Don’t YELL at the Kids before school.

In our simplicity parenting book club we were talking about having simple routines to make mornings easier.  It is hard to not feel frantic trying to get kids out the door to school.

I told them I have a simple goal


photo credit: achichi

“Don’t yell at the kids before school.”

Apparently I am totally fine yelling at them after school.

Somehow I feel if I can send them off to school with a calm loving demeanor, it can really help set the tone for the day.  I also find if I can do this, the rest of the day once they get home goes better too!

One of the keys to not yelling is to have everyone get up 10 minutes earlier then you are right now.  10 minutes is huge.

I also have different systems for each boy to help them know what they need to do in the morning.

  • Thing 3 uses Accountable Kids
  • Thing 2 I have written out what his tasks are in the morning on a notecard and he likes to reference that.
  • Thing 1 needs one word verbal prompts scattered throughout the morning.  Teeth, Shoes, Lunch, Trumpet.  He wanders around between things and I say the next item.  Shoes and he wanders over and gets them on.

But I think I have only yelled once so far this school year.  When I got up late and had to take a shower.  So I ran up to take one while they were eating breakfast, thinking they would continue to get ready.  Note to self: Do not do THAT again!

Pin It

Switch to our mobile site
{"cc_re__cc_re__cc_by_2_0": ["ke mornings easier.\u00a0 It is hard to not feel frantic trying to get kids out the door to school.</p>\n<p><strong>I told them I have a simple goal</strong></p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/19906991@N00/5035751350/\" onclick=\"__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article', 'http://www.flickr.com/photos/19906991@N00/5035751350/', '');\" title=\"mano\"  target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/5035751350_a11d7f37dc_m.jpg\" border=\"0\" alt=\"mano\" /></a><br />\n<small><a href=\"http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/\" onclick=\"__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article', 'http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/', '');\" title=\"Attribution License\"  target=\"_blank\"><img src=\"http://enjoybirth.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/photo-dropper/images/cc.png\" border=\"0\" alt=\"Creative Commons License\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" align=\"absmiddle\" /></a> <a href=\"http://www.photodropper.com/photos/\" onclick=\"__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article', 'http://www.photodropper.com/photos/', 'photo');\"  target=\"_blank\">photo</a> credit: <a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/19906991@N00/5035751350/\" onclick=\"__gaTracker('send', 'event', 'outbound-article', 'http://www.fl"], "copyright__copyright__copyright": ["e that.\n  \u2022 Thing 1 needs one word verbal prompts scattered throughout the morning.\u00a0 Teeth, Shoes, Lunch, Trumpet.\u00a0 He wanders around between things and I say the next item.\u00a0 Shoes and he wanders over and gets them on.\n\nBut I think I have only yelled once so far this school year.\u00a0 When I got up late and had to take a shower.\u00a0 So I ran up to take one while they were eating breakfast, thinking they would continue to get ready.\u00a0 Note to self: Do not do THAT again!\n\nPin It\n\nSwitch to our mobile site"]}