Getting children ready in the morning adds another layer to the morning routine, and when you first do this as a new mother returning to work it can be a bit of a shock to the system. Therefore, we want to help both mothers who are new to this and those with some experience. By having a solid evening routine checklist for your little ones, you will feel like the most put together mother when your alarm goes off in the morning!
Again, this is simply a guide, don’t feel that you should follow all the steps. Personalise this to your family and your situation so that although there will still be chaos, maybe it will just be a minor tantrum instead of missing shoes and a lost school bag!
Hopefully you have already read our sister article ‘The 8 Point Essential Evening Routine Checklist all Working Mothers Should Know’, and if you haven’t managed to yet, go and have a read. We know that it will be useful.
Below you will find the article ’11 Point Essential Evening Routine Checklist for Children Working Mothers Should Know’.
1. Check emails from school/nursery
This can be a daunting task to complete in the evening, but extremely important for the social survival of your child! There is always that one email that slips through the net, or that sneaky one that ends up in the junk mail, therefore it would be ideal to check all recent emails, (the past 2-3 at least if you can).
Who knows what hidden information is lurking under the covers? Sparkly Christmas Jumper Day? 7th annual non-uniform day? Odd socks day? Bring your parents to school day? The Easter raffle? Easter hat parade? World Book day? We don’t have enough time in this article to list them all, but we know they are there hiding ready to pounce. So, if for some reason the evening before you find out it is World Book day, then there IS STILL TIME! You can google DIY World Book day costumes and create a masterpiece or recycle an old costume!
The same also applies if your child is in nursery. Often, they also have special events being held, so make sure you have a quick look at your recent emails so that you are not missing anything important. Luckily, with a baby/toddler/younger child they won’t mind so much if they miss out on Christmas jumper day, but an older child will definitely not let you forget!
Just an additional note, also have a glance at your emails in the morning for any updates, as if for example the weather is poor, you may end up getting a notification in the morning (e.g. school closure).
2. Check your child’s calendar/diary
We feel that it is vital for your child to have their own designated school diary or calendar or digital calendar (whatever works best for you as a family). It is also important that all caregivers have access to this so that EVERYONE KNOWS what is happening day to day. Similarly, to checking school emails, we want to make sure that as parents we have not missed any last-minute events.
Is there a piano lesson or football game that evening? Or, if there is PE the next day then have the plimsolls been packed? Where are the plimsolls? (This is when we find out they do not fit and they need new plimsolls!). Do they have a playdate after school? Is there an upcoming birthday party? Does this mean a quick trip to the shops?
Even if something is missed it is unlikely that this will occur with a calendar system in place.
3. Ask a parent
We feel that when your child starts school, they are not the only ones who could be making friends. It is so important that if possible you try be friendly with parents, and if you can exchange some numbers from school parents. It is so helpful to be able to send a quick question via WhatsApp or text message to a parent and be provided with a really quick response. And, if you ever get that nagging feeling you have forgotten something it does not take much effort to quickly message another parent; within a few minutes you can get a reply! Also, you may find that over time some of these parents become lifelong friends.
4. Check the school’s social media page
If you have access to social media, then have a look at the school’s page to see if anything has been posted last-minute. There may be times that notices are placed onto social media and not sent via other means (i.e. email/school letters).
5. Check school bag/nursery bag
This can be a frightening experience going into the unknown, and sometimes you can find some real treasures hiding in these bags. Unfinished snacks, untouched snacks, a full water bottle, dirty clothes, wet clothes, muddy clothes, rocks, leaves, unread school letters (that you need to sign and return), party invitations and the list goes on. Not to worry though! As long as you are aware of them then this can all be sorted very easily and quickly. Clean out or throw away the things that aren’t needed and then you can prepare the bag for the next day.
6. Pack school bag/nursery bag
This will include packing things such as any homework, any signed letters, PE kits or spare clothes. If you have younger children then this might include getting extra nappies or wipes. At least if these are packed the night before, then the morning tasks are reduced.
7. Prepare clothes
Ideally if you can iron all the clothes over the weekend and hang them in your child’s wardrobe/closet that would be the best option. However, if you have not had the time to do this then try as much as possible to gather and iron the clothes the night before. Ironing anything in the morning can increase stress levels dramatically. In addition, if you know that they have PE the next day then get this prepared also. Furthermore, to make life even easier you can lay out their clothes (from their uniform to their socks) in an organised pile so that you can simply pick this up and get them ready with ease.
8. Evening speed clean
As mentioned in our sister article ‘The 8 Point Evening Routine Checklist all Working Mothers Should Know’ if possible do a little bit of tidying up. It can make such a difference to your morning. We understand that time is non-existent, therefore cleaning smaller sections may be more beneficial in this scenario. For example cleaning one countertop in the kitchen so that breakfast and snacks/lunch can be made with ease. Or clearing the corridor for a smoother transition out of the door.
9. Check coats and shoes
Children seem to attract dirt in ways that will never be understood. And often it is when you have opened the door to leave the house that you see that large mud stain on the back of their jacket. You then scramble for tissues, wipes, anything to try and clean it off. This is also the same with their shoes, they look fine on one side, and there is a whole other story hiding on the other side. If you have the time, make it part of your evening routine to check and clean any large stains which might be lurking.
10. Get ‘front door ready’
This is especially important if you have multiple children. Help the children to know where all their belongings are in the morning. To make life easier you could have an allocated area where they hang their things, in addition to this you could line up their belongings in the corridor the evening before.
This is so that when it is time to walk out the door each child has easy access to their shoes, coats, hats, gloves and scarves. What tends to be the case is that someone is missing a glove, or there is a lost shoe just as you should be walking out of the door, and hopefully planning ahead can prevent this.
11. Grooming station
We feel that these are so necessary. Having a section in your home (separate to the bathroom near the front door) which houses things such as wet wipes, a brush, lip balm or sunscreen will save you your time and sanity. It is often the case that when you open the door, and the sunlight hits your child’s skin that all these new weird and wonderful marks appear on their face. Instead of using the saliva on finger method, having access to a wet wipe easily solves this problem, or if their lips appear exceptionally dry then you can resolve this situation easily with lip balm. A grooming station means that you don’t need to run around the house looking for last minute things with your shoes, coat and bag (nobody wants this for you in the morning).
We hope that this article ‘’11 Point Essential Evening Routine Checklist for Children Working Mothers Should Know’ will help to allow your mornings to run nice and smoothly. We know that you are going to wake up and rule the morning (or at least for a bit) like the queen that we know you already are.
Also, please don’t forget to check out our sister article ‘The 8 point essential evening routine checklist all working mothers should know’.
MAMO & MONO XOXO
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