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Mornings always come too quickly, and zip by too fast.
My family jokes that I spell morning "mouring." I’m just not a morning
person. Even when you are, getting everyone ready and out can be a real
chore. In the last issue, we offered some helpful tools for learning life skills, like showering, brushing teeth, putting shoes on the proper feet, tying show laces, etc.. Take another peek. Today’s issue is all about making those mornings run more smoothly, and giving everyone a chance at a good day. What better place to look than food. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, one that sets your children off with a good start on concentrating through the school day. Aren’t you tired of hearing that? The idea of a cooked egg, whole wheat toast, whole fruit, etc. is nice, but would just sit on the table in most households we know of, getting cold and starting a food war. Not what anyone needs in the morning. And don't forget, subscribers have exclusive discounts on the products listed in all our Newsletters! |
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Top Ten Suggestions, not necessarily in order, To Make Mornings Work. |
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| 1. We have found that setting the table for
breakfast before we go to bed helps to save time, eliminates the "what do
you want for breakfast" drama, and makes sure that we sit for a few seconds
before rushing out the door. If you plan on serving cereal, leave the box on
the table and put out bowls and spoons. Line up juice glasses near the
refrigerator or on the table for a quick pour. Have everything that is safe
to leave at room temperature already out and set to go. 2. We love pancakes and french toast in the morning, but who has the time to make them? We make our own with fresh, wholesome ingredients on the weekends and freeze the "left overs." 3. Our freezer is organized so that all the breakfast items are in the door, visible and waiting to go: frozen  fruit
for smoothies, coffee, cooked meats, and pancakes and french toast. 4. Click for Inventive Parents’ Favorite Pancake Recipe, for Slow Weekends and Rushed School Days and other Fun, Fast and Good For You ideas. 5. Serve whole wheat toast without the crust, spread with peanut or other tree nut butter. Removing the crust and toasting the bread can disguise the whole wheat texture and color for lots of kids. The Good Bites DeCruster and Slicer speeds toast and sandwich preparation. 6. Some kids will eat in a timely fashion with milk in their cereal to prevent the cereal from getting soggy. Others will eat cereal better if they drink the milk separately, letting it mix in their belly. While not optimal, accepting this concept has saved us on more than one occasion. 7. What about those mornings when you get up late, and just can’t eat before you dash out? It isn’t a good situation, but it sure happens. Our solution is to make sure our kids drink a glass of milk before they brush their teeth (only because of the complaints about how milk tastes right after brushing), and maybe some juice. We set  up
a
Packin Smart with a serving of Cheerios, might add a container with
dried fruit like raisins, or mango, and grab a banana or apple if there’s
time. If we have some boxed milk, that can come along too. The cereal and
milk mix in the tummy.This breakfast-on-the-run is faster, cheaper and more nutritious than anything you’ll find at a drive through! If you know in advance that this is the way your morning will be, pack up these items at night, set your coffee maker on a timer, and have breakfast to go ready to go. Think of the time you’ll save at the drive through, and you’ll be healthier and richer, too! 8. We think it can be a good idea to keep some of those tooth brush on your finger doodads in our car to clean up teeth after eating dried fruit, and drinking milk or coffee.  9.
We like to keep at least one
Taby Tray in the car, ready for these meals on the run. This
ingenious tray keeps things (cereal, crayons, puzzle pieces) from falling,
and has saved many a trip. give your kids a nice tray to eat from in the car
– we all have those mornings – or to finish up their homework.10. We call those sugary cereals that are marketed to kids "snack cereal." This helps to get the idea across that they are not for breakfast, but are better than potato chips for a snack later on. The sugars and refined flour are going to leave you and your kids feeling sapped by mid-morning. |
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If You Don’t Have Time To Do It Twice, You’d Better Do It Right the First Time |
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Like getting dressed. Are your little ones messy eaters? Kipiis will turn anything into a bib – even a paper towel or napkin. Keep some handy because the last thing you need when there’s no time, and the laundry is piled up, is to dress your children again. 
Speaking of which, with all your clothes still at the cleaners, put
the
Mommy Bib to good use. Better, more dependable, fitted and
leak-proof, this vest protects parents clothes from all the goodies that can
come back up from baby’s mouth. Keep it on while safely hugging, burping and
feeding, take it off at a safe distance, and no one at work needs to see the
little dots of spit-up.
Oooh, what’s that smell? Bum check time. And you’re all out of diapers
in the car. Having a
Diapees & Wipees always ready and waiting eliminates desperate trips
back to the house when you need to make a quick diaper change. You know this
always happens just when you don’t have any time. |
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Did You Remember Your Lunch? |
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I know that packing lunches the night before
works for many families, and it does for us, sometimes, too. The combination
of a set breakfast table and prepared
 lunches
can be too much for us the night before, causing undue stress at bedtime.
One or the other is a necessity, though. Following the "first things
first" concept, we're often packing lunches in the morning, after eating
breakfast.Speed the lunch preparation by skipping the clean-up. Wrap-N-Pack gives you a surface to make sandwiches on, wrap ‘em up, and a clean surface to eat off. And there are no plastic bags to throw away, or run out of! Just wash off, as needed, and it is ready for the next lunch. What could be cooler. Kids will love the fun prints, too! 
Those
Good Bites come in pretty handy at lunch time, too. When it is time to pack up that lunch box with the other goodies, consider using one of the coolest backpacks around. Little PackRat backpacks are the most fun backpacks in a child friendly size – not too big and not too little. Teens and fashionable adults also get a kick out of the fun, artistic designs. |
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| I hope that these hints and suggestions work for you. As you can see, many other parents have been where you are, and some of them invented things to help make your lives a bit easier. | |
| Let me know if they help, but please wait until afternoon, because I have too much going on in my "mournings!" | |
| The next issue will feature ways to make the ride to school or day care easier and more enjoyable. Don't miss it! And don't forget, subscribers have exclusive discounts on the products listed in all our Newsletters! | |