If you’re a parent, you know how emotionally draining, loud, and messy getting your kids ready and out the door can be.
But one mom says she’s figured it all out.
She has the perfect formula for getting your kids out the door in 10 minutes or less. Well… sort of.
“Yeah, right. You must think this is a joke. I must be kidding you. How in the world can any parent get multiple children dressed and out the door in under 10 minutes? In truth, I’ve never been able to do it. But—I am going give you my suggestions and at minimum, I am going to make you laugh, okay?” writes Nicole Merritt the blogger who founded jthreeNMe.
The biggest secret: make them dress themselves!
Merritt says that trick here is to tell your kids that you’re leaving in 10 minutes.
Next, tell them that you are prepared to leave without them if they’re not ready to go by then. But don’t actually leave them!
“Okay, maybe simply walk out the door at the 10-minute mark, hide around the side of the house and spook them when they frantically come out to see if you truly left without them,” Merritt writes in a piece for Red Tricycle. “You’re telling me that’s mean? Okay. Fine. Don’t do that either.”
Don’t worry, Merritt has seven other suggestions that are way better.
1) Layout Their Clothes
It doesn’t matter who picks the clothes as long as you pick them out the night before. Don’t let a hysterical search for leggings add to the hectic morning hustle.
2) Don’t Forget The Socks and Underwear
Your kids can’t leave the house without socks or underwear. So don’t forget to lay them out. It’s another thing you don’t want to go scramble for in the morning.
3) Don’t Worry About Matching
Matching takes too much effort. Kids don’t have to match. You might want to encourage them to wear mismatched items so they don’t throw a fit when you can’t find a match.
4) Give Them Time Checks
Keep giving your kids time checks and countdowns to keep them on track. You can lie about the time if you have to. Whatever it takes to get them out of the house on time.
5) Don’t Leave the House
“Okay, that’s not really doable, but try to leave it less if you can. If you leave your house less, my thinking is that you and your children will likely both be bored and more inclined to put a little pep in your step when it is time to go somewhere,” Merritt writes.
6) Don’t Fret About Their Clothes
Well, you have to put some kind of clothing on your children. Just don’t worry about what it is. If they want to leave the house dressed as Spider-Man or in a raincoat… so be it.
7) Forget About Deadlines
Deadline…. ha! Don’t give yourself unnecessary guilt and anxiety. Take deadlines lightly.
“Well, that’s all the advice I’ve got for you. Hope it helps, but it probably won’t. I’ll see you at the next event to which we are both invited. I’ll be there late and so will you and we can commiserate—or better yet, celebrate together in the fact we are winning at parenting by not giving a hoot about ever trying to get out of the house in under 10 minutes,” Merrit writes.
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