If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Getting it together in the morning
I started working a full time job a few months ago and mornings have
become a major issue. I really need to be out of the house by 7:30 in order to take DD#2 to daycare and then get to work by 8 a.m. This is totally not happening. None of the kids are morning people, but this is getting ridiculous. Without fail, I wake them up before 7 and they spend too long fooling around, or throwing an extended fit (the smallest), and I get upset and start yelling. I need suggestions for how to make mornings more manageable before I lose my job since I'm always late! TIA, Tracy |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Getting it together in the morning
On Mon, 26 Apr 2004 08:12:05 -0400, Tracy L. Cramer
wrote: None of the kids are morning people, but this is getting ridiculous. Without fail, I wake them up before 7 and they spend too long fooling around, or throwing an extended fit (the smallest), and I get upset and start yelling. Do as much as you can to prepare the night before. Pack lunches and put them in the refrigerator, make sure all the homework is in the back packs. Try getting them to bed earlier, eliminating naps if that is a problem for the youngest. For older children, you can make this a consequence of their dawdling in the morning. If they dawdle and make you late, then bedtime is 1/2 hour earlier that evening. If they are able to get up and get off on time, then they can stay up until their regular bedtime. Get alarm clocks for the older children and make them responsible for getting up and ready rather than waking them yourself. Sometimes just taking yourself out of the picture helps kids be ready to get out the door. Have breakfast ready before you call them to go or get breakfast at McD's on the way to school if they like that kind of thing. With older children, sit down with them and brainstorm solutions. Let them choose from whatever acceptable alternatives they come up with. If you can afford it and they don't have to be to school early, hire a sitter to come and take them to school, at least for a while until they can get into the routine themselves. Good luck. -- Dorothy There is no sound, no cry in all the world that can be heard unless someone listens .. The Outer Limits |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Getting it together in the morning
Tracy L. Cramer wrote:
I started working a full time job a few months ago and mornings have become a major issue. I really need to be out of the house by 7:30 in order to take DD#2 to daycare and then get to work by 8 a.m. This is totally not happening. None of the kids are morning people, but this is getting ridiculous. Without fail, I wake them up before 7 and they spend too long fooling around, or throwing an extended fit (the smallest), and I get upset and start yelling. I need suggestions for how to make mornings more manageable before I lose my job since I'm always late! I think the biggest thing that helps with mornings is doing everything possible the night before. Pack bags, lay out clothes, even put out the breakfast dishes if you need to. If there are arguments over clothes, have the child pick out the night before. Be sure to do the same for yourself. Is Dad around to help out too? If there's an issue with kids watching tv/playing GameBoy/etc. before they're ready to go out the door, then save the treat for when they're completely ready to go (down to the shoes). We confiscate GameBoys at night and dole them out only when everyone is ready to go ;-) Best wishes, Ericka |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Getting it together in the morning
"Tracy L. Cramer" wrote in message ... I started working a full time job a few months ago and mornings have become a major issue. I really need to be out of the house by 7:30 in order to take DD#2 to daycare and then get to work by 8 a.m. This is totally not happening. None of the kids are morning people, but this is getting ridiculous. Without fail, I wake them up before 7 and they spend too long fooling around, or throwing an extended fit (the smallest), and I get upset and start yelling. I need suggestions for how to make mornings more manageable before I lose my job since I'm always late! Like everyone said, do everything the night before. Get up extra early. Brush teeth, change clothes and go. That's what we do at our house. DS gets breakfast at daycare. With multiple kids, perhaps a competition will work? Whoever gets done first gets to stay up an extra 15 minutes that night? |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Getting it together in the morning
"Tracy L. Cramer" wrote in message ... I started working a full time job a few months ago and mornings have become a major issue. I really need to be out of the house by 7:30 in order to take DD#2 to daycare and then get to work by 8 a.m. This is totally not happening. None of the kids are morning people, but this is getting ridiculous. Without fail, I wake them up before 7 and they spend too long fooling around, or throwing an extended fit (the smallest), and I get upset and start yelling. I need suggestions for how to make mornings more manageable before I lose my job since I'm always late! TIA, Tracy Echoing the "do as much as possible the night before" advice. I've found that, for my daughter, 1/2 hour is just not enough time for her to get ready. If I need to be out of the house at 7:30, I would wake her up at 6:30. It sounds impossibly early, but she really needs a full hour to get dressed, brush teeth and hair, eat breakfast and get ready to go. If she finds the wake-up time too early, we talk and move her bedtime 1/2 hour earlier. DD also has ONE place where she has to put her "green bag" (her school bag), jacket and shoes. I always put her lunch box in the same place. Theoretically, all she has to do is grab the stuff and go. But in practice, it's not so quick. |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Getting it together in the morning
Echoing the "do as much as possible the night before" advice. I've found
that, for my daughter, 1/2 hour is just not enough time for her to get ready. If I need to be out of the house at 7:30, I would wake her up at 6:30. It sounds impossibly early, but she really needs a full hour to get dressed, brush teeth and hair, eat breakfast and get ready to go. If she finds the wake-up time too early, we talk and move her bedtime 1/2 hour earlier. I thought the same 2 things - do almost everything at night and wake up earlier. DD also has ONE place where she has to put her "green bag" (her school bag), jacket and shoes. I always put her lunch box in the same place. Theoretically, all she has to do is grab the stuff and go. But in practice, it's not so quick. I do the exact same thing - backpack always goes in one place, as do shoes, jackets, etc... The main thing for me would be waking up earlier. |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Getting it together in the morning
Bruce Bridgman and Jeanne Yang wrote: Echoing the "do as much as possible the night before" advice. I've found that, for my daughter, 1/2 hour is just not enough time for her to get ready. Heavens, no. Mine need at least an hour. If I need to be out of the house at 7:30, I would wake her up at 6:30. It sounds impossibly early, but she really needs a full hour to get dressed, brush teeth and hair, eat breakfast and get ready to go. If she finds the wake-up time too early, we talk and move her bedtime 1/2 hour earlier. Since mine are often up at 6:30 a.m. without my waking them, I don't consider it impossibly early at all. If I had to be out of the house by 7:30, I'd get them up at 6 so I didn't feel rushed. Clisby |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
Getting it together in the morning
Tracy L. Cramer wrote in message . ..
