This is your handy school night checklist. Yes, you might know all these things. Now, actually do them!
Everyone is looking for the best investments with high returns. Over the years, I’ve discovered one of the safest investments with almost guaranteed returns. It’s not the stock market or real estate–it’s investing in your morning routine. Just a few minutes of PM prep can make the AM routine so much smoother for Mommy and kids.
There’s a lot going on, and you may not have the headspace to do all of these every day. But when you do manage to do even some, it will make a big difference.
1. Pack the backpacks, sign the homework, and find the missing paper that the kid must bring back tomorrow OR ELSE! Missing papers are harder to find in the morning when the clock is ticking.
2. Take inventory of your fridge. No milk left? Out of snack bags? It’s easier to run out at night or borrow these things in advance before you are left scrambling and improvising in the morning.
3. Shoes! There is nothing that has the potential to cause as much emotional dysregulation as missing shoes before the bus. Try to have the kids leave the school shoes in the mudroom, coat closet, bedroom, wherever–and if they don’t you may want to track them down at night, calmly, at your own leisure.
4. Check on the uniforms. If you have several uniforms for each child, you can skip laundry some nights. But you don’t want to lose track. Keep in mind that morning spills and splatters do happen. It’s always good to stay a day ahead.
5. Prepare Mommy breakfast or lunch. We tend to put Mommy’s needs on the back burner. So if you’re leaving with your kids in the morning, you likely won’t think much about yourself. But if you have a few minutes the night before to prepare a salad, or bake whole wheat muffins, it will give a boost to your day. (One of your kids may want Mommy’s salad. It’s always wise to prepare two.)
6. Daven. Mornings are challenging. Add a baby, a mommy trying to get to work, early buses, a kid (or two) that hates waking up early into the mix, and it can be very challenging. We can do everything in our power, but we still need Hashem’s help so that things can fall into place, so that the missing loafer turns up, and the kid makes the bus by thirty seconds instead of missing it by thirty seconds.
If motherhood is middos academy, the morning routine may just be prime time. But your kids see that you are trying. You’re pushing yourself to work on your middos, your patience, and your emunah (when someone misses the bus).
And if you are ever left with a heavy heart because you feel like you could have done better, remember that there’s always tomorrow. And the next day. And the next. (Actually 365 of them a year because Mommies are never off.)
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