Mornings... what to do?

[Luckystar1]

My children are 2 & 4, they wake daily any time after 6, but never after 6.45. The older one goes to preschool every day from 9am. We leave the house at 8.30ish. That can leave 2.5 hours every morning to ‘waste’ before we get out the door.

They are dressed, breakfasted etc promptly. But then there’s 2 hours potentially of tv! I hate exposing them to this much tv early on, but playing at this time seems to get very, very tetchy with lots of fights and crying.

I am usually getting breakfast ready/children ready/myself ready and fed so I’m not right there on top of them all morning.

Almost everyone else we know are dragging their children out of bed at 8am to get ready. I’m so jealous. But later bedtimes just wouldn’t work here as they are exhausted.

How do people pass time in the morning please?!?

I’m in exactly the same situation as you! My rule is we don’t go downstairs until 7am. Nice leisurely breakfast - maybe a pancake and the kids make a funny face with fruit or we make porridge. We then go up for a wash and get dressed for 8 and in the car for 8.40. Definitely get bickering whilst they are playing so I just make sure there’s building blocks or puzzles available and that helps! We do watch TV when eating breakfast.

Thank you Bunnyhop. What do you do until 7?!

We like listening to the CBeebies podcast in the morning, sometimes in bed, sometimes during breakfast.

Oh thank you. I didn’t know there was such a thing. Maybe that’s a good start. We could do cds and songs too maybe.

No immediate help, but I would anticipate that things will be much easier / the morning pass much quicker when your eldest starts school next September. Mine have always been early risers too, but this meant I could do reading in the morning and school started earlier than pre school. At almost 5 and 3, they also played together so much better and although I still put CBeebies on, find that they start playing their own role play type games (usually schools!). Until then, I would say try to enjoy a leisurely breakfast or get them to help prep food for later in the day (mine love chopping veg with age appropriate knives and mixing herbs!) and just embrace the tv - mine actually seem to learn a fair bit from CBeebies. I have baby twins now too and it is absolute chaos and a super rush to be out the door in the morning, starting to miss the long lazy mornings gone by!

Thank you. I have a real love hate relationship with the tv as my son (eldest one) seems to become completely wired by it and I don’t want him going to school like that 😂

I hope it gets better next year then! And I sincerely hope I don’t have twins in the meantime 😉

Sorry if not helpful but what happens if you put them to bed later?

Oh goodness. Later, actually means they waken earlier and are hideously grumpy all day. The bedtimes are getting so early I can barely keep up. The last few nights it has been 6.15/6.30pm! And they are asleep then.

Any later results in no dinner eaten, complete messes (particularly the one at preschool).

We kept them up until 7 recently... total nightmare and no later the next day.

We have tried a number of times with later bed but never a positive result at either side of the day sadly.

Bath them in the morning?

Oh now that is not a bad and so simple shout!!