August 26, 2013 at 09:16AM

I am NOT a morning person. Anybody who has attempted to wake me up or talk to me in the morning is no doubt laughing themselves silly at the understatement. BUT Last year I started something that has made school morning significantly easier. So, if you're not a morning person, or have a hard time getting the kids off to the bus on time, read on and I'll share my secrets ;) First, just for my own benefit, when my alarm goes off I've taken to staying in bed, but doing something on my phone. Usually it's just a FB check. Not because I feel so desperately in need to see what has happened while I'm asleep, but because the act wakes me up gradually and makes it easier for me to get out of bed. Also, on particularly stiff morning I can do a little VERY gentle stretching during that time so I can stand up when I get around to braving the day. The brilliant part, is the 3 call method for getting out the door. My girls love being the first ones to the bus stop. Each "call" is initiated by an alarm set on my phone. I actually have one alarm set for "first call", then hit snooze if they didn't all leave then. The snooze on that alarm is set for 2 minutes. "Second call" comes after those two minutes, then two minutes after that is "Last Call". If we're running behind, that gives us enough warning to fit in the necessary stuff. If they leave at first call they are almost always the first ones to the bus stop. Even if they don't leave until last call, they have enough time to walk normally out the door and to the bus stop before the bus rounds the corner. Now days, instead of shoving them out the door as I see the bus coming, it's rare for them to leave even as late as last call. In the winter when it's really cold they will sometimes choose to stay in the house until last call, but they're ready before then. It has made mornings SO much easier! And since it's an alarm on my phone, they can't whine at me for rushing them ;) (I learned that trick years ago with when bedtime was a point of contention. If it was the phone alarm saying it was bedtime then they grumbled less at me ;) ) via Facebook