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Here are some tips to make things a lot easier…on everyone:

• Wake up before everyone else in the house. This will give you time to get a head of yourself. Have a coffee, shower and eat your breakfast in peace. Relaxing will help you get ready for the morning rush.

• Put a kitchen timer in the bathroom to limit the amount of bathroom time each family member gets. (The limit is usually 15 minutes per person.)

• Sometimes a chart can help move things along. Make a chart with all the tasks your child has to complete each morning. Make sure you set it up in sequence like brush teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast, etc. Let your child check off each task right after he has done it.

• Pack all lunches, the night before and put them in the fridge so they are made and ready to go.

• Make the rule (and make sure you enforce it) where there is no television before school. If the kids don’t have this distraction it will be easier for them to focus on getting ready.

• Pick a spot in your house (it might be by the door) where everything you need to leave is. This includes the backpacks, coats, hats and footwear so then everyone knows where to find all their stuff.

• If you hang a couple of hooks by the door everyone can hang their keys there right away. Cutting down on search time in the morning saves a lot of time.

• Make sure you put gas in your car on the way home from work instead of on your way to work. You usually have more time on your way home from work then on your way to work. This way you won’t get upset if you have to wait that extra minute in line at the gas station.

• Backpacks all seem to look alike. Get your child’s backpack to stand out from all the others in your house and at school/daycare by attaching a picture key chain with your child’s picture in it. Put it on the backpack and that way you’ll never mix up whose bag is whose.

• Keep a change jar handy in the kitchen so if anyone needs money for lunch or a bus they can grab it on the way out.

• Next time you are a fast food restaurant get some extra condiment packages and keep them near the fridge. When someone in the family is making their sandwiches they can pack the condiment packages in their lunch to add to their sandwich later.