2. Shower or bathe the night before. Styling hair in the morning (for both girls and boys) can be more involved for certain hair types and styles. I consider myself lucky that my girls have relatively easy hair to style. Our biggest struggle when they were younger was brushing out tangles and if we fought that battle in the morning, it often ended in tears and got us off to a bad start. For tangle-free, no-fuss styling, sponge rollers or braids in little girls’ hair can do wonders! I found it helpful to get my girls’ hair about 75% dry and then have them sleep in a braid or rollers. In the morning, they’d just take them out and brush or finger-comb. Of course, my girls are teenagers now, so the morning grooming routine has gotten more complex and now involves multiple appliances and about 35 different beauty products! I still insist they both shower at night, though, as four people trying to shower within an hour of each other in the morning doesn’t agree with our water heater. 3. Lay out clothes, including matching socks (help us Jesus,) underwear and shoes the night before. You could go one step further, as a veteran mom once told me, and just have the kids sleep in their school clothes! 4. Make lunches the night before. Have your kids help with this. When kids choose and prep their own food, they are more likely to eat it. PB&J sandwiches freeze well. You can make a huge batch and then just throw one in the lunch box in the morning. 5. Prep some easy breakfast options and post a menu in the kitchen. Hard boiled eggs are great. Also, it’s so easy to make a huge batch of silver dollar pancakes and freeze them ahead of time. A Google search will return endless recipes and ideas for make-ahead breakfasts. Use your imagination and this can be really fun! 6. Make and post lists. As a mom of an ADHD’er who also has ADHD herself, we live by lists. Every family’s needs are different, so you will need to brainstorm what will work best for you. For our family, I have a “recurring tasks” list and a “special tasks” list. I use poster board and post the recurring task list in bedrooms, hallway, bathroom and kitchen. For people who don’t struggle with focus and attention, it might seem silly, but our recurring task list says things as obvious as, “get dressed down to your shoes, brush teeth, brush hair, deodorant, eat breakfast, put lunchbox in backpack…” Our special task lists is for things that don’t necessarily happen every day but are important to remember and we make them the night before and put them on Post-It’s on our launch pad. They say things like, “sports participation form, extra Gatorade, choir costume…” 7. Wake up 20 minutes earlier than you think you need to. Even with the best planning and preparation, unforeseen circumstances can throw the entire morning off track. Teaching everyone to get up just a little bit earlier than they think they need to can give you extra time to deal with any unplanned issues. On issue-free mornings, an earlier wake up allows for a more relaxed pace and sets everyone on a more peaceful start to the day. ::Bonus Tip:: 8. Take time to pray for and bless your kids. A quick word of encouragement and a brief prayer from you in the morning before they leave for school can be one of the most powerful ways that you can communicate to your kids that they are loved, that they were created for a purpose and they can put their hope in the Lord to carry them through all the challenges that come their way.

  ***We’d love to hear your best tips! Share in the comments***