There are a lot of wonderful things to celebrate about being a parent. For its endless joys, however, there are setbacks.
Most of those setbacks can be felt the deepest early in the morning. Getting the kids up and ready for school is no simple feat. You hold out hope that things will get easier as your kids get older, but it isn't always the case.
A new study from Early Bird by Amerisleep surveyed nearly 800 parents with children enrolled in preschool through high school to find out more about their morning routine. Respondents had to answer questions about their morning habits, how they get their children ready for school every day, and how it impacts their sleep and productivity throughout the day. The respondents were parents from the ages of 25 to 51, with a 47/53 split between men and women.
The study is fascinating in that it shows how children's sleep needs evolve as they age and how it impacts their parents. It also proves that virtually no one has an easy time getting out the door on weekday mornings.
The morning routine can be tricky. Many experts in productivity recommend waking up early and taking some "me time" to read, journal, or work out. When you're a parent, however, getting any of those things done before getting your kids out the door is unlikely.
Amerisleep found that the average parent wakes up at 6 a.m. to get their kids ready for school.
Morning habits differ between moms and dads. The top four components of the surveyed men's morning routines include taking a shower, getting dressed, eating breakfast, and turning on the news. On the other hand, the top four parts of moms' morning routines include getting children's breakfasts ready, getting miscellaneous things ready for the day, packing lunches, and packing kids' book bags.
Overall, parents spend an average of 47 minutes getting their kids ready for school. Women are craving a break more than men, with nearly 37% of female respondents saying they need a break as opposed to nearly 30% of men. The morning routine feels stressful for about 28% of moms and nearly 24% of dads.
Getting kids ready in the morning can be a real bummer, but can you say you find it difficult? Of the respondents, 42% qualified it as difficult, with 76% of those parents experiencing delays as a result of having a tough time with the kids.
Many parents felt like planning ahead made things go more smoothly, with 76.5% reporting they get things in order the night before. There are a number of specific habits they find to be useful. Laying out clothes and getting kids to shower the night before are the top two practices for parents to get prepared.
Does doing what you can beforehand really make a difference? Parents who plan ahead report that there are slightly positive or extremely positive impacts on their productivity through the rest of the day. Parents who don't plan ahead feel like they've got it right, with a majority saying the impacts on productivity were slightly positive.
Many of the parents agree that sleep habits are important to how the morning will go.
"Make sure everyone is getting enough sleep. Get as much done the night before, if possible, so that you can get a few extra minutes of sleep the next morning. Get up before your kids," suggested one 42-year-old mom.
"Go to sleep at a reasonable hour, and you will feel better the next day. A good night's sleep will affect everything you do," added one 39-year-old dad.
For many families, this means establishing and sticking to a consistent bedtime routine.
Amerisleep staff writer April Mayer reflected on what the study really means for families. "The difference between a terrible school morning routine and a wonderful, family-centered one has a lot more to do with sleep than we think," she noted.
Jerry Bubrick, PhD, agreed. "If a child is sleep-deprived everything is harder," he noted.
We're all guilty of skimping on sleep for one reason or another. It's important not to let that bad habit get the best of your family, however. Fine-tuning the family sleep schedule can be all the difference between a pleasant or nightmarish 47 minutes in the morning.
