Our cubbies...saved my life!
By Renee Martinez, Founder of Raising Boys World
Another crazy morning trying to get my guys out of the house for school. Is it too early for cocktails? There are days when getting them out of the house is so painful. The whining and complaining puts me over the edge. My morning mantra is hurry up guys, you’ll be late! I mean, honestly, I get sick of repeating myself; don’t the kids get tired of listening to me say the same things over and over? Or do they just block me out and then loose their focus and slip into tardiness, which is what causes me to scream out the mantra?
I try to be organized about our morning routine so as to reduce the amount of unnecessary stress placed on us in the morning. I admit that morning is a little more challenging for me. I like to sleep (though it’s been several years since I’ve had a truly satisfying night of uninterrupted sleep) so it’s hard for me to get going. Enter: coffee. Thank God for my morning cup of joe. I’ve tried to set up a chart for the boys with all their morning responsibilities and preparations needed for an easier morning. It lasted for a week or two. A few things have been successful though in making it easier for us. What I have found is that the success of the morning depends on how organized I was the day before.
Here’s our routine:
• As soon as the boys get off the bus, they put their coats and bags in their cubbies – see photo (we had these amazing cubbies made for a space that was pretty much useless)
• They bring me their folders and lunch bags so I can clean them out and see what they’ve done.
• They have a drink and snack.
• Change clothes if they want and tell me about their day. We discuss our plans for the rest of the day and decide what we want to do.
• Then we do our homework. This is a routine for my older son – but a bit like herding cats for the 5 year-old.
• Then – put our folders in our school bag, along with anything else that needs to go back to school and voila! We are free to have fun.
I try to make lunches and pack snacks before bed, but usually I do that simultaneously with making breakfast while they are getting dressed and brushing teeth. It would be easier if I did it the night before. As far as whether or not this is boy-specific, I will say that I think boys do get distracted easier than girls. Let’s face it, they’re active little human beings! I know my guys start out focused and getting dressed – then they catch a glimpse of a book or a toy between their room and the bathroom. Before you know it, time has passed. When they’re running late and I go upstairs to check, 9 out of 10 times, they are sitting on the floor in their underwear reading a book. Bottom line: we need to be especially organized and prepared if we want to remain sane.
About the Author: Renee Martinez consults and speaks professionally on social media marketing, integrated marketing communications, public relations and branding. She is the president of Ruby Marketing Communications (www.rubymarcom.com), a boutique marketing communications company that specializes in providing branding, social media strategy and integration, and creative services. Her blog (www.lisac95.sg-host.com), provides resources on everything marketing and social media for her active audience.
Renee has contributed as a featured monthly columnist in the monthly jewelry industry publication, JCK, on matters related to internet marketing as well as in InStore Magazine as a featured blogger where she writes about developing effective marketing strategies for the jewelry industry using social media. She is the founder of: Social Media Biz Summit (www.socialmediabizsummit.com), the first large-scale SM conference to come to Buffalo, NY; #jewelrychat, a weekly twitter chat for the jewelry industry and www.RaisingBoysWorld.com. Renee teaches social marketing courses at Canisius College in Buffalo, NY for the business school as well as offers small group social media marketing training and educational seminars for businesses in Western New York and beyond.
Renee has dabbled in the internet marketing arena since the early 90′s and is not ashamed to call herself a “marketing geek”. From chatting in AOL, “sharing” music on Napster, and teaching HTML classes before it was considered “cool” to developing comprehensive social media strategies, effective public relations campaigns and managing online communities (most recently Chevy Girls Buffalo).
She enjoys being able to help people find their voice online and to create buzz about their product or service that will give them the results they desire.
Renee can be found on Twitter (@reneemmartinez) and Facebook (http:/www.facebook.com/RubyMarCom).
