Getting out the house fast with twins or even just one little one is no easy feat. But with a little forethought and practise you can be from bed to door in under an hour.
Remember those morning when you could snooze a little later and know you could just rush a bit to still get to work on time. Those days seem long gone. I’ve learnt the hard way that even a little bit of laid back attitude suddenly finds you scrambling to get out the door and feeling stressed and flustered.
Over the last year or so I’ve developed a number of strategies to get us all ready for the day and on our way without the last minute dash.
Step 1: Get Prepared
Often I’ll pull out the girls outfits as they are choosing a bedtime book and take them down stairs for the next day. For me, I know the last thing I want to do before bed is start thinking about what to wear the next day. But trust me, future you is going to thank you for it. Check your weather app and get everyone’s clothes out ready.
Step 2: Gro Clock Wake Up
We love our Gro Clock. You can check out our bedtime routine to see how we use it there too. In the morning, it is set for 7:20 and although I may hear the girls chatting before this, they know not to come out of their room until the sunshine appears. Most mornings they come straight into our room but sometimes they’ll venture downstairs. Either way I am out of bed at 7:30.
7:30
Hit that timer….One Hour to get out the House
Step 3: Get Dressed
I give myself 5 minutes to throw on my clothes and get myself to the kitchen
7:35
Step 4: Breakfast
The kettle goes on and toast goes in. I give myself the the 1-2 minutes this takes to clear the draining board of last nights pots. (Lots of you will have a dishwasher…we strangely don’t like using ours so now would be the time to empty that.) I know it sounds silly but its like a little challenge and gets it done fast.
7:40
I aim to get us sat down at the table by now and eating. Between slow eating and mini meltdowns, I like to allow about 20 minutes. Today it was over the fact I’d buttered the toast but you know the score. Maybe you tried to help put the wrong sock on first. Who knows but I do know that I’m likely to face at least one most mornings.
8:00
Step 5: Lay out Clothes /Get Kids Dressed/Clear up Breakfast
I’ve started to get the girls to try and dress themselves while I clear up from breakfast. Some days this is more successful than others. On lazier mornings, I show them different ways to put on different pieces but when we’re against the clock I’ll give them a few minutes to try then step into help finish off.
I know another strategy is to not allow children downstairs until they are dressed but I’d fear we’d end up with fresh clothes covered in breakfast before the day is even properly started.
8:10
Step 6: Finish Getting Ready
I give myself ten minutes to finish getting ready and brush my teeth etc. Usually Daddy is still around and so can sometimes help checking the girls are sorted.
8:20
Step 7: Hair/Shoes/Toilet Stop
When I come back down, I know we only have ten minuted to go and I can see the finish line. I will sort one girl’s hair while the other goes to the toilet and puts shoes on. Having all their hair accessories in one place helps to speed this up.
They then swap.
Preschool taught them a fab way to put coats on themselves by lying them on the floor and flipping them over their head. There is just time to throw on my own coat and boots and out the door we go.
Made It
These types of morning are regimented and not the most relaxing but because we all know what is happening most arguments are avoided. Where I can, I offer choices to help the girls feel like they have some control. They pick their bowl colour, their cereal and their hair style.
How long does it take you to get out the house in the morning?
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The article was written in collaboration with gifts from Very.com