“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for L’il Critters. I received product sample to facilitate my review and promotional item as a thank you for participating.”

Early school mornings after a summer of lazy mornings are hard on my kids. I have to prep them for those early mornings before the summer is over. Here is a list of things I do to help the kids get ready for school mornings.

1. Start waking them up early a week before school starts. They need to get in the habit of waking up early so they are not groggy and grumpy on the first day of school.

2. Get some healthy breakfast food in your cupboards and fridge. Don’t think that you have to make them an incredible breakfast every morning. That just causes stress on mommy. There are more simple things the kids can eat that are still healthy and you can supplement with vitamins too. My favorite vitamins are L’il Critters Gummy Vitamins. My kids love how they taste and they never complain of a weird aftertaste. You know how some vitamins make you burp up a gross taste? These don’t! Ha Ha~! They love they gummy consistency rather than the hard vitamins they have to crunch. My kids take both the Calcuim + Vitamin D3 and the Complete Mulit Vitamin.

These vitamins make mornings easier because they don’t require water to take them. I’m always concerned that my kids aren’t getting the vitamins and nutrients they need each day so giving them these L’il Critter vitamins gives me peace of mind on a busy school morning. They are also made with natural flavors and are made in the USA. You can get L’il Vitamins at drug and grocery stores like Costco, Wal-Mart, Target and CVS. More information can be found at www.gummyvites.com

3. To make your mornings run more smoothly, get things done the night before. Make their lunches and put them in the fridge. Have them pack their backpacks. Set out their clothes for the next day so they can get dressed right out of the shower in no time. Make a checklist for morning if it’s going to be a busy one.

4. Keep a calendar in the kitchen. Everyone knows the kitchen is the heart of the home, so if you keep the family calendar in there, it will be viewed more by family members. You will be reminded of things that need to be done that day for school. Or you can remind little “Johnny” that he has a soccer game after school so he could pack his backpack with his soccer stuff.

5. Delegate the jobs your kids can do on their own and for siblings. My older kids help my younger kids get breakfast. They help them get ready. They help them pick out clothes. It’s AWESOME!

6. Have a morning checklist. This way when you say “Do you have everything done?” the kids can look at the checklist and see what still needs to be done. Less talking and nagging from mom is always better.

Here is one you can download and use for free! Just click on the image to go to the download page.