transform annoying kids

Every morning you start the day with the same get-ready-for-school argument and round out each evening with a homework, brush-your-teeth, I-don't-care-what-Johnny's-mom-bought trifecta. Here are 3 easy steps to help transform your annoying kids.

1. carve (out time)
Captain Obvious says: Your kids want your attention. They found out that driving you nuts works, but not entirely because the attention they are getting includes you working on your frown lines rather than working on parent/child bonds--not their first goal, but it'll do in a pinch if they don't know any other way to engage you. Give them what they want on your terms. Set 30 minutes aside, turn off your phone, and be (as in a Zen, in-the-now moment) with your kids. Do what they like to do--paint, ride bikes, play with lovies. Quality is so much more than quantity. Satisfy their need for 1:1 time, give them your full attention.

2. channel Gandhi
If mornings are the toughest (read: worst) time of day you spend with your kids, use Gandhi's quote as your mantra: Be the change you wish to see in the world. If it drives you nuts that your kids aren't up, dressed, fed and have lunches packed when you emerge from your room, then be the change by waking up 15 minutes earlier, walk the kids thru key parts of the morning. Your built in extra 15 minutes won't make you late and you are modeling (one of the strongest forms of learning) exactly how you want your kids to organize their morning (teaching time management).

3. compartmentalize
Instead of thinking I can't stand my kids in the morning!, think, I can't stand the arguments in the morning! Sounds like semantics, but it's so much more. To say you can't stand your kids is a general comment about who they are as individuals, fairly hard and involved to change. Saying you can't stand the arguments is much smaller and easy to change. Compartmentalize each behavior/time of day that you struggle with and tackle each one at a time. Before you know it, change will be on the way!