Plan To Be (Almost) Perfect

If you’re a mom, your challenges start the minute that your eyes open in the morning. Whether you have a cranky pre-teen or you didn’t get enough sleep yourself, waking up to a new day presents its own set of challenges.  Lots of things in your day are beyond your control--flat tires, torrential rain, sick pets to name a few.  However, there are things that you can do every day to ensure that your day (and your broods) starts off right and ends well.

Rise and Shine

I know that you’ve heard it before, but I’ll say it again:  wake up before everyone else and at the same time everyday.  There is something cathartic about being alone, as the sun rises and with no purpose.  I try to wake up thirty minutes before my family.  I’m not running around doing errands (well maybe laundry…  it never goes away), instead, I take time to drink a mug of coffee in peace or read.  Be diligent…  wake up, enjoy your time and start your day.

Fill Your Tummy

Whether you’re eating the breakfast of champions or peanut butter toast, start your day with a healthy breakfast.  You’ve already had your rise and shine time, now you need to figure out where breakfast goes in your schedule.  For me, I pack it up in a thermos or reusable container and eat on the ride to work or in the parking lot.  I don’t rush, I take my time and enjoy it--who cares if people look at me.  

Quick, Quick Fast

My kids always gripe, “I hate homework.”  Guess, what, so do I.  You drag it out and make it go on forever and we’re absolutely exhausted when and if it’s done.  So at my house, we have quick, quick fast rules--one minute per question for math and 2 minutes for everything else; if you don’t know it skip it; and google it (we usually find the assignment, explanations and the answers if we do a quick search).  Homework is meant to be reinforcement not punishment.  If my kid can’t figure it out, I help them move it along.  Nothing sucks the life out of family time like homework-induced tears.

Close the Kitchen

One of the most frustrating parts of cleaning up is the five minutes it takes to turn into a disaster again.  My mom had a solution for that--the kitchen closed at 8pm.  What does that mean?  After dinner, my mom cleared the table, washed dishes, and essentially dared us to mess it up.  No more cooking, no more snacking, no more drinking…  unless you planned to clean it yourself.  It was the one thing that guaranteed that we’d wake up to a chaos-free morning.

Quiet Zone

Once the kitchen closes, our home is a declared Quiet Zone--no noise allowed.  Does this mean that it’s lights out?  No, it means that everyone is to be in their designated space, lights dim, and all sound below 30 decibels (a whisper).