Ok, I’m taking an informal poll. On school days, I can get away with getting out of bed within a few minutes, plus or minus, of my kids. But on ski days, I need a head start. 

I try, as best I can, to get the gear laid out the night before. I make sure to charge up the battery packs on my boot heaters (these are a must, and I will extol their many virtues in a forthcoming blog post, promise.), assemble both kids’ base layers, I get the kids’ stuff into neat stacks in the mudroom—and try to get them about 85 percent dressed before we get in the car. Admittedly, there have been mornings when I have had to dig in the hamper for ski socks or long-johns, but with the advent of fabric freshener sprays, this is an acceptable practice.

The one item I never have to scramble for is the kids’ ski passes. Thanks to Ski Uncle, they are attached to their helmets. I am not a fan of hanging anything around their necks to begin with, and I think it’s a dicey proposition that often results in the pass itself flying up to hit them in the face. Plus, after wrapping the pass cord around the helmet’s goggle buckle, we seal the deal with duct tape—it ensures the pass is always on them, since they are not allowed to board the lift without their helmets. On the off-chance they misplace the helmet, it’s easily ID’d as theirs at lost-and-found.

 Oh, and can I, on that note, extol the virtues of Lost & Found at Snow Park Lodge? Goggles, shades and even (once) my wallet AND cell phone (sorry, honey), have been recovered there thanks to the kindness of the strangers at Deer Valley.

 What’s your ski-day morning survival secret?