It starts when you buckle your new baby into his car seat for the first time and ends when he drives off into the sunset, hopefully on his way. And in between those two momentous occasions are the untold miles you drive with your kids.

This is easy, you think at first, until your baby is old enough to bean you with her plastic keys, or drop her bottle and scream her ” You can’t reach me because I’m in the back seat and you’re in the front seat” scream until you drive across four lanes of traffic and full over to retrieve it.Those early years are spent driving to doctor’s appointments day- care or play dates. And then one day you wake up and you’re professional chauffeur, driving from home to school to soccer practice piano lessons to swim team to the skating rink to a thousands birthday parties a year.

More families, no matter how long they’ve been doing the to work and school routine, still have days when they oversleep, the kids forget their homework, and everyone gets stuck in traffic. It’s going to happen. But there are a number of things you can do to get your family ready for tomorrow morning with fewer hassles headaches. The following are some ways to consider:

Do everything the night before. Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do tonight. Sign school papers or assignment books, check homework, read reports, pack swimming gear, make lauches. Whatever it is that eats up your time in the morning, see if you can handle in the night before.

Have a going out place. Wherever your family exits, make sure they’ve got all their belongings there waiting for them. Designate an information center. hang a bulletin board or reserve counter space by the door for notes that need to be signed, papers  that need to be returned, or items that need parental approval. Use this area also for important items you might need to find at a moment’s notice: things like your member at work, emergency phone numbers, and your family activity calendar.

Use a color- coded calendar to list activity. Use a different colorfor each person in the family. The most important thing about the family is that you use it regularly, and teach all other family members to do tha same. Be day ahead clothes consious. Make sure the next day’s clothes are set out ready to be slipped on at a moment’s notice.