The Single Parents Guide to The Morning Battle
Running on four to six hours of sleep after a grueling day of work, housework, meals, laundry, homework, karate, and bedtime stories, (if you make it that far!). The time of day that seems to be the most difficult, for me anyway, is the morning regimen. How your morning goes sets the tone for the whole day. A bad morning can make for a bad day at work. A day of guilt and stress. These morning also effect your childs attitude at school, and their apptitude for learning. Making as many mornings as stress free as possible makes for a happier you and a happier mini you. Focusing on organizing for a smooth morning is a priority for me. I find that starting off well helps the rest of the day just sort of fall into place. Even if it doesn’t, a calm morning helps you to prepare for anything thrown your way!
The first and foremost important thing is to make sure your child gets enough sleep. I wish I could tell you to do the same, and if you can get eight to ten hours in, go for it! I have found that no matter how I plan my day I just cannot seem to be able to squeeze that in, so having well rested children make them easier to deal with in my forever exhausted state! Children need at least eight hours a night. I have found ten hours is ideal. They are in better moods, are ready to take in information, and are easier to wake in the morning. They need sleep for their health. Putting them to bed on time also gives you much needed time to yourself. Lets face it, that much needed time is usually spent doing laundry, cleaning up after dinner, picking up the house, or paying bills, but it is your time with no interruptions! Getting your children to bed on time is the most important thing you can do to help organize for the next day.
School lunches are a drag! If you have more than one child, and can afford it, or if you qualify for reduced lunches, LET THE SCHOOL FEED THEM! I have four children, and have found it is actually cheaper, and easier for them to eat hot lunch. I do, however, qualify for reduced lunches. If you have to pay full price, this is not the case. Financial requirements are quite generous for this program and you really should look into it. I didn’t think I would qualify, but it turns out I did. This really cut back on time spent preparing for school. I am also saving quite a lot of money. If you decide to pack lunches buy pre portioned packages. Juice boxes, lunch size bags of chips, individually wrapped snacks, and single fruits. Another money saving idea is to buy bulk chips and snacks and at the beginning of each week, portion them out in ziplock baggies ahead of time. Then all you have to do is pop them in the lunch box. If your children are old enough, set aside ten minute each night and have them prepare their own lunches. The smallest child can manage a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Another great trick is to freeze juice packets, take them out the night before and place them in the refrigerator. This not only ensures you child gets a cold drink, but when placed in a sandwich bag and put next to a sandwich, keeps the sandwich cold. This is important, especially if there is meat or mayo on the sandwich. A fun thing to do is to pop a note into your childs lunch once in a while. A funny note or joke or to just tell them you love them. After lunches are made, line them up in the fridge for the next day. Don’t forget to put their names on them if your brown bagging it.
Clothes are a huge issue for me. Two of my boys are very close in age, so as far as socks go I buy large packages of black socks. They share. When I buy sports socks for them, they are either gray, or have gray soles. This keeps them looking new longer. I buy packages of same socks for my little girl. This way I can always find a match! I keep her special fancy socks in a drawer of their own and wash them in a mesh lingerie bag to keep the dryer from eating them. Every Saturday or Sunday, put together five outfits for the week to come. If you have children who want to choose their own outfits, let them put the outfits together. make sure they each have five, then put them away in a designated spot. Coats are a big problem at my house. I usually never go out and buy them expensive winter coats. I go to the good will or garage sales and find gentley worn coats or often new coats with tags still on them! Ebay is also great for this. I buy each of them three to five coats. It usually never costs me more than twenty bucks per kid! This way, when they lose a coat there is always a back up at home and I am not out sixtyy bucks for a lost coat! I do the same for gloves, hats, and scarves. I do a load of laundry every night, so when the time comes to prepare clothes for the week they are all clean. I’m not saying they are folded and put away, but they are clean! A great way to buy clothes without breaking the bank is to sell items on Ebay and have the money put into a pay pal account. I have lots of things around the house that I no longer need or use. I sell them on Ebay, the money goes straight into my pay pal acccount, and then when I buy clothing or whatever I may need, the money comes straight out of my pay pal account. Basically I am trading items I no longer need for itemsI do need, and I am not touching my checking or savings account! It’s perfection!
One thing that can drive a parent over the edge are too many extra carricular activities! One sport or lesson per kid is more than enough. Anything more can become stressful and over loading to a child, much less a parent. This may not be true for non working parents, or for parents with more enerygy than their kids, but I believe I speak for the majority. If your child plays seasonal sports, one sport per season. If your child takes year round lessons for something they love that may be enough for them. If they choose to play a sport also, maybe you can put the lessons on hold until the sports season is over, or cut back on the lessons. At any rate, find what your child loves to do and let them concentrate on being the best that they can be in that particular area. I am very lucky. My teenage son lives for football. He plays football once a year and spends the rest of the year lifting and getting ready for next season. All three of my little ones, including my little girl, love karate. They are all in the same age group and attent the same class. Whats more, a lot of organizations give price breaks on lessons with multiple kids. Our local karate class requires two paying students for a family membership. I pay for my two boys, and the rest of the family are automatic members and are not charged for lessons! Great deal! Extra interests are very important, but it’s also important that a child learns to give their best in everything they do, and focusing on one thing at a time can make this enjoyable for you and for them.
I realize I got off track a bit on the last paragraph, but I believe the less you have to worry about what the day is going to consist of, the more you can concentrate on starting off well. Starting off well brings me to breakfast. Always remember, choose your battles. Having multiple children, wanting multiple breakfasts is enough to send a parent packing to the nearest Mickey D’s! While this is easy, it is also expensive, and over a long term, not healthy. Talk with your children. Find out what they will eat. Give them easy quick choices. Two of mine like cold ceareal and toast.One likes quick oats and toast. One likes nothing but school breakfast. I fought many battles with that kid. Most of the time he went to school with nothing in his belly. He would not eat anything I put in front of him. Finally I marched him into the cafeteria one morning and we had a talk with the lunch lady. He tried school breakfast, and decided thats what it would take for him to start the morning off with a full belly. He won that batlle. Thats ok with me, because I know he is starting off the day with something to fuel his brain. My kids are all responsible for picking up their breakfast plates and putting them in the dishwasher. While they are eating I get ready for work.
Before I leave the bathroom after preparing for work, I lay out the toothbrushes with toothpaste applied. I lay out the comb and dry towels. After I leave they know it’s their turn. I usually have to remind them but they know what to do and everything is ready. They are responsible for rinsing out their toothbrushes and wiping down the counter when they are done. They comb their hair, (usually with a little help from me), choose the outfit for the day, put their lunches in their backpack, put on their shoes and coats and wait by the door and we are off! I never goes that smoothly, but with all the details planned and prepared it sure seems perfect to me! Three out of five days go off without a hitch! Them ain’t bad odds when you think about all that can go wrong. Last but not least, lots of hugs and kisses good bye, some cheerful joking around and laughing top off a good morning and send you both off into the day with positive thoughts and energy.
