Mornings can be particularly difficult for parents of ADHD kids. The usual rush, sleepiness, lost shoes, and “nasty” oatmeal plague all families. But add distractability, spaciness, maybe meds and/or special ADHD diets, and you have an hour of stress that helps noone. And if you have more than one kid…
Last week, a mom posted a comment about the morning routine that gives an ingenious way to handle the multi-kid dilemma. She wakes up one child, gets him completely ready from start to finish, then wakes up the second.
On so many levels this is a wonderful solution. And yes, she probably has to wake up thirty minutes earlier. But the benefits are well worth it to her – and maybe to you as well.
Here are a couple of other morning routine hints:
- Prepare the night before. Breakfast, clothes, notes, lunch money, lunches, sports equipment, meds/vitamins. Get it all out and ready to launch.
- Dress your child if necessary. She already knows how to tie her shoes and button. Spend three minutes calmly working together to get him dressed instead of ten minutes screaming from the other room.
- Keep the television off.
What hints do you have to add?
Image courtesy of Joe Benjamin and Flickr.
