It’s a problem for all parents. You have 1000 things to accomplish in the day including a 9am meeting with a potential client. In order to make it to the meeting on time you need the morning routine to go like clockwork. Unfortunately, your children don’t have the same sense of urgency that you do, and refuse to get dressed. What should you do? Here are 3 tips from various bloggers, to help you get your children out of the house on time every morning.

Kathy Slattengren of Pricelessparenting believes that the child needs to see the benefit of getting ready for school on time. She writes: ” In order for her son to be self-motivated to get dressed quickly in the morning, he needed to see a benefit in doing so. The benefit could be eating breakfast, being able to dress at home instead of at preschool or having time for a story. Whatever the benefit, mom should let him know ahead of time and then follow through on it. Mom could say “Please join me for breakfast just as soon as you are dressed. Breakfast will be served until 7:30.” If he gets dressed quickly, he’ll have time for breakfast. However, if he’s slow then he’s likely to miss the 7:30 time frame and also breakfast. Mom can definitely expect an uproar if he misses breakfast. She might be comforted in knowing that he will not starve and he will probably change his behavior so as not to miss breakfast in the future. ”

Give a weekly reward is the advice from MommySavers. ” I try not to engage in a power struggle, just tell her that if she doesn’t want to get dressed she can go in her pjs or that she won’t get her reward on Fri if she doesn’t get moving. She gets a reward on Friday for not getting any reports home from school all week and I have added getting out the door without tantrums/fights. We having been making it out w/out fights, but we are still rushing (which she doesn’t like and gets grumpy) or late (which I don’t like and I get grumpy). Looking for suggestions so we are happier ppl in the morn!”

Prepare the night before is the lesson from Karaskids. Summarizing her success in getting her kids off to Sunday school she writes, ” I know what you are thinking…it sounds like chaos, and with a little planning it could run smoother. Did I mention that I am a major procrastinator??? Getting everything ready ahead of time really does not even cross my mind. But, this week was a little different. I decided to shower the night before. I also got the lesson printed off and everything ready. I laid out the boys clothes. This morning ran fairly smoothly. Todd took over as usual for breakfast. While everyone was eating I got myself dressed and ready. Then, I ate my breakfast and had the boys dress themselves. I dressed McKenna and did her hair. Todd was ready and we were out the door on time.”

If you have a tip you’d like to share with other BizzyWomen on how to make mornings less stressful, post a comment for all our readers to see.

We all agree that we could all be better parents. While we are all quite busy, and time to read is definitely at a premium,  I have been checking out what experts think are some good books on the topic of parenting. Here are 4 books that may be worth a read.

5minutesformom has a review of ScreamFree Parenting. For the many parents low on patience, this book is critical to learn how to deal with our children without the need to raise our voice. (Raise your hand: How many of you sometimes lose it and start screaming at your kids?) Jennifer, of 5minutesformom, writes, “As [the author] so rightly observes, “Parenting is not about children, it’s about parents.” He fills us in on the definition of a true show of love, being not I love you for your benefit, or I love you for my benefit (as many parents do), but I love me for your benefit.”

Over at A Mother in Israel the blogger also has an extensive list of parenting book reviews on topics from breastfeeding to game therapy to try and better your relationship with you child. One of the reviews is about a book written by Naomi Stadlen entitled, “What Mothers Do: Especially When it Looks Like Nothing”.  A Mother in Israel says, “In the chapter, ‘So tired I could die,’ she discusses how mothers relate to the overwhelming fatigue of the early weeks. One mother pointed out that if she had more energy she might be out and about or doing housework instead of resting and caring for the baby, who can be easily cared for at that stage (minus the housework).”

Over on imperfectparent.com, Redsy takes a critical view of Neal Pollack’s Alternadad. She is not a big fan of ‘hip’ parenting and quotes Lisa Carver to make her point. She says,” Lisa Carver captures the essence of the problem beautifully: As a generation (X), what we know for sure is how to be sarcastic and irreverent. Parenthood is bigger than that. It inspires thankfulness, humility, rage,…wonder and a quiet sense of sacredness.”

And finally we have a parenting book written by Vanessa Van Petten called, “You’re grounded”.  Van Petten wrote the book when she was 17 years old. She says that the book, “gives teenagers tricks to extend their curfew and tells parents how to convince their teens to pick up after themselves. Every topic is brought onto the table, as Van Petten delves into teenage sex, underage drinking, video games and teen drug use. Her candor and personal anecdotes help teenagers to not feel alone in their experience of the tumultuous teenager years, while also calming parents fears by telling them how to prevent these issues from happening to their own children.”

Feel free to let us know about your favorite parenting book. After all, we can all be better parents.

With parents and children fully immersed in Back-to-School mode, I think that in many cases, sending your kids off to school maybe a more dificult adjustment for you than for your children, espcially for the younger ones. I am far from an expert in these issues, but from my own personal experience, I have found that most kids aren’t as nervous about their new surroundings as their parents are.  

I came across a really interesting blog by Run DMT who wrote about her daughter going back to school: “ To familiarize her with the routine, Allana rode the bus this morning.  Emmalynn and I left a few minutes later to meet Allana at school and walk her to class, but to our disappointment, we were too late.  With all the back to school congestion, we were stuck in traffic and as a result, we missed our opportunity to escort Allana to her new classroom.  Although I was upset, Allana didn’t seem the least bit concerned.  By the time we arrived at her classroom, she had already settled in nicely.  It seems I may have been more upset than she.”

That’s my feeling exactly. I like to compare sending your kids to school and teaching them how to swim. The fact is that the old adage of ‘jump in and learn to swim’ just seems so relevent. Small children are great at adjusting to new environments, and they take to it like a fish to water.

Parents. As the first day of school approaches, take a deep breath and relax. Your child isn’t the first one to ever go to school. Everything should should go smoothly. As my sister with 4 teenagers likes to remind me: Small children, small problems. Big children, big problems. Now that’s something to get nervous about!

Aaron Katsman is Managing Editor of the Israel Opportunity Investor newsletter. He is lead portfolio manager for the Israel Growth Portfolio and Managing Director of America Israel Investment Associates, LLC. For more information, go to www.israelnewsletter.com  or email aaron@profile-financial.com.