Mum Hacks

[bowiesmum]

I did search for this and couldn't find anything but tell me if there's a thread already.

Have three kids (8,13,14), work shift work mainly nights. I have had such a stressful week with the kids in the mornings. They are tired after Easter break but won't get out of bed. I feel we need a shift but also I need to be more organised.

I used to be much better but have fallen out of it and feel I'm wasting lots of time in morning when I could be more prepared.

My hack is frozen sandwiches (used to do this and will start again) freeze a load of ham sandwiches in advance.

Please give me tips to make out mornings run smoother with no shouting!

Do what you can the night before.
Everyone is responsible for their own lunch here... it takes less than 5 minutes.

I presume a big part of your problem however is motivating reluctant teenagers?

Since my DC were 9 or 10, they make their own lunch. I check lunchboxes to make sure they're suitable but certainly makes my life easier and gives them a bit of responsibility for themselves.

Cereal tea??? 🙈

I wash all the uniforms Friday night and on Sunday put all the uniforms and that weeks underwear / socks / PE and swimming together in the same place.

At 13 and 14 let school sanctions for lateness play out maybe?

Do what you can the night before. I used to sort packed lunches whilst cooking dinner.
We eat certain meals on certain nights, takes the pressure off thinking about it. We always have something easy with chips on a Wednesday.
I used to always finish earlier on a Friday and do as much cleaning/tidying when I came in. It’s easier in the summer as you can open doors windows and run Hoover round and wash floors easily. Also put a wash on then.

Our mornings have been transformed since we told Ds that if he wasn't ready, bad packed, dressed and at the door at 8:30 ready to walk to school (he's in secondary, it's a 5 minute walk from our house), I would dock his pocket money. £1 for every day he's not ready.

Thanks, yeah defo need to be more prepared the night before.

The school don't sanction them for being late, I wish they would.

Will defo set up some sort of incentive like that deducting a euro out of pocket money.

Because I work at night, I spend a lot of the day preparing meals from scratch, I always batch cooked when I worked day shifts so will get back into that as it's taking so much of my time especially the cleaning after each meal

If you can afford it, have enough school uniform (or clothes - sounds like you're in Europe?) so that you don't have to worry about finding clean and can simply do a huge load of just school stuff on a Saturday.

But mostly, you need to find ways to incentivise your DC to actually get up and get dressed. DC and I sometimes sit down and talk about how I don't like shouting and they don't like me shouting at them so I promise to try harder and the do too. Doesn't last, but it's a start! :)

Also, this one irritates me intensely but it is annoyingly effective.... Dh or I quite often make the DC's breakfasts and even give it to them in bed if it's cereal. Forces them up and moving. Drives me mad and I'm probably creating a rod for my own back and all that, but it does keep things going. DS usually gets just coffee then gets dressed and comes down. Sometimes to breakfast I've made him, sometimes he makes it himself. DH has cereal in bed most days and then gets up. If I make pancakes (banana pancakes as they're quicker and easier) - her favourite - she will come down pretty promptly!

With 11 YO DD what finally worked was linking her snack money to being ready to leave on time. Ready? Get snack money. Not ready no snack money.

Throws everything else - this one works with no effort in my part at all!

Tried!