Does anyone else find that getting the kids ready and out the door, for school, each and every weekday morning is similar to herding cats?

Weekdays around 7:00 A.M everyone in this house is most likely enjoying the best sleep of their life. Scrambling to get out of bed, ready for the day, and out the door by 7:45 A.M. is nothing short of a shit show. No matter how early we put these kiddos to bed, they love to sleep in when its a day we need to get going.

Now if we were to capture a picture in this house at 7:00 AM on a weekend morning you would see a whole different world. We have been up for a minimum of an hour crafting or creating a huge project of some sort that most definitely entails most of the art supplies. We are well on our way to finishing a home-cooked breakfast of pancakes or omelets, and perhaps even had a few wardrobe changes for a Frozen 2 concert or dance party.

Tell me I am not alone! Other kids have to sense stay home days and wake up early right? Parents, you attempt to wake up your kids for 20 minutes on school day mornings and they won’t budge too right? Yet, God forbid you trip on a lego as you sneak out of their room after snuggling them to sleep and they are wide awake ready for another story. Where is that child when they are woken up in the morning?? Where is the kid that can’t sleep because they are thirsty, hungry, and “just can’t sleep because I am never tired”?

Now I can’t blame them. I love a good stay home day too. BUT when I only get to see the kiddos for an hour before school/work and maybe two hours after our day apart comes to an end, I don’t like spending my one morning hour running around yelling like a crazy lady.

Most mornings I find myself repeating myself over and over again. I never knew it could take a kid 7 minutes to put on one sock, but in all that is real in this world, it is our morning reality.

Loving a good checklist, I came up with a step-by-step list for both kiddos. It includes a visual picture and action words for all of the steps each kiddo must complete to get out the door on time.

I printed this exact chart over the weekend. And to add a little “fun” in making it a game for the little ones I laminated it and armed them with dry-erase markers. They can check or X off each picture as they go. My hope is clearly that this chart works how I have envisioned. Not just becoming an additional distraction that will take away from getting dressed and out the door.

We are ready to take charge tomorrow morning! Fingers crossed.