I hate that nowadays the hot phrase in our house is “You’re wasting time baby girl.” For one reason or another it’s always, “Eat faster,” or “Don’t take too long,” or “You have 5 minutes.” We’re often talking about time somehow or another.

But, it’s necessary. Life dictates it to be so.

I HAVE to be at work at a certain time. Which means she HAS to be to preschool at a certain time. And that means we have to leave the house at a certain time in order to avoid the bulk of traffic.

One must follow the other. And if one part falls behind by even one minute, the entire schedule is thrown off.

Now, I realize that teaching her a sense of time and that she can’t take forever to do something is a good thing. It’s not like she won’t have to follow a schedule when she starts school. So in a sense, I know that providing some very basic time management skills early on will do her good later.

But, it still sucks to hear yourself say “hurry” in a variety of ways so often. Especially when I just want to allow her to run and play freely without such a heavy sense of responsibility at the age of three.

So, I turn to you. My very own parenting experts.

What eases your morning and evening routines so that everything flows smoothly and right on schedule?