I started working a full time job a few months ago and mornings have become a major issue. I really need to be out of the house by 7:30 in order to take DD#2 to daycare and then get to work by 8 a.m. This is totally not happening. None of the kids are morning people, but this is getting ridiculous. Without fail, I wake them up before 7 and they spend too long fooling around, or throwing an extended fit (the smallest), and I get upset and start yelling. I need suggestions for how to make mornings more manageable before I lose my job since I'm always late! You might just need to get them up earlier -- We get up at 6:15 in order to leave at 7:30. My kids are younger than yours I think (3.5 and 1) and need my full attention to get dressed, etc. You say your kids are not morning people -- maybe getting up earlier (and getting to be earlier) would allow some waking up time before they are expected to get ready to go. Like others, I've found that doing as much as possible the night before helps. I have also had trouble with extreme dawdling from the 3 year old. We used to eat breakfast and then get dressed, and she would draw getting dressed out as long as possible, until I got mad. That improved after I "left without her" (She was in tshirt and underwear, refusing pants and shoes. I just picked up the baby and walked out the door with all the stuff. She came crying out the door carrying her pants and shoes. After I got the stuff and baby in the car, I helped her finish getting dressed on the driveway. Getting dressed as been better since then, but she started drawing breakfast out (30 minutes to eat a bowl of cereal). So we switched getting dressed to before breakfast, and just cut breakfast off at 7:30. So it is something we constantly adapt. -Jan |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
Getting it together in the morning
In article ,
Tracy L. Cramer wrote: I started working a full time job a few months ago and mornings have become a major issue. I really need to be out of the house by 7:30 in order to take DD#2 to daycare and then get to work by 8 a.m. This is totally not happening. None of the kids are morning people, but this is getting ridiculous. Without fail, I wake them up before 7 and they spend too long fooling around, or throwing an extended fit (the smallest), and I get upset and start yelling. I need suggestions for how to make mornings more manageable before I lose my job since I'm always late! I don't know how old your kids are, but one thing that works for a friend of mine is that if her kids leave the bedroom without getting dressed, she gets to choose what they wear. It gets them dressed pretty quickly! You could set a timer or an "alarming clock" (one of my kids' expression) and if they're not dressed by the time it rings, you get to choose what they wear *and* stuff them into it. It's unpleasant enough that they might race the clock. Also, half an hour probably isn't enough time. With my twins (age 3) we wake up at 7:00 to get out of the house at 8:00 -- and that's without eating breakfast at home! They each have a bottle while I read them a few books (~20 minutes); this starts everything off calmly. Plus, they get sugar in their systems right away so they're not being cranky about breakfast. I dress them, and then they dash off to play while I round up their breakfast (they eat it at daycare) and my bags for work. I put on my shoes and socks, their shoes and socks and jackets (sort of while they're playing) and then usher them out the door. We're out by 8:00. Can you possibly extend your morning routine to an hour with the kids? Take a bit of time right away playing or reading to them; that'll get them out of bed. Again, most of this is geared toward smaller kids, but even teens might react well to some of this....especially to your picking out their clothes if they're slow! good luck, - marty (mom to Andie & alex, 3-year-old girls) |
#10
|
|||
|
|||
Getting it together in the morning
"Clisby" wrote in message ... Since mine are often up at 6:30 a.m. without my waking them, I don't consider it impossibly early at all. If I had to be out of the house by 7:30, I'd get them up at 6 so I didn't feel rushed. Clisby Not impossibly early for DD - impossibly early for me But yeah, we get up around 6:30 to 7:00 although we don't have to leave the house until 8:30. If DD is dressed, brushed, clean and fed and she's made her lunch, then she can watch TV until we leave. Jeanne |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Are they right to show abortions on TV? | Chris Scaife | General | 37 | April 14th 04 02:12 PM |
need help with playgroup problem | hobbes | General | 18 | March 1st 04 06:39 PM |
Long car trips and infants | M. Tettnanger | General | 29 | January 28th 04 07:56 PM |
POLL: tv for the toddler | elizabeth emerald | General | 45 | December 4th 03 06:57 PM |
15 month old's activities | elizabeth emerald | General | 11 | December 4th 03 11:53 AM |