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Every morning that I need to get my daughters out of the house seems to turn into what I call Morning Madness. A friend of mine posts on her blog about this topic all of the time and I always laugh out loud as I can relate. Why is it so difficult to get children out of the house?

When our children are infants getting out of the house takes an extra 15-30 minutes, easily, because of all the stuff you have to pack, such as preparing for a dirty diaper, bottles/nursing blankets, change of clothes, etc. When my girls were babies I as always at least 15 minutes late to each destination because it always took me longer to get ready than I anticipated.

Before my daughters were able to dress themselves I was better at planning for outside excursions. I would start the process of getting them ready and most times managed to arrive on time. Then when they started going potty on their own and putting on their own shoes, it all went mad again.

My girls go to daycare three days per week. On these days mornings are the most hectic and stressful. What I’ve noticed is that my daughters have learned how to procrastinate. And they are good at it. I’ll say, “OK, it’s time to get our shoes on a brush our teeth” and after five minutes I’ve repeated myself at least 10 times. A few weeks of this and I was loosing my mind. So, now when I say, “OK, it’s time to get our shoes on…” they usually have their shoes on and teeth brushed within five minutes. How did I do it? I’m not really quite sure, but I did change the tone of my voice to be more stern and I stand near them while they get ready. Sometimes I start counting 1-2-3 and usually action is being taken by the time I get to 2.

Yet, I notice they are slow to get ready even on days when we are going to go somewhere fun. Although, it is much easier to get them motivated to get out the door for these excursions. Maybe it’s the excitement in my voice that encourages them to put their shoes on, go potty, and brush their teeth. However, we are always slowed down by the “I want to bring [insert favorite toy of the day here].” Even if I am in a hurry, I pause and let them go grab their favorite toy. I’ve found, by experience, It’s much better to have a happy child in the car than one screaming for a toy all the way to your destination.

One day I decided that I needed to change my mind about Morning Madness and accept that getting to kids out the door would continue to be hectic. Since then it hasn’t been too bad. Was it them or was it me? If you believe in the power of our thoughts, it had to be my mindset about mornings. I still have those days when I think I am going to pull my hair out, but they are much fewer than I was having just a few months ago. I’m much happier and it seems so are they.

Sometimes it the littlest of things that drive us crazy! Is there something that you need to change your mind about?

by Kelly Damron

Photo graciously provided by .robbie, through a Creative Commons license, some rights reserved