How do you get up and out for school???

[happynewessbee]

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My alarm goes off at 6:45, although usually one of the girls is awake by then. If not, I make sure they're both up by 7. I give them breakfast, and sort their clothes out (and make/drink my coffee) while they're eating. As soon as they're done eating we all get dressed, then brush our teeth, and in the car by 7:45. School starts at 8.

Why is it that my 8 month old ALWAYS does a pooh - just at that highly stressed final moment that my 5 year old finally pulls her shoes and coat on, and I am lying him in his pram for our exceeding brisk morning walk to school (which starts at 8.35am by the way)?....

PS Can someone please decode DS DD DH etc etc for me - I know it's easy but it's flummoxing me...

ahem - exceedingLY that should have said

ds - darling son,

dd - darling daughter

dh - darling husband

Essbee, I am not good at being on time, but I find it helps if I trick myself. I set my watch for what I believe is approx 7 minutes fast, and also the clock in the car. Really my watch is more likely 12 minutes fast, because I don't look when I set it.

Anyway, I know I have to be out of the door by 8.45 at the latest. I make myself believe that the actual time my watch gives is the right one. I work to that deadline knowing I have a 7 minute cushion (though really it's an over 10 minute cushion).

My sons and dh laugh at all this palava and every now and again insist I set all watches and clocks at the right time. When this happens I am invariably late. As long as I have a false deadline, I am on time, at least 50% of the time.

I was late this morning which I hate because I am usually a very punctual person.

I drive my dh mad because I make us get to the airport 30mins before check in. I get to parties at the time on the invitation (which usually means that I am the first one there and they are not ready).

I get really uptight if I can see things getting off schedule and I know I am going to be late, like this morning when ds insisted on eating two breakfasts and putting his own shoes on.

Our first week back at school and I did so well, up unti this morning. Every other day, packed lunches have been prepared the night before and all our clothes were already ironed.
This morning, there I was making lunches and ironing my clothes. I was meant to be at work today as well but I got a muscle spasm in my neck (I get it every now and again) so I had to go and lay down while I thought what to do. Decided to still take DD to school but then come back home and not go to work. Just took some Diazepan just waiting for it to work now!

School doesn't start here til Monday, but I am dreading it. I work Mon, Tues, Wed, and start at 8.30.

Get up at 6.40, wash and dress, get baby and toddler up and sit them down for breakfast. At 7.15 get the three schoolgoers up, and get their breakfast. While they eat, I dress the two small ones, and then breastfeed the baby. THen I check that dh has filled the lunchboxes, and get the baby bag ready for the minder. Then i get the others to brush their teeth, and wash their faces, put shoes and coats on, and ideally we are all in the car at 8.10. Drop off the small children at the childminder, and head off to work. The children walk to school from there.

Even though the lunches are made the night before, and clothes and uniforms are laid out and ready, (including mine) it is a huge stressful struggle in the morning on the days that I work. I HATE to be late.

Then, when I get home, at 3.30 I have the breakfast things to clear, dinner to make, homework to supervise, the baby to feed, house to tidy, laundry to do.

And I really shouldn't complain, I only work school hours, for 3 days a week, with holidays more or less fitting in with the childrens holidays.

Rubbish again today! He just managed to run in at the back of the other children.

His teacher told him yesterday if he is late he is not allowed to come in through the toilets (she must have spotted him) even if they are still open , so that means we have to walk to the other side of the School and go through the office and he is even later, I can't get the reasoning behind this myself, we are talking seconds after the other children have gone in because the Janitor makes his way round the School locking all the toilets after the bell has gone at 9am.

God firestorm, can your 4y old really dress herself? Maybe my 5y old could if I ever tried to let her. There's a bit of an enthusiasm problem in the mornings in our household.

We have to have hair plaited by the time Tots TV is on. I just feel such a heel cos it seems like we've got them up, bullied them into getting dressed when they're obviously knacked from only being half an hour, then bundle them out of the door.

it's so helpful reading how you all do it. my mornings are complete chaos at the moment and go something like this:

5.30 DS2 wakes up teething and won't go back to sleep, so I breastfeed him
7 we have both fallen asleep again and alarm goes off - theoretically DH is supposed to make the tea and I feel he owes me as I have got up so early
8 DH finally makes the tea
8.20 mad rush and shouting to get me off to work and DS1 to nursery
(DH2 looked after by DH or friend at the moment)

I know the only way to solve things is to make my own tea, but I just can't seem to drag myself out of bed!

Meysey - you've got a DH2 ...?!! Sounds handy!

I have it easy...

Bath night before

Hubby and child wake me up at 7h30. Hubby goes to work, son and I go downstairs for breakfast he has till 8h00 to eat it. while he messes about I go get dressed.

8h00 teeth brushing, I dress the little lazy angel. Normally he is at this stage watching telly and only barely helping me. He cant do ties nor the top button of his shirt anyway and if I made him do the rest I'd have to wake up 30mins earlier, just not worth it!! no packed lunch for me he's on hot diners.

I chase around for keys, school bag, water bottle, things I was supposed to put in his bags, change for lunch money on monday. I tend to manage to forget one item daily

8h30 - 8h40 (depending on the success of the chase) we are out the door with or without dog for the walk to school

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oops DS2 not DH2, but agree an extra one would be handy!

Happynewessbee, is there a reason why you go to bed so late? I don't want to sound like your mother as I am naturally a late bird myself and get up very late in the holidays, but I found that the only way to get up early enough to get the kids to school was to go to bed earlier than I would like. So I am in bed by 10, get woken by dh getting up at 6 but stay in bed until 7. By 7, I know I have to get up as I have to be out of the house by 8:45 and I have four children to get up by myself. I shower while they watch TV or play, and then do breakfast and make three lunches. The two eldest wash and dress by themselves (with much shouting from me), the two youngest I have to wash etc but dd (4) dresses herself thank God. Unfortunately she has long hair that is a nightmare to brush each day. Ds3 needs washing, dressing etc and last of all I do my teeth and brush my (long) hair. Am seriously considering a radical haircut for me just to save myself five minutes! I pride myself on never getting my children to school late, but I have had to change my ways in order to achieve this otherwise I would be like you, sleeping in until 8:20.

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Sorry about the insomnia - my dh has that so I know what it is like. I am the opposite- I could sleep for britain, but even I miss the time alone in the evenings. The obvious thing to say is that if you got up earlier you would have time to do things in the morning, but I don't think that is always true: you just spend more time getting ready for the day. Anyway, keep trying. Tomorrow is another day...

Sometimes I'm successful and sometimes not, but here's what I do:

Bath for me at night before bed
6.30 - I wake up, make coffee, check computer, potter around
7.00 - Wake dd, cuddle, talk, play
7.30 - 8.00 - I get dressed (sometimes hair wash and makeup too! ) while dd watches cbeebies
8.00 - 8.30 - make dd breakfast, she eats
8.30 - 8.45 - get dd dressed, hair/teeth brushed
8.45 - leave home and walk to school
9.00 - arrive at school

Key things for me are to take bath at night before I go to bed. And, most importantly, I set the alarm clock across the room so that I have to get out of bed to turn it off. It's far too easy to hit snooze and go back to sleep (thus making us late) if alarm is on table next to the bed.

To be honest, we're never the first ones at school, but usually aren't the last ones there either. Only problem with this wonderful schedule is when dd won't cooperate - she is queen of the dawdlers, and sometimes our mornings can be stressed because she takes a silly amount of time to do things. But, maybe that's because toddlers don't have a sense of urgency, and don't quite understand what HURRY means!

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