Combining work and family takes military grade logistics, Mother Theresa patience, and marathon runner stamina - and that’s just for getting out the front door!

Now, I like those time management tips for busy parents that say - prepare everything the night before, lay out your clothes, make the lunches, pack the bags etc, etc.

But at the end of a long day, the last thing I want to do is think of tomorrow’s lunches and scrounge around for the library books and bag.

Sometimes, I manage it - but other times I don’t.

And even when I do, kids have a way a making something that should take a minute, take an hour.

So even the best advance preparation doesn’t always help.

Here are my tips for getting out of the house on time with your sanity - as well as the children - in tact:

1. Be realistic
You may be able to grab your bag and get out of the house within a few seconds, but your toddler will need to find his ruggie, stop to pat the cat, complain that you opened the door instead of him, and jump in the puddles instead of get in the car.

2. Promote responsibility
Your school age child may still want the star treatment, ‘Fetch my school bag, lunch box and communication book, mum. And no blue smarties!’ But teaching her a simple morning routine - get dressed, brush hair, brush teeth, and pack bag - helps you and her.

3. Stay calm
When your daughter is still playing with her ponies rather than putting on her shoes, and your son has upended a bottle of milk on the kitchen floor, it takes Mother Theresa patience not to scream and yell. Instead, breathe and think ‘I’m an absolute saint for calmly cleaning up the milk and calmly requesting my daughter to put on her shoes.’

4. Appreciate the good
In every situation, no matter how busy, stressful or frustrating, there are always pockets of good. So instead of getting irritated at your toddler for pulling off his jumper for the third time, admire, just for a moment, his tenacity.

5. Think energy not time
We all have too much to do and too little time. And there will never be enough time. But if you focus on getting out the door without feeling like you’ve been hit by a train, then that is probably more important than whether you are running 5 minutes late.

I’d love to hear your tips.

And for more info about getting out of the house on time, check out Wondertime magazine.  The Australian launch issue is available in all good newsagents now.  It truly is a wonderful read.

Jodie Benveniste, Director of Parent Wellbeing.

Tags: Add new tag, work and family; time management; working mothers

This entry was posted on Monday, October 13th, 2008 at 9:03 am and is filed under Wellbeing, Work Life Balance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.