12 Ways To Make Mornings Great For Your Child

You're dropping your kids off at school and watching as they walk in to a place where nobody knows how amazing they really are...and you won't be there to tell everyone. Here are 12 easy ways to get them ready to walk into that school with confidence and a smile.

1. Wake them up with a smile. It's not easy, but make sure you are waking them up early enough that they can get started without yelling and cajoling. I sing "Good Morning Merry Sunshine" just like my mom did. Then I yell out, "Rise and shine my little muffins", like my dad always did. I've turned into my parents (but that's another post). My husband plays the Overture to 1812. Whatever helps them smile a little as they wake up.
2. Make breakfast great. Cold cereal is easy, and I use it a lot. But I try to pair cold cereal with fresh fruit, or toast. I've been buying frozen breakfast items, but I found a recipe for freezable french toast that I'm going to use to change things up and save my grocery budget.
3. Have things ready to go. The night before the kids get all of their stuff ready. Bal figured out a way to make it silly, by arranging his clothes, socks and shoes so that it looks like a flat person. It's the little things in life for my kids.
4. Have soothing background music. On days when things are hectic, and I can feel the tension of the spelling test in the air, I put on some calming classical music to help diffuse the atmosphere. My fave is Copland, but Debussy is great too.
   
5. Hide a note for them. My favorite places include the bathroom mirror, the lunch box, clothing or coat pockets, around their toothbrush or hairbrush, on the windshield of the van, or on the front door. Sometimes I include coupons for fun things to do after school. Wii time is always a hit, since I don't allow it very often during the week.
   
6. Include something special in their lunch. If I put a few strawberries in my kids' lunches, they are thrilled. We love strawberries, and Kool-aid Jammers. Either one will work.
7. Give small gifts. For my daughter, sometimes I'll include a new barrette or scrunchie next to her hairbrush. It's an inexpensive surprise to occasionally include, and it makes her feel great to have something new to wear. I've also done stickers, Frisbees, notepads, and pencils. I love that I can hand the kids .25 on their way out the car door and know that they get to use the amazingly popular pencil machine in the school. (Seriously, I think that is its name.)
   
8. Smile. So getting ready in the mornings isn't always fun. I usually have to wake up before my kids so that I can get my attitude adjusted before I try to adjust theirs. Smiling goes a long way to helping them get a great start. And if you can smile when your first grader has misplaced their backpack for the seventh straight day...you've proven your status as Supermom.
9. Pray together. If you believe in the power of prayer, take time to pray together each morning as a family. There is such strength in kneeling together with your children and thanking your Father in heaven for your blessing and asking him to bless you with the things that you need. That strength is something you and your children will need to navigate their way in the world for the day.
10. Sing. We have a song that we sing as we're pulling out of the driveway every day for school. It's Great Day by Paul McCartney, but we changed up the lyrics a little bit. Each person gets a chance to come up with a rhyming verse. In between the verses we all sing "It's gonna be a great day, yeah." Our verses are silly, "When you see a giraffe, ask for it's autograph. It's gonna be a great day, yeah." But it leaves us all with a smile at drop-off time.
11. Kiss, hug, or shake hands. A quick peck on the cheek or a squeeze of the hand is a gift to your child. My kids have "secret handshakes" that they created with their dad. They are fairly elaborate. Boose's even includes a twirl and a dip. Bal and I created a code where we can say how much we love each other by squeezing the other's hands. Three quick consecutive squeezes means "I love you." Eight squeezes is "I love you more than you love me." Twelve squeezes is "I love you infinity times infinity."
    
12. Say the words. I love you. It's simple to say. But I always say it. I want them to know. It's a tiny seed that I plant each day in their hearts. I want them to know when everything else goes wrong, when nothing seems right, that I love them. I know that it helps, because their answering "Love you too, Mommy" lifts me up all day long, too.

So, your turn. How do you make the morning routine a happy positive one for your kids? Tips to share? I can't wait to hear your wisdom.

***I'm back from my bloggy vacation, and I missed you guys terribly. I'll be crafting a post, spilling the secrets of the universe I learned while on vacation, and I did pick up a couple of souvenirs for you guys. Mostly, I'm just happy to be back and eager to catch up.