Punctuality

Just a few words on punctuality and that before school routine.

How is your routine going?  Yesterday we did great.  Today was much more of a challenge.

Here is a typical view of the morning collection in the kitchen.  The kids lunch bags, my lunch bag and work bag, sweater and phone.  We are adjusting to the rigors of a new schedule that has us getting up a solid hour earlier than we used to last school year.

Yesterday we were early everywhere.  In fact my daughter was almost 1/2 hour early for school.  I have to take her early in order to deal with the traffic as I drive south again after dropping her off.  Today I decided to to leave with her about 10 minutes later.  BIG MISTAKE!
I didn't factor in that yesterday was only the grade 9's at high school, and today would entail the traffic of the rest of the student population being dropped off as well.  In addition to this, there was construction on the road that was slowing down the traffic going south.  I waited 25 minute to get out of the drop off area!  aaahhhhh!
I had to phone my son and have him walk to school with a french horn, lunchbag and backpack.  He barely made it on time.  It's time to push the pause button and sort this out.

Why is punctuality important?

I would guess there is a lot of information out there on the subject of punctuality.  When we are punctual we reduce our own stress levels significantly.  When we make time to be punctual and organized, we can go into our day or meetings with confidence that we haven't missed important details.
Punctuality also leaves a positive impression in the minds of others.  It conveys to them that we have a few things together, and that we place a high enough value on our commitments to organize ourself to be on time for them.   This increases your odds that people will take you seriously and give you new opportunities also. 

Let's take a look a making the morning routine a punctual one. The morning routine will always work backwards from the arrival time required at each school and/or work.   Once you know what time you need to be at the school and/or work, you can calculate how much time you need to get ready.  You must also factor in time for traffic and red lights.

Steps to a punctual morning:

1. Prepare what you can the night before.  This includes getting the outfits sorted for you and the kids, and hubby too if needed.  Iron any clothing that requires it, and either set your clothes out, or ensure you have located what you plan to wear in your closet.

2. Prepare part of the lunches the night before.  I am a fan of making the sandwiches fresh in the morning, so this is part of what I get up early to do.  The night before I can add to the lunch boxes the juice box, cookies, and any other item that does not require refrigeration.  If you prefer to make your sandwiches the night before, you can leave them wrapped in the fridge.  Ditto for celery or carrot sticks, cheese sticks or yogurt.

3. Go to bed on time.  This will increase your odds of getting up on time more than anything else.

4. Obey the alarm.  Resist the urge to hit the snooze button.  Get up straight away and wake the kids and head for the shower.

5. Complete the rest of your morning routine.  This includes getting ready for yourself, helping younger children with hair and clothes, feed the pets, take your vitamins, make the beds, leave the bathrooms tidy, leave the kitchen tidy after breakfast and lunch preparations.

6. Start gathering everything to leave 5-10 minutes BEFORE you need to be wheels turning.  This is one of the most important parts of the morning.  I always tell my kids when it's close to that time.  I call down the stairs "10 minutes to the window" (as in, window of time closing).  I must admit that more times than I care to recall, this is where our perfect morning can fall apart.  We can all be doing great, and if we miss this step, it all comes undone!
You must keep in mind that you have to give your kids time to finish what they were doing, put on coats, shoes, winter gear when it applies, gather lunch bags, backpacks etc.  I have found that if we won't allow at least 5 minutes minimum, we end up leaving the house late.  We need more like 8-10 minutes in the winter time.
Why so long?  We are locking patio doors, giving the dog a cookie and gathering all the items previously mentioned.


There it is.  If you have also found that back to school have brought new experiences in your morning routine, just stay positive and learn from the delays you might have experience, and keep on re-calibrating that plan until you have it just right.

Thanks for reading.

Cassie

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