to really struggle with the school run, how does your morning look?

[MumOnTheFun]

I snooze from 7.20 until 7.40 whilst DH gives breakfast. I will help with getting DC aged 4 dressed and sorted then DH does school run at 8.30 whilst I attempt to wake up.

If DH is working I will get up at 7.30 and struggle to get moving. Similar routine except I walk to school and feel embarrassed to walk to school with no makeup and hair shot in a bobble.

Even if I go to bed earlier amd get up earlier I really struggle to be alert before 9am

My DC's are 4, 8 and 11.

1wokeuplikethis my DH and his sister are just like that. At stupid o’clock they open their eyes, stretch and spring out of bed, ready for a day of fun and adventure. She lives a squillion miles away and still arrives before 9am when she comes to visit. I manage to make myself semi presentable in time to open the door to her (and by that I mean I can just about form a sentence instead of growling). Hence being awake now: I am and they are not. I’ve just accepted that our body clocks are different but I really would love to be like that!

I sympathise OP.

I struggle to get to sleep, DS likes a 1 am ish wake up so I get up and see to him, hopefully fall asleep by 2 am. Alarm at 7 is bloody agony.

I don't do more than clean clothes, brush and bobble doe school run

If you are getting a normal amount of sleep maybe you should look at having a sleep study done. Maybe you have sleep apnoea

My mornings are chaos. Up very early to get to the gym then make DC lunches, drop them at school. And then head to work

Seems to be a lot of 'getting them dressed' on this thread. Also 'getting their breakfast ready'. If they're primary aged plus, train them to do this stuff themselves! Unless I'm feeling particularly generous and making my children bacon sandwiches or scrambled eggs or something, they get their own breakfast and have done since they were about 5. Also, they're not allowed to eat breakfast unless they're ready for school. I find this motivates them to faff less. So it's get up, get dressed, get shoes/bag/coat near door, do hair (I help with this for younger one), eat breakfast, clear breakfast stuff into (or near) dishwasher, brush teeth, leave for school. Sometime during all this happening, I get myself ready. Don't get me wrong, there's quite a few motivational speeches shouting from me throughout the morning to get them going, but generally it works and is relatively stress free.

Do you have a medical reason why you struggle to get to earlier?

If not, isn't the simple solution just to set your alarm earlier if putting makeup on is important to you?

No other sympathy here I'm afraid. We're up, showered, dressed, make up, load of washing done and out, packed lunches made and out the house by 7.20am, DD at club by 7.30am and me at my desk by 8.20am.

ERRRRM how many people on this thread are having a leisurely coffee while their DCs snooze???!

This is not my reality.

DS1 is 6 today and I haven't had a lie-in past 6.30 for 6 whole years.

Where do your children learn to have a lie-in????

School lessons start at 8 where I live so kids need to be there 7.45 latest.. I'm out of bed 5.45..and we leave at 7 or just after. I'm not a morning person at all, it's my worst time.. I've started getting everything ready night before.. Lunch boxes.. Clothes Breakfast table etc. One DS takes after me and is a zombie too. My ex was a morning person and used to do the morning breakfast so I could at least get time to put make up on for work etc. .. I'd say give yourself 30 minutes before kids awake to shower, zombie around, before mad rush starts

Another out of bed at 5.45. You just need to set the alarm and get up. What is this snooze and lie in business?

We start school earlier here so everything starts much earlier. I wake 5.20am, get breakfast and lunches ready (most of lunch is ready from night before, so its more assembly). Wake 4 kids and take my DH some tea. Then while kids are having breakfast i shower and dress. Sometimes put washing on, unload dishwasher etc. Have a mad 5 min screaming session and leave the house at 6.45ish. Drop kids at school around 7.10 and then go to work.

You just need to get up and get on with it. Idealised timetable from our morning, obviously not to the minute when I'm doing it, but a rough guide...

6:30 - out of bed (alarm on repeat since 6am and radio on from 6am too)
6:30-7:00 - showers (me and 9yo DD)
7:00-7:20 - breakfast and supervising 3yo eating his!
7:20-7:45 - getting dressed and getting 3yo dressed.
7:45 - teeth cleaning and hair brushing.
From then until 8:20, I tidy up the breakfast stuff, empty and reload the dishwasher, load bags into the car or on the buggy. Put a bit of foundation and mascara on, pop hair up (if still damp from shower). Sometimes have enough time to listen to DD read for 10mins.

