Guest Author - Sonja Meyer

Is your morning rush hour a whirlwind of dodging traffic, passing around Cheerios and wondering whether there are any diapers left at daycare? And that's before you even leave the house?

If so, it's a good idea to plan how you are going to handle the back-to-school transition.

Here are five ways to make getting out the door to work and school easier each morning:

1. Plan lunches a week ahead of time. Make a grocery list, buy what you need, and post the menu plan on the fridge. Every night, make lunches.

2. Help your youngsters pick clothing the night before. Give them two choices. Hang their choice on the doorknob or place it beside their beds. Ditto for your clothes.

3. If you are early to rise, make sure you are early to bed. Set an early bedtime for the kids and enforce it. Cranky kids are impossible to get moving in the morning and no one needs the stress. Make sure you get enough sleep, too.

4. Stock up on quick-and-easy breakfast foods that everyone likes. You don't want to have a struggle over what’s for breakfast when it's almost time to go. There are so many options for breakfast you should be able to find several that the kids will like, and you, too. Think cereals, bananas, cereal bars, yogurt cups, cinnamon toast, bagels, toaster waffles, etc. When all else fails, why not let them have peanut butter and jelly?

5. Keep your humor. If everyone's had enough rest and a full tummy, it will be easier to keep your wits when little things go wrong. And they will go wrong (like the baby spitting up all over her outfit the second time or the toilet overflowing because your potty-training toddler used just a little too much paper). Find humor in the situation, sing silly songs to keep the kids moving and race to see who can jump into the car first.