With a full house of six kids, getting ready for school each morning often presented more challenges for me than I was ready to handle before the sun came up. I’m not a morning person so I struggled just to be alert and patient with hundreds of questions and complaints filling the air. Even moms with half the kids I had feel like track athletes bounding out of bed and racing to stay ahead of the demands and needs nipping at our heels every morning.
One of my practical solutions was letting my kids all make their own lunches while I worked on breakfast. Starting in second grade they selected a bag of chips, a drink box, another item and then made a sandwich. Yes the p,b&j sandwiches needed some adult help but the youngest ones felt all grown up making a lunch like their older siblings.
But my oldest daughter who has five boys in school has take it a step farther and made the process even better. Each of her boys has a cardboard box or a plastic container with their name on it (let them decorate their containers for more personalization). On Sunday afternoon or evening, the boys get their boxes and begin filling it with five of each non perishable item for the entire week: 5 bottles of water, 5 granola bars, or bags of chips or pouches of applesauce or whatever she has purchased in bulk for their lunches. (She is still in control ultimately because she buys!) Make a check list if you want so your sweet tooth kid doesn’t pick only deserts, if you buy them at all. Then on each school morning all that’s left is making a sandwich and getting it in the lunch sack or box and into the backpack. I thought it was a genius idea.
Some of mine would have regretted their Sunday choices and would have wanted to swap. You as the parent can allow last minute changes or let your children live with their choices. Decide ahead. Be in charge. It will help you anticipate the maneuvering and complaining that is sure to come. In the end, helping kids prepare ahead like this doesn’t solve every early morning dilemma, but it does help.
Moms need all the help they can get, right?
It is great to be reminded that the flurry of questions and to-do’s that hit moms from the moment they wake is a normal part of this season. It won’t last forever, and I don’t want to lose my temper or my mind during this time which is actually quite precious and fleeting. Thanks for the practical solution as well as the reminder to have a plan, make decisions, be in charge, and build responsibility. Barbara, you are a blessing to me!