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Feb
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Posted by singlemom
February 23, 2009 |
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Mornings can be a very hectic time for the single mother. There is no help in getting yourself and/or your children out the door. This can make mornings very stressful for your family, whether you work outside the home or not.
Creating a routine for you and your children can be very helpful in relieving the stress of your daily lives, so I am going to offer up some tips in this article for you to use to help your family feel less stress in the mornings, as well as throughout the day.
- Get things ready the night before. Lay out clothes, set the breakfast table, have back packs ready to go and lunches packed the night before. This can all be part of the after dinner or before bed routine, and will help to alleviate morning stress.
- Have a canvas bag hanging near the door for library books and movies. Whenever they are not being used, they are in the bag. This will make things easier on your family as well. You will never again be rushing around looking for these items just before heading out the door.
- Fill the dishpan with warm, sudsy water just before breakfast, and have each person wash and rinse their own dishes when they are done eating. This will only take a minute or two, and will save you a lot of time later on. You can also do this at lunch and dinner. If you have a dishwasher, then each person can rinse what they use and load them into the dishwasher.
- Be sure everyone knows that whoever takes food out to make breakfast or any other meal, also puts it away.
- You can also have each person wash their own places at the table each time they eat.
- Set up a bathroom schedule. Everyone gets to go to the bathroom when they wake up, but their grooming will take place at designated times. By doing this, everyone is sure to get their time in. If you keep a hamper in the bathroom, their pajamas can go straight into the hamper rather than on their bedroom floor.
- You will also want to hang hooks for each person in the bathroom so that they can hang wet towels and wash cloths. Let them know that it is not okay to throw wet things into the hamper.
- Placing a laundry basket or hamper in each bedroom is a big help. Instruct everyone to place their dirty clothes in whichever receptacle you choose each night as they are getting ready for bed.
- On Friday or Saturday evenings, you can place fresh sheets and blankets in each room and instruct everyone to change up the beds in the morning when they get up, instead of just making the bed. Let them know that they need to put all of the dirty bedding into their baskets or hampers. Then instruct them to bring their baskets or hampers to the laundry area.
- Beds can be made as soon as each person rises in the morning.
- Children can be taught from an early age to clean up after themselves before they leave their bedrooms, as well as before they go to bed.
- House rule: Do not leave anything that belongs in a bedroom lying around the house. If you do, it will be taken away and put into a box for two weeks. No exceptions.
- Make sure that each evening, all back packs, coats, shoes/boots, hats, mittens, scarves and ski pants are by the door. Hanging a rack there will help to keep everything neat. Make sure, at that time, everything has a match.
These tips should help you to get through your days fairly well. There are many other ways to organize your time, but each family is different. Try holding a family meeting to discuss these ideas, as well as to find other ways in which your family can be better organized.
Shannon
P.S. Does your family have a routine for keeping your time organized? If so, please let us know what works for you in the comments section. Thank you.
Other Articles of Interest:
The Life of A Single Mother: Busy, Busy, Busy
Daily Life for This Single Mom
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