GMA:Handling Rough Morning Schedules

Feb. 12 -- If only it were "just another manic Monday," like the Bangles song. Instead, many families struggle to get out the door every day of the week.

Good Morning America viewers are no strangers to hectic mornings. And after our last segment on hectic mornings aired, many viewers wrote in to share some of their secrets to smooth mornings.

Here are some of those tips:

From Calendars to MusicKaren from Crystal Lake, Ill., has the morning routines down to a science. Her secret? Getting up and ready before the children, planning the night before and keeping a calendar.

"Have children mark on school lunch schedules days they are buying lunch or taking lunch. Check lunch schedule and set out lunch box if applicable. Pack non perishable items so in the a.m. you can complete with sandwich, juice, etc. while making breakfast and put in backpack," she wrote.

"On Sunday night, check school calendars for any special dress days in the week- making sure the 'necessary' items are clean for that day. Lay out clothes (including shoes) the night before. Give your child two choices of outfits for the next day, "Which would you like to wear tomorrow?"

She also keeps a file folder next to a calendar of children's activities, so that if one has a special event, such as a field trip, she knows what groceries she needs to buy.

To keep the mood light in the morning, another mother, Linda, sang to her children.

"It was a little reveille that announced Mom and Dad were coming in to wake them up. Normally, I pulled one layer of blankets off so they started to adjust to the room temperature...we keep our house cool," she wrote.

Breakfast in a Bag Susan from Camp Hill, Pa., said that when her now-grown son was in elementary school, he had attention deficit disorder and was a handful in the morning.

"To help my sanity I put him to bed in his clothes for the next day. Sounds awful? Not as awful as yelling at your kid for an hour and then you both feel crummy," she wrote.