time tearing himself away, and it’s one less thing to argue about. So, instead of Sponge Bob entertaining him, he usually plays with Harper, which then gives me the time I need to make breakfast and/or clean up breakfast. So far, this method has worked great for us, and I think we’ll probably be using it for a long time!