Want to know how to create a stress free morning with your kids? Here are my effective stress free morning strategies and customisable chore chart printables that work wonders for getting kids ready in the mornings! You wont believe how easy it is to create a stress free morning routine that everyone enjoys. We’ve done it. And mornings are so much more peaceful, calm and even fun in our house these days.
There’s no doubt about it, mornings can be an incredibly frustrating time for parents. And kids. I used to dread the morning school rush. Every morning was manic as we would try to get 3 kids ready for school and daycare….. dressed, fed, bags packed, homework done and out the door.
We were always up early and yet still managed to leave late?
Often rushing out the door in a mad fluster. Me nagging. Them crying and arguing. Barely able to say good bye to each other as I would drag them off to their classrooms. Late yet again, no make up or hair done and often leaving things behind that they needed for the day.
And I was always left feeling quite disheveled and extremely overwhelmed.
And so did the kids.
That’s not the way anyone should start the day.
I realised that I had to do something to organise the morning more effectively so that we didn’t have to deal with this chaos anymore.
The rush. The nagging. The stress. The overwhelm.
Sound familiar?
If this is you, I just want to tell you the answer is so easy.
I cannot believe how much I have changed the way our family functions in the morning. How easy and relaxed we are all now. And how organised everything is. We get in the flow from the moment we wake up. And I literally even found myself sitting out on the deck the other day by 8 a.m. drinking my coffee peacefully, kids dressed, fed, packed and ready to go! Half an hour before we even needed to leave.
And would you believe me if I told you that they do this all by themselves?
How? Well, I’ve created The Ultimate Morning Chore Chart system that is easy for them to follow, complete and track each task …..
ALL ON THEIR OWN.
Every morning.
And I just cant believe how effective it has been implementing it into our morning routine!
No more grumpy stressed out mummy.
No more nagging.
And seriously, it is so easy to do!
I’m not lying when I tell you that my kids now thrive in the mornings. They have a new sense of comfort and ease in the morning that they never used to experience and they actually delight in the responsibility that they enjoy taking on for getting themselves ready everyday without any help from me.
We’re not only organised and stress free in the mornings, we’ve freed up so much more time to get things done and can actually connect with each other before school starts. And the best part is that I send them off to school happy and ready for the school day.
Want to learn how to create a positive morning routine for your family?
The Ultimate Guide to smashing a Stress-Free Morning Routine with your kids!
The perfect morning routine actually starts the night before.
Mummy, this one is a little on you. And I know that once the kids are in bed you just want to sit down, relax, take a load off and throw on that latest netflix episode. But let me tell you, if you just take those few moments to organise the next day before you crash on the couch, it will make all the difference to your mornings.
If it helps, make a checklist for everything that needs to be done to help you the next morning. The idea here is to make sure everything is ready to go in the morning, so you’re not looking for little Mary’s left shoe as you’re running out the door and suddenly you’re late again.
Here are some of the things on my list that I like to check off the night before.
- Set out uniforms, or coordinate clothes for tomorrow (Your older kids can do this themselves)
- Prep lunches
- Fill in any permission slips, sign homework books etc
- Organise any extra-curricular activity bags, sports shoes etc
- Check the calendar for anything that might be on the next day- Mufti day, sports day etc
Get up earlier than your kids- Absolute Game Changer.
I don’t know about you but I don’t function until I have had coffee in the morning. And I just love my morning coffee WITHOUT the kids. It allows me to wake up and have some ME time before my little balls of energy get up and destroy the serenity. I also include meditation and reading in my morning routine so that I am calm and ready for when my kids get up. Even if you’re not a morning person, just give it a go and you will see what a difference it will make to how your morning goes. Even if you only give yourself 15 minutes of YOU time before your kids wake, you’ll notice the difference. And if you are really up for being super organised, get up early enough to be showered, dressed, and ready to go yourself so you can focus on spending the morning with your kids.
You may also like to read: How getting up at 5 a.m. cured my mummy burn out to find out the benefits of getting up early!
Allow some time for connection when your kids first get up.
When my kids do decide to arise, I always give them a few moments to connect with me and their siblings. I for one cannot get up and get straight into anything without giving myself some breathing space to wake up. I always snuggle my children, wish them a good morning and connect with them before we get our flow on. This means we start our day with calm and ease into the rest of the morning.
Make it Visual- The Ultimate Kids Chore Chart
Anything visually presented is key! I’ve created The Ultimate Kids Routine Chore Chart System that we use that you can DOWNLOAD HERE.
They are pretty, simple to use and are interactive in a way that once they have completed each task they get to move their tracker over to show they have completed it. Sometimes we have a lot of fun in the mornings racing each other to see who can complete all their tasks first.
And they love it. So much so that even my 3 year old begged me to make her one like her older siblings.
