All posts by Kirsetin

Managing the Morning Chaos

back to school, kids, Parenting

photo credit: Richard Winchell

Newsflash: NOT a morning person. Repeat: Do not call here before 8:30 unless you are prepared to deal with the less-than-pleasant person on the other end of the line.

Oh sure, I’ve been up. For hours. But that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it.
This sort of poor-early-morning temperament was fine way back in the San Francisco and Seattle days, when I was the only one at home and awake at that hour. (My sickeningly early-bird husband has always flown the coop long before I have, even in those days when my alarm screeched at 5:45AM. What on earth does he do so early? Yuck.) But now, I am joined by two of my boys, both of whom are off to school before the sun peeks over the horizon. Geesh.
Getting kids out the door, on time, and with needed materials, is a difficult proposition for most moms I know. Accomplishing those same things with an I’d-MUCH-rather-be-sleeping mindset is, well, almost impossible. So how do we do it? How do my kids manage to arrive at school with two shoes, homework, lunch, and a coat? Here’s what works for us:
  • Start the night before: lunch. This idea sounds so logical, doesn’t it? And yet, by the time we’ve finished all of the evening activities, eaten dinner, cleaned the kitchen and tucked the kids into bed, I barely have time to take care of my existing “to do” list, much less start on tomorrow’s. So, this one little step? It took me awhile to embrace. But now I do. I embrace it and recommend it wholeheartedly. If you’re like me, and your brain is in slow-motion in the morning, it’s likely that you’re like me in the evening as well: your brain is ticking and engaged. It’s ready to go. As such, packing a child’s lunch in the evening will take you half the time it does in the morning. That means you won’t have to remind yourself to get out a knife to spread peanut butter or stop to think about where you keep the goldfish. Beautiful.
  • Start the night before: papers. One thing that makes me absolutely, stark-raving mad is scrambling to find books, homework, and “sign-and-return this” papers as the kids are rushing out the door. Honestly, if you thought it was bad when I was just tired, try adding this dilemma to the mix. Not pretty. So before the kid head upstairs to brush their teeth at night, they need to locate ALL of the necessary items for school the next day and put them in their backpacks. Ahhh, less rushing, no lunatic mother–a wise choice.
  • Start the night before: outerwear. If you live way down south, you probably don’t need to worry about this one. But for those of us whose kids need rain gear or snow gear, you can save yourself an incredible amount of frustration by lining the gear up the night before. The only thing worse than not being able to find the library book that MUST be returned today, is only having one boot to stomp through the snow.
  • Don’t worry about the outfit. My boys learned to dress themselves early on. By the time they hit pre-school, they were thrilled to choose their clothing for the day. Have we had plaid shorts with striped shirts? You bet we have. How about khaki shorts, black socks, and loafers? Yep, that’s us. Mind you, I give a little guidance on school picture day. Other than that, they are very proud to dress themselves, and they’re quick about it, too.
  • Limit breakfast choices. Breakfast is mandatory around here, because, hey, I can read so I know kids are better off when they start their day with good food in their bellies. Our choices: oatmeal, cereal (the ones I choose to buy), or eggs. Side items: sausage (Bob Evans turkey links are awesome!), toast, &/or bagel. My point isn’t that these should also be the choices at your house. Your choices are your choices – just make sure there aren’t too many, or your kids will never get out of the kitchen & into the school on time.
  • Re-evaluate bedtime and alarm time. When it’s time to wake up, some kids do just fine. They roll out of bed, begin getting ready, and are ready to go without much hassle. Others stumble. They dawdle. They grumble and groan. (Hey, I like those kids already!) If your child tends towards the latter, they may need to rise a few minutes earlier to account for their pokiness, and, depending on how much earlier, they may need to have lights out a little earlier, too. Tired and grumpy is no way to start the day. Take it from me.
And you? Do you get your little (and bigger) ones out the door without too much trouble? If so, please share your top tips with the rest of us.
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Art for Kids of All Ages

family, kids
So I owe someone an apology.
When a certain someone came up with idea for our city to have an art contest, I scoffed. I may have thought, to myself of course, that it was just like a privileged rich kid, all grown-up now, to have nothing better to do with his time than concoct some kind of art contest. “Phooey,” I may have uttered.
But life has always had a fine way of showing my when I am wrong, and I am not afraid to confess that this is one of those moments. The art downtown is spectacular, the crowds are fantastic, and the sheer coolness of the entire event has me apologizing for my formerly skeptical thoughts.
Here are a few of the incredible artistic creations we perused this weekend:







And that moose? He’s made of nails.

Thanks grown-up, possibly not so spoiled, but definitely privileged rich kid. I have to hand it to you: fantastic idea.
Don’t you wish your town had some grown-up rich kids with time to think of cool ideas like this?
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Why I Make Time to Eat Dinner Together

family, food, nostalgia

Back in the very dark ages, I was a mildly rebellious 16-year old and I was also a very involved 16-year old. (You would’ve been rebellious, too, if your mom made you wear that prarie outfit for the family photo at Busch Gardens!) At any rate, I played volleyball and basketball, I ran track, and I helped out on all sorts of committees. Did my friends join? I probably did, too. (Keyettes, anyone?) I suppose there was some foreshadowing there, about finding margin and achieving balance, but I didn’t pay much attention to those back then, either. My brother was also an involved athlete, my dad was often flying helicopters at all hours, and my mom’s calendar was chock-full of Family Readiness activities. (If Family Readiness is a foreign term for you, think “support group for military families,” and you’ll be close enough.)
That said, it was our common practice to sit down and eat dinner together. Sometimes it was 5:00, sometimes 8:00, depending on the night. Occasionally, the rest of the family would eat while my brother or I were at practice, and when the offending child returned home, my mom would re-heat our meal and sit down and talk to us while we ate.
Although my strong independent streak started long before 16, even I knew that eating together was a good thing. We’d often share the meal with my very dear friend, C. Ann, who would forgo many dinners alone at her own table to join the banter around ours. It’s funny, this sort of intangible thing from childhood. When she turned 16, C. Ann’s gift was a brand-new Acura. I think I got a necklace. We didn’t talk about it much, but I’m pretty sure she would’ve traded her sweet new ride for a year of family time around her own table.
As a parent, I’ve been thoughtful about how to structure our evenings so we can eat together as many nights as possible. Like my mom, if one child is missing because of a sports practice, I try to sit down with him when he gets home and finally eats his dinner. Most nights, though, we manage to pull it off—earlier or later than others, perhaps—but together.
Who knew, though, that there are tangible benefits to this practice? A recent study done at Columbia found the following:
“Compared to teens who have frequent family dinners (five to seven per week), those who have infrequent family dinners (fewer than three per week) are:
twice as likely to use tobacco or marijuana; and
more than one and a half times likelier to use alcohol.”
Furthermore, if you thought texting at the table was just poor form, think again! If manners weren’t reason enough, here’s another finding from the same study that provides an awfully convincing argument for docking those phones and Game Boys before the meal:
“Teens who have infrequent dinners are likelier to say people at the table are talking or texting on cell phones or using other devices at the table such as Blackberries, laptops or Game Boys. Teens in households where dinners are infrequent and such distractions are present at the table are:
three times likelier to use marijuana and tobacco; and
two and a half times likelier to use alcohol.”
Well, what do you know? My mom was ahead of her time. And I thought it was just about the memories.
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