Kids are 3 and 7 (girls)
Wake up at 6:30 (they wake up on their own)
Dress and play (i take a shower)
7:00 - cartoons (i make lunches and breakfast then)
7:30- breakfast
8:00 - language school HW for oldest and drawing for youngest
8:15 - brush teeth
8:20- shoes and coats and leave for bus stop

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake up
Groom and dress
Breakfast
Affirmations and yoga
Instrument
Language
Math and reading
Walk to School

The whole toutine takes 1.5 hours including going to school. This is for a 7 year old only child. Bath, pack lunch and book bag happens the night before

What kind of instrument and how early is school? Since you say school is a 10 minute walk away you obviously don't live on acreage with no close neighbors. I'd be pretty upset if my neighbor kid was practicing a trumpet (or any instrument really) before 8:30 am.

School is at 9, I guess we practice around 8 or 830. It's acoustic guitar. We are a SFH, and no one has said anything and it's been going on 2 years. We're friends with our neighbors so would hope they'd feel comfortable bringing up any issues.

Anonymous wrote:Wake up
Groom and dress
Breakfast
Affirmations and yoga
Instrument
Language
Math and reading
Walk to School

The whole toutine takes 1.5 hours including going to school. This is for a 7 year old only child. Bath, pack lunch and book bag happens the night before

What kind of instrument and how early is school? Since you say school is a 10 minute walk away you obviously don't live on acreage with no close neighbors. I'd be pretty upset if my neighbor kid was practicing a trumpet (or any instrument really) before 8:30 am.

You will get a bigger buy-in from your family if you sit them at the table with a fun snack and then say you have a family problem about the morning routine. Then go around the table and let every member of the family say how they experience mornings. You model by saying what you notice and how you feel. Write it down. Then ask the next person to say what they notice and how they feel. Just the facts, no blaming. Then tell them they ate smart kids and ask for suggestions to make everyone leave in a good mood. Identify helpful and not helpful behavior. Then write down a plan and have everyone sign it. Revisit in a week. Have a family reward outing if the team shows marked improvement.

It’s all about prepping the night before. If you have kids that resist getting up, then set an alarm for them earlier, so they have more time in the morning. I couldn’t deal with getting up and running out the door in thirty minutes every day. I need would be majorly cranky. They need more AM time. Send them to bed earlier so they can wake up earlier.

Have predetermined consequences for failure to comply with directions in the morning, once you have clearly spelled out what needs to be done. Have a family meeting, write down the steps, and post in each kid’s room. Stay near their rooms if they are young to prompt them. You get ready before they get up.

I’m a teacher, and the kids that roll in with a granola bar in hand are not well-fed enough to focus on school all morning, especially if we have a late lunch. Then they bring a bag of chips for morning snack, or eat their whole packed lunch for snack, and are starving in afternoon classes.

I would absolutely have a star chart for morning success and reward with a weekend treat for compliance. You must praise and reinforce the behavior you want to see, after clearly explaining it and having consequences for noncompliance.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake up
Groom and dress
Breakfast
Affirmations and yoga
Instrument
Language
Math and reading
Walk to School

The whole toutine takes 1.5 hours including going to school. This is for a 7 year old only child. Bath, pack lunch and book bag happens the night before

Is this a real answer?

Yes this is a real answer, not a joke. OP specifically asked for things that help kids feel motivated and happy in the morning. Gentle movement and positivity is a great way to start the morning.

DH gets breakfast ready while I help the kid wake up and get ready to come down. And we only do 10 minutes of each activity. School is a 10 minute walk and being outside is important.

If they bring lunch to school, pack lunch, snack, and their water bottles the night before so you’re not scrambling.

If you have a little kid who’s resistant to getting dressed, they can sleep in clothes. Little kid clothes are really not that different from pajamas unless they wear a school uniform. But for your average public school or day care kid, they can totally sleep in their leggings or athletic pants and shirt and then go to school.