Make charts that are easy to use and customisable so you can change them!
Our charts are simple, easy to read and even have pictures on them for the little ones when they are first learning to use them. They take some small effort to put together but I’ve noticed that our kids love them because they are more fun for them to use and it gives them a sense of accomplishment.
And if you love organisation, then you will not only love putting these together but will love how this system gets the kids helping to tidy!
Create an organisation center for your family and make it FUN!
Create a corner that is beautiful and fun. But also where the kids know it’s business time. This is where the Ultimate Kids Chore Chart is stored in our house. Proudly, clearly and within kids reach. We have a board with all three of our kids chore charts, labelled clearly and easy for them to use. They know that this is where they go first thing and follow the chart until it is complete. This is also where they hang up their school bags tidily and keep book bags or any other item that they need to remember to take to school. Anything presented visually will help encourage them tenfold. Especially the little ones. So make sure your center is bright, organised and fun.
Put the training in to see the results.
We have trained our kids with military like precision to complete their tasks in the mornings. These chore charts are super simple to use but it will take some encouragement and training for your kids to learn to implement them into their daily routine. In the first few weeks of having our charts up we were there to support them through each chore and motivated each of them with encouragement and positive reinforcement.
Don’t underestimate how effective these chore charts are in the mornings once they have learnt to use them. But it does take a little bit of persistence and initial guidance to get them completing them on their own. But just as with anything, if you put the effort in at the beginning you will reap the rewards. And the rewards for us have been so worth it.
You may also like to read: The most effective rule to teaching your kids to be more independent.
Add more chores for more capable ages- without the whining
I don’t want to have to nag any of my kids to get ready in the morning. So even my 8 year old still has the general get ready kind of chores on her chart. But as my kids get older, we like them to contribute more to daily household chores. Don’t overwhelm your kids with too many things to do, especially in the mornings but it’s good to give them a couple of extra household chores to practice.
So how do we get them to do their chores without the whining?
At the beginning of every school term, we spread out the list of chore cards for my 2 older children to look through. We give them the opportunity to pick 2 extra chores in the morning to help mummy and they add these to their chore charts.
You can choose how many chores you think your kids should have and change their chart whenever you like. Just remember that giving them the choice for these extra things they need to do, gives them ownership.
We find it stops the whining because they have been given the option to choose the chores they want to help with themselves. And what do you know, no more emptying the compost or feeding the chickens for me anymore.
To reward or not, for chores?
It is up to you whether you decide to reward your children for doing their chores or not. Kids should definitely feel like they have some sort of responsibility to contribute to the household. But we have found our kids to be extrinsically motivated on this one.
This is how they earn their pocket money, half of which we put into a bank account and the other they can save for things that they really want. And every now and then if they complain about their chores, we simply say that it’s not compulsory but if they want to earn their pocket money then this is how it’s done.
We feel that chores don’t just give them a sense of contribution to the family but also allow them to see the benefits in working hard for the things they want and seeing the value in saving their money. They each have their own money boxes to collect their coins at the end of the week and we also have a savings rocket that they colour in every Friday so they can track their savings.
But again, this is completely up to you. Our kids actually love the way the chore charts work. They love knowing what to do in the mornings and enjoy moving each task over. If you want your kids to do their chores without reward that is up to you. If they whine then you need to encourage them to understand the value of contributing to your family.
Implement a few simple rules to make it work!
You will notice things that work for your kids and some that don’t. Due to considerable trial and error we know now that chores like getting dressed, making the bed and tidying their room, all need to be completed BEFORE the kids eat breakfast.
They are now in a habit of doing these first thing and will complete them pretty quickly in order to be able to sit down and eat breakfast. You too may need to trial different approaches and see what works for your family.
So are you ready to cut out that morning madness NOW and take control of the chaos?
I cannot emphasise enough to you how much this system has changed our mornings. I no longer wake up and dread the tumultuous chaos that we would endure from the moment we woke up until we got to the school gates. Our mornings are now actually peaceful, pleasant and often really fun.
I have so much more time to connect with each of them in the morning and we don’t look homeless or frazzled at the school gate anymore. We actually have time for a kiss and a ‘Have a good day’ before they head off to class, happily, calmly and ready to take on the day.
So it you are struggling in the mornings?
Or even the afternoons?
I have all the chore charts you will ever need to get your kids motivated to do them! Some are super easy to just stick up on the wall and go for it.
The interchangeable ones, take a little effort to cut out and laminate but they are more fun for the kids to use and easy to change to suit your family’s needs. A little effort is worth it and it will make your mornings better for all of you.
So, are you ready to smash your mornings and actually enjoy more time with your kids?
You can get started with this FREE Morning Chore Chart Printable you can download below!
Or get the whole system by clicking the picture below! And have better mornings with your family!
