Preparing kids for school in the morning, no matter how young, can be a hectic occurrence. Many children struggle the most while trying to get out of bed, which can lead to temper tantrums, having a hard time eating breakfast, and an uncooperative morning in general. For parents who wish to change this trend, it is important to create rules that can be followed by children and adults alike in order to be more effective. This could mean bedtimes the night before, certain types of breakfast, or any other incentive to make morning less of a nightmare.
Make Mornings Fun
Every child is different when it comes to their personality and temperament. As a parent, it is your responsibility to make mornings fun no matter what kind of personality they have. While some might make your job easy by waking up well and happily, there are many children who wake up in the morning with no desire to do much of anything.
Creating a healthy breakfast from scratch, rather than relying on some pop-tarts or cereal, can be a fun way to start their day. You can work together to create some healthy scrambled eggs or pancakes. Whatever you decide to make, incorporate some time with your children to include them in the process and get their mind working in the early morning hours. Most children have a far better time preparing themselves for the day ahead when they are able to use their brain and complete a set task. Cooking is a fun task they can do in order to quicken the process and prevent them from spending too long in bed.
Incentivize Good Behavior
Make sure your child knows what they stand to gain or lose by acting poorly in the morning. When you clearly define this, they will know that they should be getting out of bed and putting their clothes on to get ready for school. They will also be diligent about eating breakfast on time and many other early morning tasks, but you must make sure you are incentivizing everything in the morning. Sometimes this could just mean cajoling them to do the right thing no matter what.
There are many ways to incentivize good behavior for your children, but one is to hold dessert later at night hostage to the morning’s behavior. Sometimes keeping them from certain things unless they behave well is a good way of rewarding them and keeping them in line with what you want.
As a parent, it is your responsibility to get your children ready for school as best as you can. Although it can sometimes be difficult with unruly kids, there are a few tricks you can use to make things better. First, make sure you spend enough time making the morning fun. Then, make sure you put time into incentivizing the behavior they exhibit in the mornings. If you can do these things, your children will be preparing for school in a much more efficient way and you can avoid the nightmare.