Bags are all prepped the night before except water bottles which are usually in the dishwasher overnight. No lunches to make (hooray)

Quite civilised and not stressful. DD sorts herself out and just needs reminding. DS is happy playing while I do stuff. I check both DD and DS have clothes the day before so no last minute ironing or rummaging through the clean washing pile.

I don’t think OP is coming back.

FWIW I struggle in the mornings so I wake up half an hour earlier than I need to - at 6.30. Then I have a cup of coffee in bed till about 7. Long shower, get dressed. Wake DD and get her dressed. Breakfast etc. Leave house at 8.20ish to walk to school and then work.

It sounds like a reverse - otherwise OP has a very patient husband.

DC get up usually 6am. DH leaves for work at 6:30. I start getting ready at 7. Get DC ready 7:30. Breakfast 7:45-8ish. Then brush teeth/loo get school stuff ready and we leave 8:30.

I wish I had some help in the mornings. Getting DC ready can be such a challenge and I'm usually frazzled by the time I drop them off. They are 6 but still find myself getting them dressed because it's just easier!!!

Should add I'm usually up anytime between 5:30 and 6. I have 3 cups of coffee before I leave the house!

I have DS whos 5 (has additional needs) and DD whos 22 months. We get up by 6.30 at the latest. We have an hour chill time whilst they're having breakfast, during that time I clean up & get myself ready. Then we get dressed and are out the door by half 8

Not sure why one has to wear make up for the school run

ERRRRM how many people on this thread are having a leisurely coffee while their DCs snooze???!

Me. I get up at 5 and DC1 gets up at 6:30 and DC2 gets up at 7.

I am not a natural morning person, but the profession I had required me to be at work at 6:00am so I forced myself to become a morning person. After having DC2, I switched my schedule to a 5am start because I HATE rushing, and the 1 hour of quiet time to myself, particularly when there were toddlers in the house, were a doable luxury. It is simply a matter of mindset - if your outlook is that it is painful to get up early, then it will be difficult to switch schedules.

OP, go to bed earlier, get up earlier, and be a bit more organised. It will make for smoother mornings and less stressful days.

I hate mornings, but you have to get on with it, don't you?

Our routine is

6:30 alarm goes off
Husband has shower and gets ready while I get our 4 year old up, supervise her breakfast and deal with laundry /dishwasher from the night before
7:10ish we swap so I get ready while he gets our daughter dressed, teeth brushed, etc.

7:55 our nanny arrives to drive child to school and we leave for work. We both work full time.

I used to lay in bed snoozing the alarm pre-kids but those days are gone!

I can't believe you don't get up til 9! Most people have been at work for an hour by then.

I have to get up at 5 which isn't great but I just get up as soon as the alarm goes off, turn on the light and go downstairs and then you're sort of up. Snoozing is a bad idea as it will make you more groggy.

I leave the house at 7.15 most days. You need to go to bed earlier and get a light alarm clock

Not NRTFT, but id you're so concerned to look good on the school run, then get out of bed in time to do it.

Up most of the night with a vomiting 3 year old. Got to sleep at 5. Up now with the 4 year old (3 year old finally asleep).
That’s life!

I imagine the OP has come back because she is snoozing

'Is anyone really a morning person?'
Hell yeah. I don't have an alarm. I like getting up! Love an early morning me

It doesn’t really sound like you do much in the mornings tbh. If you got up instead of snoozing, you’d have more time. Our routine looks like this

6.30: Dh gets up, gets ready for work, brings me a coffee at 7am then leaves for work
7am: I drink coffee while loading up the washing machine, making bed/opening curtains, empty dishwasher, tidy up sofas/open blinds. Then I get myself ready for work.

The dc (8 & 9) get themselves up, make their beds/open curtains, get breakfast, get washed and dressed and pack their school bags then sit down for iPad time.

8.15am: We leave, I drop kids at school at 8.20 then head to work for 9am.

I do all of the morning jobs as Dh finishes work earlier so he gets the dc from after school club at 5.45, walks home with them and cooks dinner/Supervises homework until I get home at 6.15pm. We then all work together to get any other jobs done and get organised for the next day before the dc go to bed at 8pm and we can sit down for a couple of hours.