Dr. Kathleen Hall
Set the Tone for Your Day
Mornings for most of us can be chaotic. It is very important to remember to manage your morning chaos sets the stage for your entire day. Don’t you want to begin your day with a rhythm and dependable rituals that keep you balanced for the day? Try to set the tone for the morning by trying to be playful, optimistic and organized.
Managing Morning Chaos
- Create a morning plan for the kitchen. Have a family meeting and schedule which person is responsible for specific morning tasks. Whose job is it to make breakfast, set the table and load the dishwasher? Make sure to write this schedule on a grease board for reference. This creates less arguing, solid expectations of who does what, and helps with the morning chaos in the kitchen. Sit down to eat!
- Closets and drawers. Clutter causes stress, confusion, and chaos. Have each person organize their closets and drawers. When things get hectic, each person is responsible for and knows where their “stuff,” is located.
- Refrigerator. Try to keep food groups together such as a fruit drawer, meat drawer, and veggie drawer. This makes it easier to make breakfast, pack lunches and make supper.
- Family calendar. Centralize all schedules on one grease board calendar in a public area in your home. Each person uses a different color marker for events, athletics, and all events.
- Shelves by the exit door. Each person has a cubby or shelf by the main exit door. This keeps each person’s important objects in their space for each day. Everything goes into this space such as book bags, shoes, homework, and lunches. This keeps family members away from morning chaos and racing through the house looking for last minute items and making everyone late.