Kid-Friendly Morning Routine | The Morning Routine that Fixed my Forgetful Kid

The typical morning routine consisted of watching television and then ended with her scrambling to try and remember everything she needed for school and her afternoon dance classes. She was stressed every morning and would end up running home during her short lunch because she forgot something. As the school year went on, her stress levels increased and she was burning out quickly. One morning I sat her down and we came up with this kid-friendly morning routine, one that would help fix my forgetful kid.

The Hard Truth

We sat down and talked about how she woke up really early in the mornings, but still continued to forget things. In this discussion, she realized that coming home at lunch to get stuff, was stressing her even more.

I mentioned that maybe watching television wasn’t the best use of her time. Was it possible that she could sleep a bit later, and have a morning routine that gave her time to make a healthy breakfast and lunch while getting ready for school?

Sleep in a bit more?! … Mind blown!

I knew that trying to remember Junior High schedules can be hard the first year. I suspected that having to prepare school and her afternoon dance supplies every day created too long of a mental list for her to sort through daily. Especially when she insisted on doing it in a rush.

The Plan

In the spirit of being paperless. I suggested she write down a list on the whiteboard. The list needed to include items she needed to remember for school and her afternoon dance classes. She took it further and included hygiene tasks that cluttered her head in the morning.

We also put a temporary ban on television before school so that she could sleep in a bit, and have some quiet time before her crazy day starts. Surprisingly she didn’t fight me on this.

This kid-friendly morning routine works!

This small change in her morning routine made a huge difference to her mental well-being. She was more organized in the morning and throughout her day. Her stress levels went down, and she was inspired to find other solutions to help her be more organized.

The school to do list has moved from the whiteboard to a personal Cozi To Do List (Family Organizer App). She loves using the to-do list, her mornings are less stressful, and she is more relaxed overall.

It was this kid-friendly morning routine that inspired my daughter to be more organized. Now, she looks for ways to improve her own organization, and she tells others what little things she does to help stay organized. I love that she creating a small movement in her little world!