Your help required - top tips on surviving the school run

misspinkcat - can you just run past me how having the telly on can possibly be a help getting ready for school?!
Mine would be so busy watching it that they'd slop their milk all over the table. Then they'd want to watch the end of the programme before they went upstairs.
TV is for flopping in front of when they've got nothing better to do on a wet day. I don't have to enforce that in any way - they'd much rather get outside on their bikes or with a football. They do like to play with the PS2 before we get up at the weekend, though, but as they're 11 & 13 I don't have a problem with that. We didn't get a games console till ds1 was 11.

How to get ready for school on time.....have my ds!

This morning he woke me and dh at 5.00 (we get up at 6.15) he was fully dressed and said, 'Get up, I don't want to be late for school'

Because he is cute and rather sweet, we decided to let him live!

I cannot stand the pleading to watch the end of the programme before they'll get dressed, have breakfast, brush teeth, put on their shoes or whatever. Which is why I banned the TV before school. It works for us anyway.

YOu " no tv -ers must be mad.

Never in the course of history is tv more needed than when you get ready for school.

No TV or Playstation.
Radio on - seems to make them hurry up and not sit over breakfast staring into space.
Get up earlier than you think you need.
Empty dishwasher the night before and put the next clothes wash in the washing machine the night before too then all you have to do is switch it on in the morning.
If you want to walk but feel its a bit too far then scooters, once they are used to them, will speed you up. I have to wear trainers to keep up with the dc!

all the obvious ones have been done???? will i still be entered in the draw if i repeat them??

for us the simplest thing is lay out clothes for the morning... have bags by the door ready to go... basically get everything done the night before (including dinner money etc!)

but i have it easy as dh (who is a very good boy!... ssh! don't tell him i said this!) gets dd1 and ds1 up and takes them down at about 7pm... where they play and he gets them tehir breakfast and by the time i get down with dd2... at about 7:45 i do the dressing (if they aren't dressed a;ready) and do dd's hair (dh hates doing it and can only do very insipid pigtails! - plaits for me!) tehn out the door by 8:30

saadia - I always found it harder when only one was at school! So when your younger one goes, too you should find it a breeze!
Like you - I think that by sticking to a routine you can make life easy for yourself.
I've got friend who let their kids stay up till 11pm and have the TV on in the morning, then wonder why their mornings are so stressful!

I'm sorry if I come across as smug but I'm surprised it's such an issue getting kids ready for school in the morning. Perhaps it's because I only have one at school ATM.

I wake at seven, get ready myself, make ds1's sandwiches, make porridge for dss (nearly 5 and nearly 3). Wake them up, they have breakfast.

The brush their teeth, I iron their clothes, they get dressed.

Ds1 just takes his book bag and lunchbox with water bottle inside.

They put their shoes on and we're ready to go at 8.25 - obviously takes longer to get going in winter if the car has frozen over.

I must admit that I don't usually have time for breakfast though, so I have that when I get home.

My way:-

1. Get clothes ready the night before
2. Keep cereals and bowls in low cupboards so dcs can assist in setting table
3. keep spare toothbrushes in downstairs loo so no-one goes back upstairs
4. tv only allowed after everyone is dressed, breakfasted, clean (inc teeth) and have shoes on
5. dcs watch tv while I make packed lunches
6. coats are by front door and dcs collect these then their own scooter and wait by front door while I get the baby into pram

Dcs also have their own sticker chart showing times they have to do things by eg breakfast 8am. Agree taking responsibility for themselves is most important objective. My eldest ds (14) is out the door before I am even fully conscious!

DH puts the kids bedroom lights on when he gets up at 6.45am and they tend to be more awake when I wake them at 7am.

No TV at all.

Get dressed before breakfast but they put a non-school jumper on to protect uniform. This stays on until after teeth are brushed.

Everything laid out the night before. Reading records filled in the night before, all after-school clubs, letters etc dealt with.

Breakfast table laid and ready bar stuff from the fridge.

We have a 20 min walk to school, so the dc either ride a bike or take their scooter, and I walk or run depending on how fit I am feeling! Occasionally if it is absolutely tipping down or someone isn't feeling brilliant, we will take the car in which case we have an extra 15 mins at home and I never know what to do with myself!!

