Pre-School and Daycare

Lurker with a question about mornings

DD is 3.5 and has been in some form of "school" since she was 6 months old. School itself is not new to us, but this year with preschool, it's a WHOOOOOLE new world, LOL.  At her old schools and at her summer school just the past few months, we were able to sort of roll in whenever we wanted (I own my own business and help run a family business as well, so I have a very flexible schedule, and SAHM with her two days a week).

Now, preschool is REAL school!  The kiddos start at 8 am.  We live about 7 minutes from DD's school.  She is NOT used to getting up early like this (she is normally a sleeper-inner).  Going from getting to school at 9:30 or 10 to having to be there before 8 for carpool line is definitely difficult for both of us!  

So, what do you do to make mornings seamless and easy for everyone?  She's my only kid, and my DH is OOT a lot, so often it's just the two of us.  I'm a very organized person (the business I own is actually an organizing business), but this morning, we did not get up early enough to avoid the morning rush (got her up at 6:45-50 to be out the door by 7:40), and I HATE that.  We got to the carpool line in time so we weren't late, but I just want to make school mornings (3 days a week) run as smoothly as possible.  DD is kind of a slowpoke and NOT a morning person :)

TIA for any tips/advice!   

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Re: Lurker with a question about mornings

  • We don't turn on TV at all.  I also get up earlier than DD and get myself ready before waking her up so I can focus all my attention on getting her out the door.  We leave the house at 7:40 and I wake her up at 7:00 - I find that plenty of time to get ready and out the door.
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  • 1.  Bump up bed time so she's more likely to rise on her own and a more appropriate time for school instead of needing to be waken up.  For us the personality difference and total tone of the morning is completely different on days they wake up naturally vs the days I have to wake them up.

    2.  Start the habit of getting dressed before leaving her room in the morning.

    3.  Have bags packed and breakfast game plan in place the night before.  I've even gone so far as to have cereal, bowls and spoons sitting out on the table the night before.

    4.  Set your alarm so you're up and 100% ready to walk out the door before she even rises so that you're not trying to get both of you ready at the same time.

    5.  Lie to yourself about what time you need to leave the house.  Tell yourself you need to leave 15 minutes before you actually do.

    GL! 

    Our IF journey: 1 m/c, 1 IVF with only 3 eggs retrieved yielding Dylan and a lost twin, 1 shocker unmedicated BFP resulting in Jace, 3 more unmedicated pregnancies ending in more losses.
    Total score: 6 pregnancies, 5 losses, 2 amazing blessings that I'm thankful for every single day.
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  • I'm dealing with similar issues. We would get to daycare (which was 3 minutes away) around 8 am, but now we have to get to school (about 25 minutes away) by 7:50. AND I have to pack lunch and feed them breakfast, which I never had to do before!

    It's not easy, but I had to make a schedule of what time I wake up and eat, then what time the boys get woken up, what time DH showers, what time I shower, what  time we go downstairs, etc, and that's worked okay. We're still not leaving as early as I'd like, but we haven't been late to school yet, either. :)

    I wish I could get ready before I get them up, but the bathroom is right by their room, and me showering would wake them up and then they'd have to come use the bathroom, etc, etc. That would make life easier, but alas...

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  • I agree with Howleyshell, make sure she's getting enough sleep, which may require bumping her bed time back.

    DS has a strict bed time (except when out of town family is over) and he wakes up on his own like a clock.

    I also set out my clothes and DS's clothes for the week.  It may also help to write out a schedule at first in regards to when you do this and that in the mornings.  After some time, you won't need to reference the schedule.

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  • SUCH great ideas, ladies!!!  Thank you so much.  
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  • I get ds up and ready in the mornings by myself and have to get myself to work by 8:00. I have all our meals packed and labeled the night before. I have all our clothes, shoes and socks all sitting out. I have all of our bags by the front door. I go into his room and wake him after I put on my makeup and before I dry my hair so he has a few minutes to lay in bed and come alive while I dry my hair. I then load all our bags in the car before going to get him out of bed (this whole time his door has been open and his lamp on and he can hear me banging around so he's awake by the time i go back in there). After that, he gets on the potty while I slather him with sunscreen. We then brush his teeth, stick on his clothes, wet his hair with a spray bottle and comb it. We go downstairs and are out the door. I often have something small for him to eat on the way before he eats breakfast at school (usually nuts, an apple, etc). Having all our clothes, food and bags ready ahead of time really helps. And I pretty much dress him myself because it's much faster. I let him dress himself on the weekends.
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  • Great post!!! :) Marking for later!!!
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  • We are in our first week of fall preschool, but we did six weeks of summer preschool where I had to have all three of us out the door by 7:30 a.m. in order to get DD1 there on time. 

    Ditto howley on laying out as much as possible beforehand. I have complete outfits for both girls laid out on their dressers the night before (down to socks and what they're going to wear in their hair). I lay out two for DD1 so she can pick; whichever one she doesn't choose stays out so I'm only adding one different outfit each day.

