Eliminating Some Stress From Your Family’s Busy Morning Routine
Do you feel like mornings are daunting and at times a complete whirlwind for your family?
If so, you are in the majority, especially with young children and the never-ending balance of time constraints. We at BenefitBump know there aren’t perfect solutions to this challenge unfortunately, but there are multiple time-management and cognitive-behavioral techniques that may be able to minimize the frustrations and allow your family to emotionally connect before everyone starts their individually busy days. Here are a few tips and tricks to get your morning heading in the right direction.
Get Everyone to Bed Earlier. More sleep is likely beneficial for the whole family to participate in. If it seems impossible or too inconsistent, set small goals in 15-minute increments nightly until you reach morning transitions that are less rushed and more fluid. This may allow you to listen to 10 minutes of your favorite podcast some mornings alone or at the least minimize frustrations with your children over being late to work or meetings.
Prepare the Evening Before. This one may seem obvious, and while it won’t solve all your problems, it will keep a steady structure to morning organization and making sure everyone gets out the door with what they need. This could be everything from giving a choice of two outfits the night prior and laying them out together or preparing a meal plan for breakfast lunch and dinner options, so everyone was aware of the options.
Connection. Taking time to emotionally connect with your children at any point is a winning moment. While you lead a busy responsibility-filled life, you can still map out time to individually connect with each member of your family. The morning time is a great time to take advantage of this connection because children typically need more time to transition between rest, movement, and social interaction. Feeling supported in this transition will keep confidence growing as they develop into individual thinkers and decision makers.
Lead with Fun and Humor. Kids love being silly. If you have young children, you’re more than aware of the amount of hilarity that comes with parenthood. Kids truly do say the darndest things. Mornings can be a time to tap into this. This could look like a competitive game of silly faces, or your best Laffy-Taffy joke. The possibilities are endless, we recognize children look forward to opportunities to be creative, in-control, and connected.
Prioritize and Let the Rest Go. As parents of young children, we can all attest to “choosing our battles”. This may look like letting your child wear rain boots although it’s a clear forecast or putting the stick-on tattoo on his neck instead of his hand again. There are definitive boundaries on what we caretakers deem necessary and important for our children, and then there are things that aren’t and can be flexibly considered. Mornings can be prioritized around positive reframing such as; instead of “we have to” it could be “we get to”. Making connections and prioritizing those pieces that set your children and yourself up for successful time away from home, will ultimately support more meaningful time together at the start of the day.
No matter what works or doesn’t for your individual family, remember there is further assistance if needed. Reach out to your Care Navigator at BenefitBump for more parenting resources and support. Never hesitate to know you are their whole world and they think you are doing the very best job parenting!
https://www.ahaparenting.com/read/kids-morning-routine
https://happiful.com/how-to-reinvent-your-morning-as-a-parent/