(The above constitutes an ideal morning in the Android household. What happens very often is that I shout and shout and shout until I am hoarse, DS can't do anything without moaning severely about it, DD can't go anywhere without trying several different hairstyles, and for a good part of our 20 min journey, none of us are talking to each other )

Each child has a calendar in his room marked with stuff needed that day.

Get it all ready the night before - especially the school tie!

Baths/hair wash in the evening.

No TV/computer/PS2 on a school morning... ever!

I find time to make packed lunches in the morning, but obviously it would save time to make them the night before.

Make sure they know what time they need to do things. eg in my kids' case - up at 7, finished breakfast by half past, dressed by 7.45, clean teeth - out the door at 8.05. So as long as the child can tell the time they soon know what they should be doing by what time.

Goes without saying that the easiest way to achieve a smooth morning routine is to make sure that your kids are getting enough sleep.

Mine go to bed at a reasonable time so they are bright and breezy at 7am. Kids who are allowed to stay up till all hours will be tired and grotty in the morning - a recipe for unpleasant conflict imo.

if possible,arrange to meet another set of parents/kids at a point on the way to school at a certain time. Nothing encourages them to get dressed/have breakfast and get out of the house quicker than the prospect of seeing their pals.

or...
If the school has a breakfast club use it. The stress of getting them into class on time will no longer be yours!

Giraffski, I have never thought of freezing sandwhiches before, what a great suggestion. I just do everything that everyone else does, but would add that yopu should star/reward chart the mornings so the first one dressed, teeth brushed etc gets a star. in our house 20 stars by the end of the month for helping mum means a trip to the pound shop (whoo-hoo!) If everyone gets a 20 stars then we go to the cinema or bowling.

also, theres a reverse school run as well, on the way home, pack a snack, because kids will probably be hungry and fractious. it's a lot easier to drive if they're eating a quick half sandwhich or something.

GF! How did she slink in? I meant fgs.

Agree re breakfasting the night before. Maybe like SOME mners kids they should sleep in their school uniform! GFs to be organised get up earlier!

do a last minute check of faces, front of jerseys and fingernails in full daylight, and keep flannels in the kitchen.

get them to bed at the right time the night before, so they get up easily.

have 2 bathrooms in your house, it makes things so much easier.

teach them that jogging to school instead of walking is healthy exercise.

only buy the same type of socks for your dd or ds , that way, you'll always have matching pairs for schooddays.

..or be so disorganised that your DC's do the organising. Although we have never actually forgotten anything vital, or got there disasterously late, my DS stands at the door saying "is it swimming day, Mummy?" and "have you got the keys, Mummy?" (OK, so I have locked us out of the house twice in the last 6 months, but never yet on the way to school )

THERE first

tell your dcs that the first child to arrive in the school playground with teeth cleaned and a hair-brushed gets a sweet from the head-teacher every day.
They'll never get their first so they wont know it's a lie.

Get someone else to take them to school while you stay in bed.

feed them their breakfast the evening before to save time

Ooh, if I'm going to be entered into a draw for a wii I'll post my tips, though they've all been covered already.

Packed lunches and snacks ready the night before.
Book bags and swimming kits etc ready and by the front door.
DS2's uniform including socks and pants laid out; DS1 is OK to find his stuff now.
On school nights, I prefer to shower and wash hair the night before as I am useless in the mornings.
Dress before the children.
No TV or Gameboy on school mornings.
Know exactly what the latest time is for each stage of your routine eg we should be getting shoes and coats on by 8.30.
If you're ready earlier than you need to be, go anyway. It is better to be 10 minutes early than risk missing the sweet spot.

I also shout a lot, mainly at DS2 who is always disappearing upstairs at crucial moments to find a pocket sized toy.

Never mind snowsuits for babies - try one of these (sorry, couldn't find a site in English) - DD (age 13 weeks) thinks, as do I, that 10am is a civilised time to get up - with this I can put her in her car seat, get DS to school, get home and have another hours sleep and she is none the wiser - and, importantly, neither is he - if he found out I would never hear the last of it!