I listened to my husband and it's changed our day completely

Getting the kids to school on time in the morning was an absolute nightmare - to the point I had a headache, the neighbours probably thought I was insane and the kids were often rushing to join that class line last minute or signing in late sometimes too.

It started really getting even harder to get to kids ready in the morning on 13th September when littlest one who's now 5, started to feel poorly and kept crying going into school - refusing to get ready and clinging to me when we got there. Eventually we found out she was genuinely poorly. I felt terrible having sent her to school thinking she just didnt want to go.

After a few visits to doctors and hospitals she's now much better but it was a scary and very tiring time. School got even more difficult when she missed a few weeks because of being poorly.

I felt like I was going to be on first name terms with the ladies in the office signing her in late.

I started to let her brother who's 10 walk to school on his own so he wasn't late too. The school isn't far and there's no main roads to cross as well as the fact it's a busy route that he knows like the back of his hand as they say, I still hated letting him go alone.

My husband usually leaves for work very early so the school run isn't something he had to suffer through, until one day and he told me it was crazy. He told me to make a list.

He's usually right. He won't read this so I can admit that here.

We needed to have a good morning routine for the children.

But I didn't listen for a while until now that is! - WHY DIDNT I LISTEN TO HIM SOONER? I'm so happy today and yesterday after listening I cleaned the entire house so the morning had a positive impact on the entire day.

Yesterday we got to school at 8.30am - 20 minutes early. We walked together all 3 of us, the eldest was happy to play with his friends before school. The youngest was delighted to be FIRST in her line for the first time ever. So much so that this morning we had to be FIRST again! I was happy to stand in a little rain to see how happy she was.

How have we changed our morning?

A list! A simple but fantastic list. He's a genius, I married a genius.

Like my husband said, make a list for each child of what they need to do in the morning to get ready. It worked.

I've also got them to get dressed before anything else because it makes everything else go so smoothly.

On our list we have -

Get dressed
Breakfast
Brush teeth
Wash face
Tablet / hair
Toilet
Coat
Bag
Shoes /wellies
Leave

It's written on a little bit of paper and I've written a weeks worth in advance so I don't need to rush every morning to write it.

As they complete that task they can cross it out which makes it into a little game and so far it's worked well. My son likes the structure of knowing what he needs to do instead of having to be nagged and my daughter I think she really likes crossing the things out so it's a bit of a game for her.

Tv in the morning has been banned on weekdays too. They refused to stop watching it then screamed. No. Haven't got time for that. Whatever works for you though- do it.

So if you're struggling to get the kids ready for school, to get there on time without any asking them to put their shoes on 100 times, try a list!

A good little idea is also to put some colouring pencils and paper on the table so you can get them to have a little drawing to do whilst you go get ready  if they've got nothing left to do - then you can get ready- all. By. Yourself!!

Let me know if you do a list too... what else can I make lists for?