Tips from a Busy Mom: Taming Morning Madness

I don't know how it is at your house, but mornings are crazy around here. It's easy to get overwhelmed. With two kids going to school at different times this year, I have to make sure our mornings run as smoothly as possible. Here are a few things I do to make mornings easier:

1. Makes lunches the night before. Right now, I have one child who eats school lunch almost every day (not sure how she stomachs that), one who has a homemade lunch, and a hubby who takes lunch to work three to four times a week. There is no way I could get everyone off to where they need to go on time if I tried to make lunches in the morning. And actually, I've found it much easier to make the Lil' Diva's lunch right when she comes home from school these days. I'm already downstairs because I try not to work in my office when they're home. She has her afternoon snack and I pack her lunch for the next day, which makes my evening less crazy, too. 
2. Set out clothes the night before or have some idea of what the kids are going to wear. When the girls were younger, I would set their clothes out the night before. At this point, they are old enough to choose their own clothes, but one day I won't be waking them up for school or picking clothes out of their closets for them, so while they still want me to do it, I will. When I shag them out of bed in the mornings, I grab an outfit I know they like from their closets and carry it downstairs with me. It's part of our routine and works well. 
3. Keep their backpacks in the same spot every day. Each of my girls has one spot that their backpacks go once they are done with homework. That way we aren't searching high and low for backpacks--or homework--in the morning. 
4. Plan the morning menu the night before. My husband gets his own breakfast, but the girls don't yet. If I plan what I will make for them the night before, then I'm not bugging half-asleep children to tell me what they want to eat. Each night before bed, they spend an hour watching TV with their dad and read with me for half an hour. In between those activities, we discuss breakfast, so we always have a morning plan.

Do you have any morning madness tips?