One thing that many moms report is that, while it used to take them only a few minutes to get ready and leave the house before they had children, afterwards it can take ages to get everything and everyone ready. A situation that only ends up getting slower when you have more than one child. Luckily, I have come across some smart strategies that can make mobilizing the whole family a little easier, and quicker too. Read on to find out who they are.
Plan ahead and don’t rush
Children aren’t constrained by time in the same way that adults are. In fact, when they are young, they don’t really understand the concept of time at all, and that means rushing is a pretty meaningless activity for them. Actually, it can even spark off an adverse reaction in smaller children because it just seems as if you are angry with them if you are stressed and rushing, but they can’t really grasp why.
To that end, abandoning rising is a much better idea. OK, so that might not be the easiest thing in the world when you are exhausted, have an appointment to keep, and four kids to get ready. However, by adding an extra 15-30 minutes to the time you allow to leave the house, you can avoid alto the stumbling blocks and tantrums that can occur when it comes to the point where you actually need to get the whole family to step outside.
Have your diaper bag packed
Another major issue when it comes to getting the kids out the door faster is that great big diaper bag of stuff that you have to take with you everywhere! You know the one that holds the diapers, the wipes, the milk, the water, extra clothes, mascara, and all the other bits and bobs like toys and teething rings.
(My personal favorite!)
Of course, packing and organizing such a bag for multiple children takes a fair bit of effort, and if you haven’t got one that is immediately ready to go, you can expect it to add to your stress and to the amount of time it takes to get prepared to leave the house.
Happily, there is a genius way to get around this and its by having two bags pre-packed at any one time. Why two? Well, it’s important always to have one packed for the impromptu trips out or emergencies, and the second big always needs to be refilled as you return home from your last trip. Then you will never be short of the supplies you need, and you can shave a significant amount of time off getting the whole family out of the house.
Do remember, however, when packing these bags that fresh milk needs to be kept in the fridge. Although, you can now get ready-made formula cartons that would be suitable to remain in these bags at all times.
Keep supplies in the car
Next, when it comes to shortening the time it takes to get multiple kids out and about, remember that stocking up your car is an excellent strategy. In fact, you can keep all sorts of things there including coats, waterproofs, gloves, hats, snacks, and even folding strollers, which won’t take up too much room, but means you won’t have to struggle to disassemble and then reassemble them every time you need to use the car.
You can even check out think like this list of double umbrella strollers from Parenting Pod to compare which would be the best for your needs. These beings perfect for when you have more than one child that needs to have access to a stroller, but you still want one that will easily fit on your car.
Assign buddies
Finally, while it can seem as if having a large family is a disadvantage to getting out of the door quickly, this is not necessarily the case. The reason being that you may be able to leverage your large sized family to your advantage in this case by instituting a buddy system.
Get the kids to buddy up.
What this means is that you pair the older kids up with, the younger ones and allow them to assist in getting them to prepare to leave the house. This can include getting the older kids to help the little ones put on and do up their shoes, as well as find and get into their coats.
The older kids will no doubt respond wonderfully to this responsibility and the praise they get for helping too. All while assisting you to shave off vital minutes from your preparing to leave the house routine.
