By Stephanie Vozza

I have a confession to make: I have TomTom tendencies. I feel the need to stand over my children calling out directions like a GPS.

I was having one of those parent vent sessions with my husband, remarking that our boys wouldn’t brush their teeth if I didn’t tell them. Why? I asked. Why? And then it dawned on me as I was maneuvering the streets of Chicago using a GPS to find my way. I could never find my destination again because I wasn’t learning the route; I was simply reacting to the commands.

Pulling the plug on GPS mornings isn’t easy. Kids might feel lost at first, but it is possible to show them the way and put them on autopilot. Here’s how:

Think of your own morning routine. You most likely do the same things each morning, perhaps even in the same order, without even thinking about it (and hopefully without being told!) This is a routine, or habit. Establishing a routine takes time – about three weeks, actually.

Dr. Maxwell Maltz, author of Psycho-Cybernetics, discovered this technique: devote 15 minutes a day to forming a habit you wish to establish and do this faithfully for 21 days. By the fourth week, it should actually be harder not to engage in the new behavior than it would be to continue doing it. According to Dr. Maltz, the key is that the 21 days need to be in a row. This is probably why your child (or mine, at least!) doesn’t get into a good morning routine; our weekend mornings are completely routine-free.

To establish your child’s routine, start by writing down tasks her or she needs to accomplish. Engage your child by having them help make the list. Use paper (laminate it to make it sturdy), index cards, a white board or a morning chore chart, and post it where your child can see, such as the bedroom door, nightstand or the bathroom mirror. For young children, include pictures. It might help to have your child check off the task with a dry erase marker or flip over the index cards when each task is completed. Make sure they don’t come to the kitchen until all of the items in their morning routine are done.

In the beginning, your child’s routine will be more like a daily to-do list. But the difference between a to-do list and a routine is that a routine becomes a natural course of action, done every day without prompting. You should notice that, after several weeks, your child doesn’t need the prompting that the written cues give. Some children will pick it up sooner than others; don’t give up!

Be sure to keep the routine in place on the weekend. This will be the first key to your success. The second key to your child’s success? Stay out of the way! Learning a routine is like learning to ride a bike; if mom or dad continues to hold on, the child doesn’t learn balance. If you have TomTom tendencies (like me), this will be hard. But it’s the way children establish routines.

Thanks Stephanie!

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