Create Your Back to School Routine

Do you wish you had a personal assistant to hand you everything on the way out the door?😉

School is starting back up and as more people are returning to the office, there's a new requirement to get out of the house in a timely manner. I'll be completely honest that last school year was so rough in the morning because I had no practice getting kids to school and they were going to different schools 15 minutes apart. Here are some tips that I have picked up from moms and personal experiences.

Lay clothes out the night before

Have a section in your closet where you can plan outfits for the week. The important part is the whole outfit planned. Have the shoes and accessories nearby that you plan on wearing to avoid sending a frantic search party into the depths of your closet to find your shoes that hasn't surfaced since last year. Try on clothes in advance to make sure they still fit the way you remembered. The worse thing is to plan on wearing a particular outfit and its way to snug or its sagging and you have to scramble for an outfit change at the last moment. This applies to kids too. There has been one too many times I got the kids dressed in pants that were highwaters or outfits I just knew they should be big enough to wear. Cheat code: hold the pants or shirt against something they wore last week to make sure it fits. If there is a significant size difference, try it on.

To be honest, this is one of the hardest things for me to do. Even after checking the forecast and selecting an outfit, there are several days when I wake up and have new feelings about what I should wear. But here’s the thing: if I follow all the other tips, most importantly the adding more time than needed, I will have extra time to quickly change outfits. Or if the morning doesn't go as planned and the extra time is gone I am stuck wearing the outfit I initially layed out.

List out what your morning routine is

Get a pen and paper and literarily write down ALL the things you need to do in the morning to get ready to go. Even if it is something that takes 2 seconds. Write it down. Then assign an estimated time for each line item. Add up all the minutes and that is your Go Time. This is also a great exercise to do even if you already have a routine established.  If you have noticed whenever you leave the house, you feel like Cruelia Devil chasing the dalmations its time for a change. Don't forget to start the morning routine with some quiet time for yourself to pray and meditate. It always helps me to calm and prepare my day. There are many times I get the right scripture to help me get through my day.

Allow extra time for the morning routine

Now that you have your morning routine set, add 15 minutes of extra time. Just in case the toast burns or there’s a last minute form to fill out (kids sometimes forget) you have time to address the unexpected and still be on time. I also suggest doing a dry run of your mourning routine a few nights before school starts just to make sure you haven't forgotten anything.This especially helpful if you have kids that you are preparing for daycare and/or school for the first time. Dressing kids  in the morning can easily add 15 minutes to your morning. This will give you an opportunity to adjust from your previously estimated time to a more realistic start time for your routine.

Have a command center

What are all the things you need to take out the door in the morning?

Let's not leave this to chance by scrambling all over the place in the morning finding all the things. Create a station by the door to help remind you of all the things that you need for a swift departure. A basic command center has a spot for bookbags loaded, keys on the hook and a dry erase board, shoe rack. This will reinforce preparing all the bags and stuff the night before and discourage leaving it sprawled all over the house. The dry erase board is perfect to write reminders about events during the week and even write inspirational quotes/scripture.

This is not a guarantee that you will have perfect mornings however this is a way to mostly peaceful departures from home.