Leaving the house on time might seem impossible with children, however it is possible. Read on for tips on how to leave the house on time.
Do you often find yourself rushing around the last hour or so before you have to leave? Frantically trying to get everything and everyone ready to go and then you still end up late, again? Growing up my parents were really good at being on time places. Being late just wasn’t something that happened. Some of these tips are ones I picked up from them while growing up. Others are ones that I saw still had to be rushed before we could leave growing up and I made a note to myself to avoid that. And some of them are just ones I have found help me leave the house on time.
5 Things To Do The Day Before To Leave The House On Time
- Pick out everyone’s outfits and lay them all out in a specific spot. Make sure you have all their accessories with their clothes too. Put all socks, diapers, hairbows and anything else they might need with their outfit.
2. Pack any meals you might need. Getting your meals ready and in a certain place in the fridge the day before can save you a lot of time. Put the cooler next to the diaper bag to help remind you to grab the food. Then in the morning you just have to grab the food and go.
3. Fill all water bottles. Filling water bottles don’t take much time, but it can be done ahead of time. So fill all the water bottles and have them ready to go. In the summer I leave them on table by the fridge and will top them off with ice before we leave.
4. Have a plan for breakfast. If you don’t have a plan for breakfast you will waste time trying to decide what to eat. If you are going to have something you can start the night before, then start it. For instance, if you have oatmeal put the pot of water on the stove and the oatmeal on the counter so it is ready to go.
5. Make sure the house is clean. If I don’t make sure my house is clean the night before I find myself cleaning things instead of getting ready to go. It also takes longer to find things if the house is a mess.
Things To Always Have Done Ahead Of Time
- Firstly, make sure the diaper bag is always packed. When we get home from somewhere the diaper bag doesn’t get put away until it is repacked. This saves a lot of time in the morning. Also if you repack it as soon as you get home you can mostly remember what you used and needs put back in.
- Secondly, leave a few things in your car. Keep things like a baby carrier and cart cover if you have babies, an umbrella, shopping bags, etc. in your car at all times saves you from having to remember to grab them in your rush out the door. Keeping a trunk organizer in your car can help keep everything organized.
- Also, have a routine. We have different morning routines for different days, they aren’t all the same. For instance, our morning routine for getting ready for church on Sunday is different than our morning routine for leaving the house for work. But having a routine for each of those days and sticking to it helps everyone know what is coming next which helps you leave the house on time.
- Always put your keys in the same spot. If you spend a lot of time looking for your keys before you can go somewhere, then pick a designated spot to put them every time you come home. Having a hook or a dish somewhere where you can just drop your keys when you walk in the door is a good idea.
A Couple Extra Tips
Teaching your children self help skills is very helpful. Things like putting their shoes and coat on, collecting what they need to leave, brushing their teeth, etc. will take some off of your list. It will also give them something to do while you are getting your last minute stuff together. Our toddler has a couple stuffies and a blanket that she takes everywhere, recently she has been able to collect them all herself before we go somewhere. It saves me from having to go find them, and it is normally faster because she knows right where she left them last.
Tell yourself to be ready to go 20 minutes before you actually have to leave. This will help you avoid the mad dash out the door and give you extra time to just enjoy your morning. Sometimes we will get the car all packed and then go for a quick walk if we still have time. Sometimes we use that time because we don’t plan enough time to get ready, but we are still able to leave the house on time.
I hope these tips are able to help you out! Let me know in the comments if you have any other tips get out of the house on time!
Always do what you need to do first. Don’t do a lot of extra things that are not needed before you go (cleaning, organizing your sock drawer). If you get everything else ready, and still have time, by all means do the extras. But start with the things that are necessary rather than crowding out the needed things with other activities.