5 tips for a Great S.T.A.R.T. to your Child's Day

The last few weeks I've come to observe that it's a bit difficult to get my 9 yr old son Yash, out of bed. He loves his school and doesn't want to miss it, but alas, he loves his sleep even more! In the morning, like every household, we are in a rush and it's like a whirlwind has passed through my house. At the end of those 50 minutes from the time he wakes up and boards the bus, I'm exhausted as I'm physically and more importantly, psychologically, drained. A greater revelation is that Yash is waking up irritated as he can very well sense the irritation in my voice as I'm trying to get him out of bed. He sleeps on time, gets about 10 hours of restful sleep. So I figured, what he needed was a better way to start the day. The last few days, I've brought the educator in me to the forefront and tried different approaches. They seem to be working and so I felt that I could pass these on to all you hapless mothers out there just like me :)

S - Something To Look Forward To: Children respond to positivity. When I wake Yash up with excitement, looking forward to nothing later on in the day, it works wonders. It could be an evening outing, a promise to play the favourite game, a favourite snack for the box  or evening(if your child is a foodie), and anything that excites both the child and you!

T - Tender Moments: I make sure that on some of the days, I lie down by his side, cuddling for a few minutes and giving him some much needed hugs. A tender song and nudging him to gently open his eyes. Of course, this means that I'll have to wake up earlier, plan to spend those few extra minutes with him, to get him up at the stipulated time. Most often, all he needs is to ease his way out of bed and not a screaming mother. I've found that this relaxes me and him and our mornings turn out to be much better.

A - Activity that creates Curiosity: Children are by nature curious, don't you think? Whether at 4 or 14, their curiosity will get the blood flowing to the brain. Since he likes surprising facts, I like to look for a trivia that will appeal to him. And sometimes I also read stuff from the day's newspaper and question whether something is right or wrong. An opinionated boy like mine, will not be able to resist the temptation of passing his comments. This conversation will be on till he is out of bed and maybe extended to the breakfast table. He also likes to take the newspaper with his as reading material to the loo (Any guesses where he learnt that habit ;) ), so I just need to find an interesting article to catch his attention.

R - Reassuring Conversation: While the morning mind is at its freshest self, it is also the time when the mind is most 'mould'able. I love our breakfast conversations about serious topics of love, life, death, what's important to live, and deep stuff. I also like throwing in lots of humour. He just needs us to be there for him and have a conversation that does not involve giving instructions or following orders. This is the time, he tends to talk about things that happen at school or with friends. Plan for conversation starters that will help keep it going...

T - Time and Patience: To do any of the above, all of us need to plan our mornings better and ensure that patience prevails at all cost. A hurried mother results in a harried child. Once we learn to manage both, our limited time and our limited patience, we're golden! Plan and plan till you succeed, I say!

All of the above is in addition to the given variables like a nutritious breakfast and lots of rest.

A smile on the face, GET, SET, GO.....

They'll come back asking for MORE......