The Secret to Easier Morning Routines

This post was sponsored by Nature Made® as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central

Yikes! Anyone else wondering where summer went? Back to school is just around the corner and I don’t know about you, but our morning routines are in need of a desperate overhaul. As much as I love the extended morning snuggles & time spent in PJs, that just isn’t gonna cut it come September.

Can you relate?

What if I told you I recently implemented the best thing I’ve ever done to make mornings easier around this house?

I finally decided to get us back on track by starting my (almost) five year old on a morning routine chart. Well, that and I was simply just sick of constantly reminding him of every. single. little thing. he needed to do each morning. I’m thinking if I can get him used to following this morning routine chart on his own, it’ll be a win win. He will feel more independent & I will have to nag that much less. Well let me tell you I wish I had started this ages ago!

We are about three weeks into this experiment and so far it’s working fabulously.  The first morning I could just see the pride on his face when he got through all his morning tasks without me having to remind him. I didn’t even know he could make his bed without my help!

My goal was to keep it simple so it would be a success. I really wanted to get him started with healthy habits this summer that would become routine going into the new school year. Imagine starting school with a system already in place! Meep! (That’s me jumping for joy at the thought of it all).

With that in mind I picked the 5-6 tasks that were most essential and important to our morning success. I also kept in mind which tasks he tends to forget and made sure I put those on the chart too. Things like brush your teeth & take your vitamins for example.

Any more than five-six items and I think you risk it becoming overwhelming, at least at this age. The older the child the more tasks you can likely put on a chart like this though.

We put things like:

• Go Potty
• Get Dressed
• Eat Breakfast
• Take Vitamins – We do Nature Made® KIDS FIRST® Multivitamin w/Omega-3 from Target.
• Brush Teeth
• Make Bed

Those six tasks are very manageable for him without much supervision from me. Some of those items are also the things that I used to have to remind him to do the most…like brush teeth & take vitamins…. and I’m amazed at how he does them now, all on his own, just by simply putting this chart up in his room and having it to guide him.

Before it was a game of twenty questions and begging and pleading and me repeating myself no less than one hundred times to get him to get clothes on and teeth brushed. Now all I have to do tell him to go do his his morning chart & we are off and running. It’s painless and I love it!

School mornings are already looking up before they’ve even started.

To help make the chart more fun & interactive,  I hung a cookie sheet from the dollar store on his wall (using command strips) as a magnet board. We went shopping for some cute magnets (which are all over the place right now with all the back to school supplies out). In fact, I bet you could find some at Target along with your Nature Made® KIDS FIRST ® Multivitamins (wink wink).

Every night we line up the magnets at the bottom of the board and in the morning, as he completes his tasks, he checks off the boxes with the magnets. He takes great pride in filling in the whole chart.

We get our Nature Made® KIDS FIRST® Vitamins at Target. I recently picked up KIDS FIRST® Multivitamins with Omega-3 & KIDS FIRST® Fiber while doing a little back to school shopping.

Honestly, I think even without the chart they wouldn’t have a hard time remembering to take their vitamins.  They have complained about taking vitamins in the past, but since we started using the Nature Made® KIDS FIRST® Gummies, they haven’t. They love the flavors and have fun picking out which one they want on any given day. I don’t think I have to tell you the gummy texture is a hit either. I was happy to see the Fiber gummies because my guys could stand to have a little extra fiber in their diet if ya know what I mean.†

Have you ever implemented a chart like this with your kids? This is the first time we’ve tried such a thing and let me tell you I am now a firm believer.

†These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.  These products  are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.