Help for Weekend Mornings!

Let’s face it…it is a weekend morning and what you’d REALLY like to do is take a moment to breathe, get a cup of coffee, chat with your spouse, and RELAX a moment. Seems like some far off dream for parents who have preschoolers at home, but even with church, errands, etc. you CAN find a little downtime!What does your child like for breakfast? On Saturday Mornings we have what is known as GYOF (GET YOUR OWN FOOD!) mornings. On Friday night, we make lunch bags of foods chosen (with a little assistance) that can be eaten for breakfast the next morning. Last week our 5 yr. old chose ham, cheese, lettuce (yes, he LIKES lettuce) on a bagel, strawberries, and a Clif Kid Z bar. I’d love to say that he drinks milk, but he is a WATER child – so IN went the water bottle. He LOVES getting up in the AM and getting his own breakfast this ONE time a week. I love that he LIKES it and my husband and I can actually have coffee and TALK. Clean-up…put anything not EATEN back into the lunch bag and throw the others away.

Now what?…a little TV is OK with me, but we aren’t big tv people. Again, with a little PREP work the night before, there can be plenty of opportunities for PLAY. We’ve made a weekend list of possible activities. We took pictures of special toys, craft items, books, etc. that are used ONLY on the weekends. Post the pictures on cardstock and hang up on the refrigerator. IF your child needs an idea for an activity, they can LOOK at the poster to help. Lay out supplies on Fri. evening before bed so that your child will know where they are.

The plan never runs completely without assistance, but it does offer a moment for a break at the end of a work week. Children like the independence of helping themselves; and you MAY just have a chance to sneak in a few pages of your favorite book. Blessings for a great rest of your weekend!