Summarize this article in one sentence.
If you don't maintain your morning routine, it's not a morning routine. Instead, it's just a bunch of things you sometimes do in the morning. Don't hit the snooze button and don't allow anyone else in your family to either. Accept no excuses for non-adherence to the morning routine. If anyone wants to alter the morning routine, encourage the individual to speak up. Discuss the change(s) with the whole family and decide together if the change is acceptable. As a parent, you should feel comfortable rejecting any unacceptable proposals for the morning routine (for instance, if your kids want to skip brushing their teeth in the morning). Choose the clothing you want to wear tomorrow the night before your morning routine begins. Encourage your kids and partner to do the same. Pack your briefcase with all the necessary documents and gadgets. Encourage your kids to pack their book bags and homework so they aren't trying to locate them on the way out the door. That will save you and your family time in your morning routine to do other things like have a relaxing breakfast together. Additionally, you should pack your kids' lunches the night before. If you or your partner take lunch at work, you should also pack your lunches for the next day the night before. Find a convenient place where everyone in the family can place their essentials. For you and your partner, you might want to place your keys, wallets, and glasses there. Kids should place their backpacks, lunch pails, and show & tell objects there. A small table beside the front door is the ideal place for organizing all your family's essentials. There's no need to provide overly-abundant detail in your morning routine. Instead of specifying what each person in the family should eat for breakfast each day, limit your family's morning routine to simple tasks like "Wake up," "Brush your teeth," and "Eat breakfast." Intervening steps like "Walk downstairs" or "Set the table" are best left to custom, rather than made explicit within the family's morning routine. Implementation of the morning routine should be open to adjustment and negotiation in certain respects. For instance, if your child wants to use mint toothpaste as opposed to cinnamon, allow them to do so. Likewise, if they want to eat bananas instead of strawberries, permit the exchange. Weekends and holidays should be free of morning routines. Sleep in and enjoy a couple days of relaxation around the house. Encourage your whole family to do the same. This prevents burnout from the constant pressure of conforming to the morning routine. If you are frantically rushing about and yelling at your kids and partner to conform to their morning routine, they will only become stressed and less likely to be able to stick to the morning routine. Instead of yelling, crouch down and look into your child's eyes. Explain to them, "I need your help. What can we do together to make sure everyone does what they need to in the morning?" Try breathing in and out slowly a few times to calm down. Breathe in for three seconds through your nose, then exhale for five seconds through your mouth. Repeat three to five times until you are relaxed. Never yell at, strike, or curse at your kids for failing to conform to the family's morning routine. If your partner is stressed and running behind with their morning routine, the best thing to do is encourage them to relax. Say to your partner, "I know you're running a bit behind on your morning routine. Just relax a bit by doing some breathing exercises with me." Try to problem solve when everyone is home in the afternoon or evening rather than doing so in the middle of the morning routine.
Stick to it. Plan ahead. Organize your stuff. Keep it simple. Provide some flexibility within the routine. Don't apply the routine to every day. Don't get frazzled.