Tuesday, November 17, 2009

A morning time saver tip

I have an awesome tip for those of you that have trouble getting out the door in the morning (due to all the little things that hold the kids up). This will apply mostly to those of us with younger children who require constant supervision when doing those final tasks like brushing teeth, combing hair, hair bows, etc.

Of course, this may be irrelevant if you live in a single story home, but maybe you'll still find something useful to implement in your routine.

We live in a two story home with full bathrooms upstairs and a half bath downstairs just inside the door to the garage (in the kitchen). Many months ago, I was becoming frustrated on the mornings we had to be somewhere early due to all the running back and forth up the stairs. The up-and-down is very time consuming and very ineffective when trying to keep a schedule. So here's what I came up with:
I bought a duplicate set of all of the staple, last minute items we were constantly running back upstairs to do (myself included). We now have toothbrushes, toothpaste, lotion, hair smoother, and a comb located in the downstairs bathroom. It is so quick for me to send the boys in there one at a time to brush their teeth and comb their hair while I'm in the kitchen getting someone else ready (tying shoes, putting on coats, etc.). I also keep a few of Rachael's hair ties/bows outside the bathroom on a shelf in the kitchen for easy access for me [I don't keep these in the bathroom because a certain 3 year old likes to flick them when I'm not looking!!]. It has saved me so much frustration in the mornings and I just love the simplicity of it! It absolutely works for me.

Be sure to hop on over to Works-For-Me-Wednesday for more wonderful posts on what's working for everyone.

4 comments:

jubilee said...

Yep, this idea sure is a time saver. Thanks for sharing.

La said...

We recently moved into a two story house plus a basement this summer. I learned the same thing you did and now keep things downstairs. Once we come down there's no going back up! =)

Jenny said...

Great post :D

Kirsten said...

Great idea! We have a split level, so either bathroom is a staircase away from the front door, but it's definitely helpful to have duplicates like combs, potty accessories and lotion in both bathrooms!