5 Ways We Make Mornings Manageable

posted by Stacie on August 9, 2016 // Comments Off

For my family, school is here. It started yesterday and already things are incredibly crazy. Three kids who are all Scouts, play sports and have other activities mean that my husband and I spend a lot of time in the car. But that's ok because our kids get to do things they love. One of the things that I always feel I have to do to make mornings manageable is to stay organized from the start. There are a few ways to do that I have implemented this year and I have to say that I am extremely optimistic. The changes involves getting better organized in the house. These 5 Ways We Make Mornings Manageable helped us tremendously and I hope that they will help you too!

5 Ways We Make Mornings Manageable

Here is what we have done to make our mornings manageable:

Added a docking station for electronics. I make my mornings manageable by keeping electronics together in the kitchen to make certain nothing goes to school that shouldn't. Plus we use it the night before to store the electronics for the kids. We use something similar to this Personalized Wooden Docking Station by Cathys Concepts.We have three of these docking stations together on the kitchen counter. The kids have to put electronics here before they go to bed and can pick up things for a while in the morning until school. Everything has to be here before heading out to school. I unplug everything once they are fully charged.
Have everything ready to go out the door. Whether it is lunches, shoes, coats, backpacks, etc. keeping it all in one place is extremely important. For instance, we use this Isaacs Entryway Set by Birch Lane.From when they walk in the door to when they leave the house, everything is right there. You can organize your entire family and have a great looking entryway.
Gave them each a specific spot for their things. This Riley 5 Drawer Halifax Mobile Cabinet by Zipcode™ Design doubles as kids mailboxes (they LOVE this) and our art cart.Let me tell you how you can do this as well. We labeled the top 3 shelves; one for each kid. These are the mailboxes. The other three drawers store art supplies like glue, paper, scissors, extra pencils, crayons, markers and more. It's on wheels so it tucks quickly away into a closet when guests are over. Kids can quickly grab supplies on their way to school.
Lunchbox storage system. My kids pack their lunches several days a week. In order to do this each morning, they have to be able to find the supplies they need. Our lunchbox cabinet was a mess until we added the Perforated Corner Kitchen Cabinet Organizer Rack by Seville Classics. Now all of the plasticware and lids are together in one place.The lunchbags are right by each other and everything is much easier to see and find.For a more permanent solution, consider the 2 Tier Wire Basket Cabinet Organizer Rack by Rev-A-Shelfwhich I love and want to add to our cabinets. By the way, looking for something to put your child's lunch in? This Bento Lunch Box by Imperial Home is roomy and is perfect for lunches.
Implemented a family wall. We also have a family wall in our kitchen that has a chalk board, corkboards and other storage spots plus a large wall calendar like this Monthly Desk Pad Calendar by HOUSE OF DOOLITTLE. Each kid is responsible for writing down their activities and school assignments on this calendar throughout the year.This large calendar is the last thing we see when we walk out the door and the first thing we see when we get home. It hard to miss things.We check the calendar each mornings so the kids can grab things like shoes for sports, water bottles and extra snacks. Add this Dry-Erase Magnetic Whiteboard right under the calendar and you can all easily stay organized and on top of events.