Catherine Parsons has her a.m. act together. Before the educational
administrator and mom of two slips into sleepwear the night before,
backpacks are fully loaded, the breakfast table is set, alarms are
programmed and wardrobes are selected. Of course, organization makes
absolutely no difference on the mornings her clothing-opposed
4-year-old refuses to eat a single Cheerio. "I have been the mom in a
business suit and heels carrying a screaming child to the car in his
pj's—throwing his bag of clothes and breakfast into the backseat and
hoping I don't lose it on the way to day care."

We know you  feel Catherine's exasperation. So much so that you
resort to some, um, interesting tactics to keep your mornings on track.
Answers to a recent reader poll asking how you deal with the a.m. rush
included rubbing ice cubes down your sleepyhead's back, blaring
marching-band music, letting your late riser board the bus barefoot and
using motion detectors to make sure kids don't come downstairs until
they are dressed. One mom from Texas straight-out bribes her
preschooler: "If we get out of the house on time, we can stop for a
doughnut. If we dawdle, no doughnut. It's horrible, corrupt and morally
irresponsible, but by that time I could use a doughnut, too."

You move mountains to get your kids where they need to be each day, and
what do you get? "After recently asking my four-year-old to get dressed
(for the third time)," one mom writes, "he marched into the bathroom
and proclaimed that I was 'fired' from being his mom." Not the best way
to start your day.

Breakfast battles and mad dashes out the door leave you
discombobulated. You forget your cell phone in its charger, you don't
get the chance to pack your own lunch (which means another meal at the
vending machine), and you're aggravated even before you set foot in the
office. In other words, you can't take care of you. Okay, so mornings
with your family may never be easy, but there are ways to make them
easier. Here are clever strategies, games and ideas for adding
sanity—even a little serenity—to your early hours.

You Snooze, You Win
Playing "snooze alarm" works for many reluctant risers. Some use an
actual alarm clock—selected and set (with grown-up assistance) by the
malingerer in question. When kids feel involved and have a sense of
control, they're more likely to wade willingly into the morning
routine. In other households, parents pay several personal wake-up
calls. "I start to wake up my six-year-old triplets by turning on the
light and giving them a morning back rub," says reader Michelle Yoder,
a human resource specialist in Honey Brook, PA. "Then about ten minutes
later Daddy will go in to do the real wake-up call." Waking a child 20
minutes earlier will give her time to adjust and collect herself. If
you don't just bounce right out of bed, what makes you think she will?

If a wake-up-in-stages routine doesn't work, the thought of an earlier
bedtime might. Hearing that they'll have to hit the hay one half hour
earlier is all the motivation some need to get moving. Says one reader:
"When someone in our house is consistently grumpy and problematic in
the mornings, we adjust to an earlier bedtime—parents included."

Another strategy for those stuck between the sheets is to set a
kitchen timer for a few minutes, then tell your child that his feet
need to be on the floor by the time it goes off, says psychologist Ruth
Peters, PhD, author of Overcoming Underachieving.

You can use the timer, too. Linger too long in the shower? Over the
morning paper? At the mirror? Set that buzzer to keep yourself on track.

What to Wear
Getting kids from jammies to jeans can be the biggest stumbling block
in the morning. You finally wrestle your toddler into her sweater only
to turn your back and find her naked in front of the TV dancing to Dora the Explorer. Laying out clothes the night before is one thing. Getting them on your children is another. In their book How to Con Your Kid,
authors David Borgenicht and James Grace suggest an overall game
plan—for instance, letting kids pick their clothes, within limits. Keep
things moving with any number of "short cons," such as asking, "Do you
want to wear this outfit or that outfit?" or "Do you want to take pasta
or a sandwich to school today?" Or play clothing store, Borgenicht and
Grace suggest. Pretend you're the salesgirl in a boutique and your
child is the customer. "We have two lovely shirts on sale. Which one
would you like?" When your child picks one, compliment her choice and
add, "Now let's see if it fits." Taping pictures on your child's
dresser drawers so he'll remember where to find pants, socks and so on
will help him dress himself. Make sure clothes are easy to pull on and
not so tight that your child has to struggle with the zipper.

Conning your kid is really about presenting a limited menu. Toddlers
and preschoolers have trouble moving from one activity to another,
Borgenicht says. "They're happy in their pajamas, and to them, getting
dressed is a major transition," he says. "With my kids, if I just say
something with a big smile and some enthusiasm, that's enough: 'Hey!
We're going to pick some pants, won't that be fun!' You really just
need to make the thing you want them to start doing seem better than
the thing they're currently doing." This also works well when trying to
get a child from eating breakfast to brushing his teeth. "The beauty of
short cons is that they're really just forced choices," confides
Borgenicht. "You're giving your kids a voice in the matter but forcing
them to make a choice that will ultimately lead them down the path you
want them on."

Many families find that music also helps get things rolling. Some
parents blast their kids' favorite iPod tunes to infuse a little energy
into an otherwise groggy dresser. Reader Marcia Rhodes even
choreographed her daughter's morning routine: "I had enough songs for
thirty minutes, and Marika knew that by the time the song 'Walking on
Sunshine' was playing, she had to be dressed and ready," she says.

