Article by Rebecca Goniwich: adult with ADHD, proud mother of three children (including one with Autism) as well as an LBP contributor and editor.

School mornings are hard on every family, especially those with a child with ADHD. To make mornings easier, as parents we need to organize ourselves before we organize our children. I wanted to post MY list of morning routine (evening really) tricks for everyone after being reminded by the Health Central article linked at the bottom. I hope some of these tips are helpful to those of you that struggle with the morning routine like I sometimes do.

Since we are not all morning “thinkers”, consider setting up a night routine with your child, which can deliver yell and stress-free happy mornings to your house. Depending on your child’s age, a picture schedule or written list is useful, so they can take responsibility for their actions. The child should take part in planning the order, list and amount of time each task should take. In some cases you may need to wake earlier, because the child moves at a slow pace. Keep in mind to set this routine to fit your lifestyle, age of child and time constraints. You may need to begin with a shorter list then add items once the first few are mastered.

The night routine might include:
1) Packing up all homework or other school related items and setting it by the exit door.
2) Laying out all school clothes and putting socks and shoes by the door.
3) Making their lunch (giving you the opportunity to teach about healthy choices).
4) Bathing and brushing teeth (may need own picture schedule depending on age.. including where dirty clothes go)

Then set a morning routine,:
1) Wake and possibly make bed…possibly I said
2) Eat
3) Dress
4) Brush teeth

It is better to use visual cues instead of verbal cues for refocusing children to keep them on track. Timers are very helpful as a reminder instead of the parent having to nag or yell for to get your sweetie moving.

For 5 additional tips on organizing your child read the following article:

http://www.healthcentral.com/adhd/c/8689/117514/child-organized-track?ic=609