Currently my biggest parenting challenge was getting my children and myself out the door and to school on time.  Many recommend doing as much as you can the night before.  While that is a good idea and may work for some, it doesn't work for me.  Along with other household duties my children also have extra curricular activities they participate in after school.  I do not have the time or the energy to be getting everything ready the night before.

I did however find a wonderful way to encourage my children to do things for themselves. Such as: make (with some assistance) and eat their own breakfast, get dressed, brush their teeth, wash their face and then they can sit quietly watching cartoons until I tell them it's time to leave. Then they will get their shoes and coat on and grab their school bags and off we go.

The secret to our success is no secret at all.  We use reward charts.  The only downfall is my youngest son wants to get up earlier now so he can get ready for school.  We've used reward charts before which work fantastic until the kids get bored of them.  So you must keep it interesting.

Here are a few tips to using reward charts:

• Mix them up. Don't use the same chart every week.
• Keep it short. Use it for five days and take the weekend off.
• Let your child pick the reward (within reason). A trip to the Dollar Store, fancy sticker's or pencils, etc.
• Let your child colour or draw his/her own chart.
• When they achieve the goal for the day be excited and let them put their own sticker or check mark on their chart.

There are lots of free reward charts on the Internet.  I just Google "free reward charts"

Have a great day!