Adding the word “routine” to the phrase “school morning” may raise some eyebrows.  I’ll be the first to admit, many mornings here are mayhem.  Despite everything I know & believe in (make school lunches the night before; backpacks loaded by door; pre-prepare breakfast if possible), morning tends to bring the monster out in all of us!  I recently contributed some ideas ( including “Do the have to’s before the want to’s) to MSN’s Mom’s Homeroom for an article on “School Morning Routines that Work.”

As Reporter Laureen Miles Brunelli writes in the article, “Missing homework, spilled cereal, bickering kids, forgotten forms, dirty laundry – any of these can…derail your family’s school morning routine.”  Sound familiar?  I love the “forgotten school forms” item.  How many times have we heard, “Mom, if I don’t have this filled in TODAY, I can’t try out for the team!”  Clearly, the coach didn’t give my kid the form that morning…Hmmm…

Brunelli interviewed several folks and published some great ideas on how to keep your morning on track.  I think the key is to have a routine, whatever it is, and to create and outline it in advance, at a calm time with the whole family present.  Kids know what needs to be done; but in the moment, exhausted and stressed for a departure time, Brunelli is right, things can unravel quickly.

What ideas can you add to make school mornings more smooth sailing and less rocky waters?  Add a comment to this post, and share your ideas!