Your help required - top tips on surviving the school run

who was it who once posted about putting the children to bed in their clothes to save time in the morning?

Keep your children hungry and alert - don't let them eat their breakfast till they are dressed and ready. (Helps to have a tempting breakfast).

After breakfast, all they have to do is clean their teeth, put on their coats and walk out of the door.

your other CHILD following breathlessly behind, not arm, sorry.. didn't read back the way it was supposed to!!

and another one.. build up your biceps so that you don't need to worry about putting shoes on your toddler- you can just grab them out of the car when you've blocked someone's drive and run holding them under one arm with your other one following breathlessly behind.. I really am hopeless at this, aren't I.. sigh

oh yes, and having kids that naturally get up at the crack of dawn (6.30 is normal here, god help us) helps once you've got the run to do.. that said the postman still catches me in my pjs ha ha ha

Lay out your own clothes too- especially if you're at that horrible pregnancy stage where you can't quite fit the maternity stuff but look like some bloated chav with your belly hanging out in everything you own - if you've got nothing to wear buy some black pjs and a long coat

Keep the vitamins in the car DS is the keeper of the vitamins. He can't wait to get to the car to get his jelly vitamins, so no dilly dallying at the last minute.

Get a job that means you have to have the kids dressed before you leave the house at 7.20am looking reasonably presentable, then the days when you are doing the school run become a doddle. Especially if you leave the alarm set to the same time.... Sometimes on a Monday I can have cleaned the upstairs before doing the school run.

Work out how long it will take you all to get ready to leave the house. Then always get up fifteen minutes earlier.

That's it. It's a dream.

The last couple of minutes are always the make or break ones in our house when ds suddenly anounces 'I just need to get xxx' and heads off upstairs and then disappears for 10 minutes accompanied by the sound of frantic searching.

So I always remind him first thing to find anything he wants to take (tamagotchi is the thing atm) and put near the door.

Hire a cleaner

Hire a maid

Hire a nanny

Hire a chauffer

Stay in bed till 10am

I think you will find you cope pretty well with the morning rush if you follow my simple steps

get everything ready night before - including your bags/coat/shoes etc. And know where everything is including car keys (this is my biggest problem).

Have shoes/coat/keys/bags lined up by the door ready to jump into.

Get up and get showered/dressed/fed before getting kids up so you are ready.

Get breakfast ready night before if possible.

Only have one child and then you only have to get one ready

Get dh to do it all! . That way you can have a lie in.

Haven't got a clue!!!

Feel like i'm in the bloody army having to get everything ready.

Really does your head in!!!

jesus

how did our lives come to this

I make sandwiches for lunch boxes once a week and put them in the freezer.

All lunchboxes are in the fridge the night before (taking what i need from the freezer).

Uniforms and pants, socks/tights are hung on bedroom door handles the night before.

All bags and shoes are by the back door.

Coats are on stool in kitchen.

Cereal, bowls and spoons are on dining table waiting for them.

NO TV!!!!!!

School mornings:

-let children have breakfast and brush their teeth before putting on school uniform (avoids that Sods Law moment of toothpaste or jam down the last clean school shirt!)

-write things you need to remember on the calendar, that way you can tell at a glance if its recorders/deadline for school trip money/non-uniform day etc etc

Journeys:

-if you have a child in nappies always keep a spare nappy, wipes, change of clothes in the car as leakages can happen on the shortest of journeys (when you've not bothered with the changing bag!)

-keep a bottle of water and snacks within reach

-buy a couple of small Mega-Sketcher type toys for the children to use on long journeys.

Porridge is a risky business and should be left to the weekends, so it doesn't drip down clean uniforms...

Get up 15 minutes early - take the time to make a coffee and drink it leisurely - then before you have to wake the kids prepare youself for the hour of chaos ahead and get everything you didn't do last night done at double quick speed - get them out of bed whilst wiping their faces with a flannel and then plonk them straight into their clothes - if you can get them to wear their clothes under their PJs when they go to bed the night before all the better as this will save you lots of time.

and if all else fails, remember that being 5 minutes late for school is not the end of the world!

However early you get up, you do not have time for any free-form larking around. Treat the hours between 6.30am and 8.15am with the meticulous planning required by the critical stages of a military manoeuvre

Develop a slightly shouty "I mean business" persona and never allow them to see any chinks in your armour.

DH is regarded as a bit of a pushover by the DCs (3 and 5), so he is put on duties which are not time critical or which do not have options attached - porridge duty, tea making etc.

Never allow the DCs to think that a lengthy
poo is a good idea just as they are going out.

Don't give them choices - they have to wear the clothes that are hung on the front of their wardrobe, they have to eat the breakfast you put on the table, they are walking to school, they are having a school dinner.

Girls with long hair (this only applies to pre-pubertal girls) should only ever have their hair washed on a Friday evening. Freshly washed hair is a demon to get into plaits!

I use the TV as part of the routine.

We leave when a certain programme has finished and when it does get the kids to switch off the TV and clean teeth etc before getting in to the car.

Sort out bags etc the night before and leave in a pile in the morning so you have to step over them to get to the car. That way you don't leave anything behind.

Empty bags when they return the day before and pack stuff for the morning.

I agree with the extra 10 minutes

Use a baby slibg to carry the baby from the car. It leaves both hands free for my other two.