How do I get 3 kids out of the door in the morning without SHOUTING?

[StickyNote]

DS is 5, DD1 is 3 and at nursery in the mornings and dd2 is 1. However hard I try, I still end up shouting at somebody in order to get them out of the door in time. I'm trying with DS to get him to do more for himself and take responsibility but I end up having to nag him at every stage of getting ready. We get up in plenty of time but always end up rushing because of ds's getting sidetracked so easily. IT'S DRIVING ME NUTS!!!!!

Having the tv on is the worst thing for mine, so they are not allowed it in the mornings. And making sure the ones who argue the most are not vying for the bathroom at the same time.

Pollyanna, ds ALWAYS goes to school with little wet patches all over his sweatshirt where I've scrubbed to get the cereal off!! It HAS to get easier - Beetroot and Slinky's postings have given me hope!

Mine are 8, 6, 4, and 16 months but even when I only had three, like you, every morning I was shouting at them. It always bugs me that my 8 and 6 year old get washed and dressed by themselves, even do their own breakfast occasionally, but then sit in front of the TV until I come down with the younger two at the last minute to find that neither has put their shoes on or got their things together. As I said to them the other day, you know you will have to do this eventually, so why not do it before you sit down in front of the TV?
My only consolation is that we are never late for school (I am a bit of a punctuality freak) and you see the same families arriving late every day so I know I am more organised than them!

I always have a good, military-style routine (following many of the tips already mentioned) up until 10 minutes before we're due to go, when it all collapses. No matter how organised and efficient we've all been up until that point, it all goes wrong then. Why does that happen?

My mother sorted it by saying that whomever was not ready on time will be taken to school in pijamas, I don't remember to have been to school in pijamas so it may have worked... and definitively we were never late, my mother needed to be at school earlier as she was the headmistress and had the school key!!!