Let's Think About This...

A typical morning in my house involves a lengthy process of getting Matthew out of bed, several reminders for him to stay on task, knocks on the bathroom door telling him his shower has been long enough, a count-down to when he needs to leave for the bus, and - finally - a frantic sixty seconds of throwing a lunch in his back-pack, finding a coat, and getting shoes on before heading out the door.

Oh, I forgot to mention the four or five times I say, "Do you have everything ready to go?"

I can't count the times I have talked to my son about getting to bed earlier so wake-up isn't so hard, and having things set out and ready to go so getting out the door isn't as difficult. So, last week when Matthew was going through another of his panic moments and Elizabeth said, "Why doesn't he just get ready earlier so he doesn't go through this every morning?" I laughed and responded, "What a great idea! We should think about that!"
Later that evening, when Matthew was calm, I said, "Elizabeth had a great idea this morning. Let's think about this..." And I went on to explain what she said. We talked about how frustrated he gets in his morning panic moments, and how much better it would be to be prepared and ready ahead of time. Even if that meant getting out of bed a couple minutes earlier. Even if that meant going to bed a little earlier.
I guess since it was Elizabeth's idea - not mine *ahem!* - Matthew was more willing to give it a try. And I'm OK with that. These past couple mornings haven't been perfect, but they haven't been panicky, either!

*happy sigh*