Mornings are so fraught and we always seem to be late or to forget something. What can I do to set the day off to a better start?

Here are some brilliant tips on how to enjoy your mornings instead of dreading them.

• Focus on doing the essentials. When time is of the essence, don't be distracted. To achieve this, everyone has to know what is expected.

• Establish a clear morning routine. Talk it through with the children and write a timetable. When you break it down, you may find that you are simply not allowing yourselves enough time, so it could just mean setting the alarm ten minutes earlier.

• Be prepared. Get the school uniform and equipment ready the night before – make that part of the evening routine – and get the children to sleep at a reasonable hour.

• Have subtle incentives. Agree on a routine in which getting dressed comes before breakfast, so that breakfast motivates them to get dressed.

• Establish rewards. If they are ready early, make sure that they can play a game or do something else that they like.

• Allow them to learn from the consequences of their actions. Once the routines are in place, if your children still waste time in the morning or forget their homework, they may have to deal with the undesirable consequences. Offer comfort without reminding them that they did not follow your suggestion. They already know this!

• Keep up the descriptive praise of their good behaviour.