Water bottles, lunch, shoes all ready to go. Same with clothes.

Breakfast in the car.

Mine are a bit older now but what worked for us in ES was 1. I got up about 20 min before the kids to dress and relax for a bit with my coffee. 2. Wake the kids and then each had a set of morning cards that showed them what they had to do -- eat, dress, brush teeth, brush hair, feed pet, make bed. They both have ADHD and the card system really cut down on me needing to tell them what to do. It wasn't perfect but a big improvement. Also, absolutely no screens on in the a.m.

Also, lunches and backpacks prepped the night before.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wake up
Groom and dress
Breakfast
Affirmations and yoga
Instrument
Language
Math and reading
Walk to School

The whole toutine takes 1.5 hours including going to school. This is for a 7 year old only child. Bath, pack lunch and book bag happens the night before

Is this a real answer? Ours is currently-
Alarms go off, I'm the only one who actually gets up
Arguing over the necessity of school/waking up ensues
Everyone gets dressed while moaning loudly about whyyyy
I yell that we're leaving in 15 minutes and if you're not ready, you're losing screen time
15 minutes pass and I just hope everyone has brushed their teeth
We get in the car hoping everyone has shoes and I toss a granola bar at each person
from the box I keep in the car

Also hoping for a better routine for 2023...

Sounds about right over here. I'm going to assume the pp was joking.

Specifically, I wake up at 6:30 and waste time on my phone until close to 7. Then I get up, get lunches in backpacks and make oatmeal. Sometimes I've prepped the oatmeal the night before and just need to heat it. Often I'm lazy and then regret it in the morning when I have to do more than set the microwave. I shower and get the kids up by 7:30 if they're not up yet. I set them up for failure by expecting them to both eat and get dressed "first". Need to fix that. Usually they eat in PJs, I try to hurry them along and get dressed, and if they have a moment to spare that get involved with a toy or book and then I'm yelling to get shoes and coats etc on. Winter especially is so hard. We're out the door by 8:20 and walking to school for 8:30 drop off.

Anonymous wrote:Wake up
Groom and dress
Breakfast
Affirmations and yoga
Instrument
Language
Math and reading
Walk to School

The whole toutine takes 1.5 hours including going to school. This is for a 7 year old only child. Bath, pack lunch and book bag happens the night before

Is this a real answer? Ours is currently-
Alarms go off, I'm the only one who actually gets up
Arguing over the necessity of school/waking up ensues
Everyone gets dressed while moaning loudly about whyyyy
I yell that we're leaving in 15 minutes and if you're not ready, you're losing screen time
15 minutes pass and I just hope everyone has brushed their teeth
We get in the car hoping everyone has shoes and I toss a granola bar at each person
from the box I keep in the car

Also hoping for a better routine for 2023...

Clothes, including socks, shoes and masks laid out the night before. Only quick breakfasts during the week. Kids wake to alarms, although one needs checking in on. Not sure what else to say. Kids wake up at 7 and leave at 730. 11 and 8.

Wake up
Groom and dress
Breakfast
Affirmations and yoga
Instrument
Language
Math and reading
Walk to School

The whole toutine takes 1.5 hours including going to school. This is for a 7 year old only child. Bath, pack lunch and book bag happens the night before

One kid age 7, and he's an early riser but easily distracted. He wakes on his own around 630. He lays his clothes out the night before and puts them on when he wakes. DH makes breakfast (oatmeal, waffles, toast or something similar that takes some preparation but not much). I shower and get dressed. We pack his school bag and lunch the night prior. He brushes his teeth and goes pee and puts on socks and shoes after breakfast and then we load in the car and leave at 730.

Every family is different but streamlining and doing as much as possible the evening before and having clear expectations about what happens next are key.

I'm working on creating some morning routines for 2023.

If you have kids and take them to school, I feel like there are only so many ways to slice and dice this.

I really want a great morning routine!

Can anyone help me out here as to what works for them to feel motivated and happy each day?