    Her backpack is loaded and waiting, and her water bottle is on the counter waiting to be filled. Diaper bag with DD2's stuff (except sippy, also on the counter ready to be filled) is either by the door or already out in the car. Sunscreen is ready to put on right before DD1 gets her shoes on. 

    The other thing that helps is quick breakfasts that are as non-messy as possible, and/or light-colored/unlikely to stain/easily brushed off. I aim for fresh fruit and some kind of protein. Cereal bars, a banana, and some cheese. Scrambled eggs if I have time. Toaster waffles or toast with cream cheese, not syrup; mini-muffins; etc. The bonus on the cereal bars or muffins is that in a pinch, DD1 can eat them in the car -- she can be really pokey about eating, so I try to leave as much time as possible for that stretch of the morning.

     I also try really hard not to take the girls back upstairs once we're downstairs. They get distracted by toys or books and it's that much harder to herd them out the door. 

    Some things you can't control, though. Without fail, DD2 has her morning poop just as we're heading out the door, or (like today) right as we unload from the car at preschool. 

     

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    DD1, 1/5/2008 ~~~ DD2, 3/17/2010
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     I also try really hard not to take the girls back upstairs once we're downstairs. They get distracted by toys or books and it's that much harder to herd them out the door. 


    Ditto this if you've got a 2 story house!!!

    We ended up putting extra tooth brushes, tooth paste, sunscreen, and hair brush in the powder bath downstairs to avoid the process/distraction of heading back upstairs after breakfast.

     

    Our IF journey: 1 m/c, 1 IVF with only 3 eggs retrieved yielding Dylan and a lost twin, 1 shocker unmedicated BFP resulting in Jace, 3 more unmedicated pregnancies ending in more losses.
    Total score: 6 pregnancies, 5 losses, 2 amazing blessings that I'm thankful for every single day.
  • DD just started preschool on Tuesday and has to be there at 8 AM. Her school is close to my job, so I have to get up, get dressed, get both kids dressed and out the house, drop the baby off, drop DD off, and then get to work by 8 AM. DH leaves at 6 AM, so he can't help at all. Here is my schedule.

    The night before:

    1. Take out clothes for all three of us, iron them and lay them out. This includes shoes, under clothes, jackets, diapers, hair bows, etc...

    2. Pack all bags and sit them by the front door. This includes the diaper bag, book bag, my purse, and my computer bag. Anything that needs to leave with us is sat in the foyer at night, except lunch bags.

    3. Pack lunch for both of us, put it in the lunch bags, and sat the bags in the fridge. This way, all I have to do is grab them in the mornings.

    4. Put both children in the tub. This saves a ton of time in the mornings.

    5. Make sure both are in the bed by 8:30. DD usually does not go to sleep until 9:30, but she is in the bed the entire time.

    In the morning:

    6:15 AM - I wake up and get in the shower.  I comb my hair, brush my teeth and I get fully dressed.  Then, I go downstairs and load everything in the car.  That way, once the kids get up, I only have to get them ready and leave.

    6:50 AM ? I wake the baby up.  Sometimes he wants to eat in the mornings, so I get him up first to account for a feeding if needed.  I wash his face and get him fully dressed.

    Between 7:00 and 7:15 ? I get DD up.  I wash her face, brush her teeth, comb her hair, and get her fully dressed.

    Between 7:10 and 7:25 AM ? I ask DD if she wants breakfast.  The answer is usually a loud no because she hate to eat when she first wakes up.  If she does say yes, I give her something quick like yogurt, a banana, cereal, toast, etc?

    7:30 AM ? I load the kids into the car and we are off to the first stop.

    7:35 AM ? I drop the baby off and then go to DD?s school to drop her off.

    7:45 AM ? I drop DD off and then I am off to work.

    7:55 AM ? I am walking in the door at work.

    Note: This schedule does change occasionally, depending on the mood of my children when the wake up in the morning, so please be flexible.

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  • Do everything possible the night before - have all bags packed and by the door, have all clothes picked out the night before.  Does she eat breakfast at home before you go?  If so, get as much of that ready as you can (have bowl and spoon out for cereal as well as the box of cereal sitting next to it).  All you should need to do with DD is get her out of bed, get her dressed, teeth and hauir brushed and potty.  When all of that is done - eat breakfast with no districations (no TV, etc) and if needed, set the timer for each activity so you can plan - 5 mins for getting dressed, 2 mins to brush teeth, etc.  Plan in an extra 10 mins, especially in the beginning and if you live in a cold weather state, know that come winter, you will need an extra 5 mins or so to put on all the winter gear.  Also, try to keep to the same routine and order of things everyday so that she doesn't even have to think about it.  My kids eat at school and I can get them up and out the door in about 15 mins sicne we have been doing everything the same since they were babies more or less.  They know the routine and they have gotten used to it.  My 3 1/2 year old is not a morning person and I have built in an extra few mins to her morning for some cuddle time with me which helps her slowly wake up.    My 5 year old can do just about everything on her own with a little direction.
    Jenni Mom to DD#1 - 6-16-06 DD#2 - 3-13-08 
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