The CLIENT
This family of five is composed of mom, dad, and three elementary school students.
The CHALLENGES
After a painful conversation and a few tears, this fearless parent duo identified their self-proclaimed biggest problems: time constraints and inadequate daily routines. Sound familiar? In designing a plan, they took into consideration their own scheduling needs, each child's preferences, and the disabilities of two of their children (Autism and speech and language impairment).
The STRATEGIES
These parents identified morning time as the most disruptive part of the day. They posted a morning routine in each child’s room (complete with times and pictures for each task). Here's a sample schedule:
Wake up
Take a shower
Get dressed
Brush hair
Clean up bedroom (Daily bursts work best!)
Take vitamins
Eat breakfast
Brush teeth
Pack a water bottle and your lunch/snack
Grab everything in your TO-GO AREA (e.g., bookbag, school project, clothes for gym class)
Put on shoes by the door (FYI, I'm trying to implement a no-shoe policy in my house)
Leave for school
If you feel like being a 🌟 SUPERSTAR 🌟, add the expected start time or the total duration for each task. For example:
7:00am Wake up
7:10am Take a shower
Etc.
My favorite part? The wake-up alarm system they set up. The first child's alarm goes off, and that child is responsible for placing the alarm in the second child's bedroom. When that child's alarm goes off, then . . . you get the picture. That way, the children that have trouble getting out of bed are responsible to do so. Genius!
The OUTCOME
A short two weeks later, the tutor found the following during a scheduled visit . . .
MOM REPORTED:
I get to work on time every day.
I do 10 minutes of meditation after I shower.
The children's rooms are clean and organized (5 minutes of daily cleaning are built into each child's morning routine).
OLDEST SON & DAUGHTER REPORTED:
We get to school on time.
We feel calm in the morning.
What did the kids actually say? . . .
“Crazy time is now Calm and Organization time.”