No matter how early we get up, school mornings always seem to end up rushed for us. They start out relaxed and slow (there's no other way for me!), but as the clock ticks forward, the stress levels increase drastically. At the end, there's always that moment where everybody is running around like a headless chicken.

I'm brushing and braiding hair at the last minute, while quickly spot-cleaning the faces I see in front of me. The kids are running up and down the stairs looking for their gym clothes, or are frantically trying to tie their shoelaces (that is, if they are even able to find a matching pair of shoes in the shoe basket). I get annoyed, voices are raised, the chaos is complete.

Until... a (clearly very clever!) friend of mine gave me the golden tip yesterday. She told me about their brilliant system: at 8AM their Sonos music system automatically starts playing a song. When that happens, all family members know it's drill time: they have exactly 3 minutes (or however long the song lasts) to make sure they are ready in the hallway, coats on, shoes on, school and gym bags ready, etc. How clever (and fun!) is that? 

I can just imagine their family, dancing and singing and happily getting ready in the morning, laughing while making sure to be ready before the song ends!

My friend also told me, that all family members get to choose their favourite song one day of the week. Apparently it is possible to program specific music at specific times in the Sonos system, so for instance on Monday at 8AM dad's song of choice sounds through the house, on Tuesday it's the daughter's favourite song, etc. So fun!

I thought this is such a clever idea! Tonight at dinnertime I'm going to ask my kids to each choose a song -- let's see if this is the magic solution for a smooth morning routine! (At least it will be fun to try!)

xxx Esther

PS As always, I'm happy to hear any tips or tricks that might help making our mornings more relaxed!PPS Before you think otherwise -- this photo was taken on a weekend morning. A totally different vibe altogether!