Getting Kids Out the Door In the Morning (or any other time)

As a nanny, I have the amazing opportunity (and obstacle at times) of taking my son to work with me. This is a tremendous blessing for a number of reasons. It means that as a single-mom I don't have to spend money on childcare. It also means, more importantly, that I get to spend my days with my son and really fostering his growth and development.



This also means that every work day I have to get my 2-year-old dressed, fed, and out the door by 7:15am or I'll be late for work. I know that this situation isn't unique to me as a nanny. There are many families who have to get the kids out the door in the morning for daycare, school, or to take siblings to school. 


Because this process can be challenging and frustrating, I want to share with you some things that I have picked up while working with children over the years that make getting out in the morning a little smoother.

Prepare as much as you can ahead of time

For most families, this means getting things ready the night before. Anything that you can do advance, do it. Pack lunches, lay out clothes, put coffee in the coffee pot, get breakfast items ready. When everything is already in place, it is much faster and easier to put the rest of the pieces together than in the morning when everyone is stumbling around groggy and grumpy.


Give your kids as much responsibility as they can handle

What this looks like is going to depend on age and also on the child. I've seen people use picture boards or checklist that kids work through, but I've never done that with any of my kids. Not saying they don't work, I've just never tried them.

Although it may seem faster to do everything yourself than to let your toddler spend 10 minutes putting his shoe on, in the long run it's not. Children desire autonomy, and they are much more cooperative when they can take ownership of the process.

Whatever you feel your child can do themselves with very few prompts, put it on their plate. It will make them more cooperative and remove a bit of the stress from your morning.


Give clear directions about what still needs to be done

I feel like this is where one of those picture boards would be handy. In any case, I have been totally guilty of giving my son a task, go brush your teeth, and then been shocked and upset when he does that and then goes back to playing instead of continuing to get ready.


I have learned with toddlers (or even older children), the word "then" is very important. Go brush your teeth THEN get dressed. I check on my son often during the morning because he's 2 so he's easily side-track. When he's gotten to the next step, I give him praise and then let him know what to do when he's done. Thank you for following directions. Finish getting dressed, then feed the dog.

This should become less important as kids get older and as they get used to the routine.


Be realistic about your timeframe

Chances are it takes your children longer to do just about anything than it takes you to do it. This goes for eating, dressing, brushing their teeth, combing their hair, or anything else they might need them to do. That means that you want them to start getting ready based on how much time they need, not how much time you think they should need. If they are slow eaters, get up earlier. If it takes them a long time to do their hair, get up earlier. If they have a hard time waking up in the morning, go to bed earlier. I can't pretend that those changes are easy, but if it's going to mean mornings with less fighting, it's worth considering.


Put your stuff in your car before your kids. Or vice versa

Depending on how much stuff you have and how helpful and able-bodied your kids are, this might not be necessary. I, however, usually travel with toddlers and quite often am transporting enough stuff to go backpacking through Europe. You want to have free hands when you're trying to get little ones out of the house and into the car. I have learned the hard way that there is nothing more frustrating than trying get kids out the door and into the car when my hands are full and I'm spilling my coffee and someone slips on the ice and I can't even reach down to help him up. So instead, I go put my stuff in the car (and usually start it too, since I live in Michigan), and come back in and finish getting the kids ready.

Have a "Launch Pad"

I just made that term up right now, as I was trying to think of how to explain the most important advice of this whole topic. My "Launch Pad" is the place where all the kids go when they are completely ready to leave. In our house this is our breeze way, at work this is the mudroom, in our old house it was the kitchen because that's where the back door was. The most important part of a Launch Pad is that once they are ready and in it THEY CANNOT LEAVE. Again, speaking from experience, there is nothing more frustrating than finally having everyone ready to go, running to the other room to grab your phone, and coming back to find you're suddenly missing a child who wandered off to watch TV again. It makes it easy to assess how ready we actually are if we can get a head count of how many people are ready to walk out the door.


Tell yourself you have to leave earlier than you really do

When I said earlier that I have to get out the door by 7:15, that was actually I lie. I HAVE to get out the door by 7:25, or else we'll be late, but every day I try to leave by 7:15. And once a month we actually succeed.

Face it, it is VERY challenging to leave on time with kids. Just when you think you're ready to go, somebody has to poop. Somebody forgot something important. And someone else decides they don't want to go. Don't set yourself up for failure by trying to leave at the last minute and then being late. It just leads to a lot of yelling and a poor start to the morning. If we actually get out of the house at the attempted time, I'll sometimes use the extra time to go to Tim Horton's for doughnut holes. Either way, it is much less frustrating when your child is running behind if you know that it's not actually going to cause anyone to be late.