When it comes to the closet, what's good for the kids is good for Mom, too. Make sure to avoid
your own wardrobe malfunctions by choosing your clothing the night
before. Wearing a new silk suit? Don't get dressed until after your
toddler eats his jelly toast and washes his hands. And if you're
feeling sluggish, create your own musical cues to keep your routine
rhythmic.

Beat the Clock
If your kids are little, turn as many steps of their morning routine as
you can into games, the experts say. Michelle Yoder's husband, Scott,
"races" their kids to see who can get dressed or into the bathroom
first. You might even find the fun infectious. Racing the kids can help
you get a move on, too, and gets your blood pumping instead of boiling.

Sticker charts are a familiar motivational tactic, and special-ed
teacher Renee Campbell is one of several working moms who've tracked
their kids' compliance this way. Very young children will need a
picture chart, perhaps one you make together from pictures you cut out
of magazines or find on the Internet. The basic rule: The more involved
they are, the more apt they are to follow it. With kids who can read,
have a conference where you write up a checklist together. If Renee's
kids did everything on their checklists during the week, she treated
them to "Friday fun," going out for croissants "or some special
something" on Friday mornings.

Try a similar checklist system for yourself, to help you remember the
1,001 things you have to do before the a.m. caffeine starts coursing
through your veins.

Divide and Conquer
Not a morning person? Make a deal with Dad: He takes the morning shift,
and you take charge in the evenings picking up the kids and getting
dinner on the table. Or try the tag-team approach and divide morning
duties. Reader Gretel M. Ness says she and her husband split the care
of their 4-year-old daughter and 6-year-old son into "upstairs and
downstairs" tasks. "I am in charge of getting the kids showered and
dressed for school, while my husband is in charge of getting breakfast
ready for everyone and making the kids' lunches," she explains. "By the
time we're showered and dressed, all the kids and I have to do is come
downstairs, eat breakfast and run."

When All Else Fails
If your kids are too old for games or your little ones seem to
constantly outmaneuver you in the morning, it's time to consider
establishing consequences for difficult behavior. The repercussion for
not preparing the night before? You live without it. Declare a policy
that says, "If it's not packed, it's not going," suggests Dr. Peters.
Middle schoolers, for instance, are likely to be embarrassed that they
don't have their homework and less likely to forget it next time. Be
warned: So-called natural consequences like earlier bedtimes and missed
buses often aren't enough because the penalties may not matter—at least
not to the child. "Hit 'em where it hurts," Dr. Peters suggests. "And
that's the Xbox, TV, allowance." Taking away time for instant messaging
or visiting MySpace can be a powerful inducement. Fit the consequence
to the kid. Reader Michelle Hoover says, "For Dustin it's TV, but for
Kuuipo it's dessert." For reader Mindy Troge's 11-year-old daughter,
Kayleigh, it's all about cash. "If she didn't pack her lunch, she has
to spend her own money in the cafeteria. If she misses the bus, she has
to pay me for a ride."

Make sure expectations are specific, Dr. Peters asserts. "With
tweens, you have to specify what 'ready' is: Be ready by 7:15." Don't
just tell your child to get moving, she adds. " 'Now' is different for
kids and adults. Set a buzzer and say, 'By the time this goes off, you
need to be standing by the front door and ready to go.'"

Sanity Savers
Getting everyone into a groove during that a.m. rush goes a long way
toward keeping your own mornings—and mood—upbeat. "If the routine is in
place, that will allow time for Mom to have some peace," says Renee
Campbell. "Children react to Mom's stress." So schedule me-time into
your own routine. Snag a bubble bath before anyone else is up. Take
your coffee out to the garden and drink it while you water. Grab a
brisk walk or meet a friend at the gym—a great way to squeeze exercise
in with a gossip session.

Most important, parents should cut themselves some slack, says Christie Mellor, author of The Three-Martini Playdate: A Practical Guide to Happy Parenting.
"We start with incredibly high expectations, like the kids will get up
and spring forth and say, 'Hey, Mom, how can I help?' It's just not
going to happen," she warns. "The worst thing you can have is constant
tension in the house. Don't go through life holding onto unreal
expectations that are constantly unmet."

When one of Mellor's sons complained that he didn't like the way his
father made sandwiches, she declined to step in. Instead, she advised
the 8-year-old to volunteer to help get lunches ready. "It's supposed
to be kind of a team effort, and if you can impart that to your kids,
that's great," she says.

And if your best-laid plans fail? Take a deep breath and keep moving.
"Get comfortable with the good old 'pick him up and run' technique,"
Borgenicht and Grace advise. "If you do it with a smile on your face
and carry your fussy child in a funny way (like a sack of potatoes or
upside down or like flying Superman), he may even laugh despite the
fact that you're essentially dragging him away against his will."

So the next time you're that frantic mom in a suit and high heels
carrying a wailing kid to the car, stop. Flip him into Superman
position and turn the screaming into squeals of giggles. It's a whole
lot better to start your day with super powers than a super-sized guilt
trip.