How To Make The School Run Easier

This is a collaborative post

Whether you’re struggling to get your teenager to stop snoozing their alarm or your little ones to brush their teeth and get ready for the day, there’s no denying that the school run can be incredibly stressful. In fact, a recent study found that two-thirds of parents find the school run more stressful than workplace meetings. 

Photo by Joseph Chan on Unsplash

With that in mind, here are some tips that you can follow to make the school run easier, so that you can actually start to enjoy your morning.

Remember, a good morning starts with a good night. In order to make the school run and early-morning starts easier, you must have a strong nightime routine in place. This ensures that everyone gets plenty of sleep, so they wake up feeling ready for the day.

You can improve the entire family’s sleeping habits by: 

• Having set bedtimes 
• Turning off phones/TV for at least an hour before bed
• Engaging in some light exercise in the evening 

Ensure that you can rely on your car. The last thing you want to happen during a busy school run is for your car to break down along the way. After all, not only does this make everyone late, but it could also put your family’s safety at risk. For this reason, you should make sure that you can always rely on your car. If it has been letting you down recently, now may be the perfect time to buy a different car, such as a new subaru suv.

Prep breakfasts ahead of time. If you have limited time on your hands each morning, you may find meal-prepping your breakfasts ahead of time to be incredibly useful. It’s also a great way to ensure that you are following a healthy, balanced diet, as you can prepare nutritionally balanced meals as opposed to grabbing something quick and unhealthy. For example, you could prepare tasty overnight oats.

Have a shower schedule. If bathroom queues make it harder to get out of the door each morning, putting together some kind of bathroom or shower schedule may be useful. This way, everyone can get ready for the day without disagreements or arguments.

Consider carpooling. If you have any friends nearby who have children at the same school, carpooling could be another great way to make your mornings easier. This is because you can divide the responsibilities between you, meaning that you don’t always have to be in charge of the school run. 

Say to be ready ten minutes before you actually need to leave. Telling your kids that you’re leaving the home ten minutes before you actually need to leave is also useful. This is because they’ll often wait until the last possible minute to grab their bag and put their shoes on. However, giving them a ‘false’ departure time accounts for this.

Final thoughts. In short, there are many steps that you can take to make your school run easier, reducing your stress and anxiety during this time.