I've unfortunately learned all these things from experience after doing it the other way and failing (and yelling and being late an awful lot). How about you? What helps your family get on the road on time? leave a comment!


Blessings

Indoor Activities for Toddlers

When it's too cold to go outside, days can feel pretty long when you have small children. On top of my own child's restlessness, I'm also a nanny so it's kind of my job to keep kids active and engaged. However, when you're stuck in the house, options are limited. Add to that the fact that we don't watch TV anymore (more on that adventure here) and it's hard to keep kids from bouncing off the walls or fighting with each other.

Here as some activities that we have found successful for beating the winter boredom. My boys are 2 years old, and my girl is 6, so some activities I did strictly with the toddlers and others were good for the mixed bunch.



There are various levels of prep required and mess involved. Maybe at some point I will make a more specific list of no prep activities, but for now, here are some things to get your wheels turning.




Balloon tennis
blow up a bunch of latex balloon and used kitchen spatulas to whack them around.

Bowling for solo cups
Stack up solo cups to knock them down. After a while they got tired of using the ball and started going Kung Fu on them.

Make silly putty
I like this recipe because it's just corn starch and dish soap, but there are a ton of recipes out there. I used 2 parts cornstarch and 1 part dish soap, but it really depends on what texture you're going for. For older kids, trying different ratios and predicting and comparing the results can be a great way to engage.

Crushing sensory box
Inspiration for this idea came from this post on Busy Toddler. Fill a bin or pan or whatever you have with stale breakfast cereal (am I the only one with a stockpile of this stuff?) and give the kids toy hammers and potato mashers. This one is great for little boys who enjoy the opportunity to be destructive

Play with bubble foam
I got this idea here. My intention was to do it in the bathtub, but it happened to be a nice day so we were able to take it outside. It's just soap though (which I always have) so it can reasonably be done indoors.

Stacking paper towels or toilet paper
I was amazed at how long this kept the boys entertain and how creative they got with their play. If you have a stock pile of paper products in the basement, you'd be surprised what the kids will think of.

Kid's yoga
So to be fair, I don't actually know how to do yoga. At all. But lots of moms do and there are lots of kid's yoga printables out there, so if that's your thing, go for it. What I do are different stretches and compare them to animals and nature: reach up high like a tree. Bring your heels towards you and flap your knees like a butterfly. I mix in more active moves like hopping like a frog and shaking our sillies out to create what we call Our Exercies.

Scoop and transfer monster
This one I did with just the boys, but it can be adapted to make it more challenging for older kids. Draw a face on a paper plate and cut out a mouth. set it on top of a mixing bowl (or tape it). Fill another large bowl with beans, rice, legos, or whatever small pieces you want to use (we used Lite Bright pieces) and give the kids spoons. Tell them to feed the monster. 

Straw Rockets
Chelsey has great directions and printables for this activity here. In a nutshell, you put paper rockets on the end of straws and blow to make them "take off" This was a little challenging for my 2-year-olds, but for older kids this would be great.

Make a catapult
Again, this is great one for little boys, and can be made more challenging for different ages. We placed large spoons on top of water bottles, put paper balls on one end, and stomped on the other end. You can get creative with it though.

Paint in a bag
I will be totally honest, this is not my favorite. It uses a lot of paint, and my little ones always seem to rip a hole in the bag. However, this would be really fun for kids who were a little older and/or learning about color mixing.

Contact paper monsters
Draw a monster face on contact paper and tape it to the window. Give the kids paper pieces and googly eyes and decorate it.

Snow painting
Great for all ages, especially when the kids want to play in fresh snow, but it's too cold or windy to go out. Fill a bin with snow. Give the kids paint brushes and water with food coloring for "paint." The boys loved this one. The would not stop until all the snow was melted.

Build a mountain with the couch cushions
This is a great way to burn off some energy, especially for toddlers since it requires a more effort for them to climb the mountain. We do this almost every day.

Face paint with washable marker
This is one of my son's favorite. Warning: washable markers are often not entirely washable. Usually I don't let him color my face, and I make sure we don't have anywhere important to be in the next few days. I've also used eyeliner instead of makers if I need it to come off easily.

I hope this helps bring your family a few moments of sanity. What are your favorite indoor activities to keep the kids busy? I'd love to hear them! leave a comment.

Blessings.