Having regular routines and a schedule for each day helps a family to run more smoothly. Perhaps the most stressful time of the day for most families is early in the morning when kids and parents have to be out the door by a set time each day. Having a regular routine with a schedule the family knows helps reduce stress. I’ve been reading about the importance of starting each day calmly and positively without shouting at the kids to hurry and without raising one’s own blood pressure. But how do we do this?

The articles I read mentioned getting up earlier, and preparing lunches and clothes the night before. Other suggestions were to make the morning routine fun, give the kids choices and be prepared to compromise. City folk already get up very early to reach school and work by public transport or by driving in heavy traffic on the roads. I also get up well before sunrise while the family is up in adequate time to do their jobs. Actually my two sons get away without any fuss. I am the one who gets stressed. Why? As a retired person I don’t have to be at work by 9am. I have the option of sending my granddaughter to school by bus, but it takes an hour because of frequent stops. It takes me only 15 minutes and I want my granddaughter to be fresh for lessons.

The reason for my stress is that my granddaughter plays along the way. She manages to make each part of her routine of dressing, eating, cleaning teeth, packing her bag etc. fun. That is fun to her, but not to me as I want to get on with things. She gets sidetracked by a toy or a book or the TV news. In the bathroom she has fun making faces in the mirror while cleaning her teeth while I’m waiting with the hairbrush to do her long plaits.

I haven’t really solved my problem yet although I am making time to spend with her as she wakes up, talking or reading with her instead of urging her to get up. This strategy has made emerging from her warm burrow easier for her. If I have a book in the car to read and leave her to deal with her last chores instead of me doing them for her, maybe I won’t be stressed.

Tags: behaviour, stress