I hate being late! My oldest started PK4 in public school this year and getting her to school on time is mandatory, but it is also a fight. Getting out of the house on time every morning is probably one of the hardest things I do all day. I was running around like a psycho screaming for everyone to get dressed, put their socks on, find matching shoes and get them on the correct foot. By the time I was finally buckling my own seatbelt, I felt defeated and knew this was no way to start our day.
So, I started searching for ideas to get out of the house earlier.
#1 Wake up 15-30 minutes earlier than the rest of the house
I am up a full hour and a half before everyone in my house since I try to head to the gym for 5 am most mornings. This one didn’t seem to help too much.
#2 Set clothes out the night before
This did help a lot! — I’m not the best at putting away my kid’s laundry because I usually fold it at night after they are in bed. They are light sleepers and I don’t want to wake them up because I was putting their clothes away. I would get frustrated that they were throwing the clean and folded clothes on the floor. Setting the uniforms out solved the problem.
#3 Pack bags the night before
I know, this one seems pretty obvious as an adult. However, because I have always taken care of this for my 4-year-old, this is something she is learning to do on her own now.
#4 Make lunches the night before
This absolutely does help! Making lunches after the girls are in bed is so much easier than when they are running around my feet fighting over the batgirl doll. I’ve even started making breakfast the night before. We like boiled eggs and overnight oats for easy and fast, but still healthy breakfast options.
Even with all this stuff out of the way, getting them into the car was still a fight and driving me crazy. Then one afternoon, my oldest asked if we could have a dance party. With two young girls in the house, we have a lot of dance parties. She requested ‘Wake Me Up’ by Avicii and they started dancing. They were smiling and having fun. Suddenly I realized what I need to get us out of the house on time and that’s how I came up with my #5.
#5 Dancing Alarm Clock
I started setting an alarm on my phone to go off at 7:30 (we have to leave no later than 7:40). It isn’t your normal beep beep beeping alarm. No, no, no! This is a FUN alarm. You pick a song that will make you move. The first song I used was ‘Bust a Move’ by Young MC – it has a great beat and the whole family enjoys busting a move. We’ve also used ‘Me Too’ by Meghan Trainor and ‘Runaway Baby’ by Bruno Mars. – It’s good to change the song up every couple of weeks.
