How to get dd1 to school on time?

[Biccy]

I just wondered if anyone with experience would share their routines for getting to school? DD starts school next week. We need to leave the house by 08.40 (which isn't that early, I know!), complete with packed lunch.

Our current morning routine (which won't get us there on time!) is:
07.00 (ish) baby wakes and feeds
07.20 (ish) get up, go downstairs, make coffee, change ds's nappy, put away dry dishes & empty dishwasher, make breakfast & drinks for dd, ds and me (she invariably likes porridge, he is baby-led), clean up baby & dress him, clean up kitchen (awful mess due to baby led!), upstairs to get me washed and dressed, get dd dressed, and somewhere amongst this normally put ds down for a nap.

The earliest I have managed to have us all ready to be out is 09.25, so I need to shave off 45 mins.

The only way I can see is for me to get up at 6.15, get myself dressed and do the chores before the children wake up.

But - I'm lazy (and sleep deprived) and I don't want to get up before 7am.

Is there a way?

As everyone else says, as much as you can the night before. Don't do ANYTHING non-essential in the morning.

If you DH is in the house, I don't see why you can't leave the baby with him. You can't ask us not to comment on that - it would make your mornings much, much easier.

ps I leave the house at 7.45

No, Ladybiscuit, he is not to be disturbed from his sleep to help.

Biccy - my DH is the same, I often leave him in bed until the kids are eating their brekky as it is calmer for him to not be around! He gets up, chaos ensues.

As with everyone else really, you want to get up/kids fed and dressed and you dressed. You don't even need a wash if you are coming back home. Harder if you are going to work, but if not, shower, brekky when you get home.

I have bought 5 of everything and it is all going on hangers in the cupboard, including socks and pants.

But then, I have to go to work for 8am and DH takes over, so I am up at 6:15am or so, and DD gets up at around the same time so we shower together and get dressed, then hollar to DH to come through with the boy at 7:30am, if the boy is not up already.

My DP is nowt but a hindrance in the morning, upsetting our routines!!!! I'd rather she stayed in bed, frankly.

What I do (being a single parent because I can't abide lazy men) is get up earlier than my DS, shower and get dressed, wake him up, dress him, feed him and get him out the door. I get up at 6.45 and wake him up at 7.20am to leave the house for 7.45am. I wouldn't feed the baby before you leave - if he's just had a milk feed, he can survive not having breakfast until after you get back. Interchangeable outfits that your DD can choose herself would be good

I used to shower and get dressed before getting ds in the morning - I would feel grotty if I went out without getting washed. I have dd's sandwiches prepared in the fridge along with any fruit she needs for snack/packed lunch. All the clothes are ready the night before and are downstairs. We brush teeth before going downstairs as once we are downstairs they dont get to go back up again.

Leave the chores for after the school run or do it bit by bit as you do other things.

Hi all.

Feeling a bit calmer now.

I think the prep the night before and not being distracted by chores will be the key for me. And probably me getting up 20 minutes before the dcs so I can wash and dress and the concentrate on them.

I'm not sure I can face going to school without a wash - even though I know people would probably not notice, I think I would just feel icky, and there's loads of people I know who I will inevitably bump into. (It takes about 3 minutes, so I'm sure I can indulge myself there).

May try not doing proper breakfast for ds before we go, but I fear he will be miserable, and therefore become a hindrance to the rest of the getting ready. He may be going through a growth spurt, so in a week this may not be such an issue.

I can't pretend I wouldn't like things to be different around DP and this issue, but I decided to have children with this man 7 years into our relationship - by that time I knew perfectly well he didn't do mornings. It's a battle I can never win, and what is the point in expending energy on one of those? I'm not thrilled about it, but it's accepted as the way things are round here. Does everyone else have perfect partners? And is everyone else a perfect partner themselves?

perfect partner - no. But he is a "partner" in that we share things and the kids aren't just my job.

Our morning routines start at about 6.30 - DD1 up first, she goes and puts on telly and shouts that she needs her breakfast and its time to get up. DP showers, I have extra 5 mins in bed. DP gets DD1 and DD2 their breakfast and makes coffee while I shower etc. DD2 gets dressed/teeth brsuhed etc in between wathing Hanna Monbloodytana and fineus and ferb. One of us dresses DD1, have coffee and quick fag. Can fit in putting on a wash or putting dishwasher on - but little else!

DP leaves about 8.30 and we're out of door by 8.40.

Biccy - what time does DP leave for work?

Back to the routine thingy.

I find I can cope with it all if I have had a shower before the children awake, so have to set the alarm for 6 ish. (DH leaves at 7 so can't help in the mornings).

Boring things that might help:

make yourself a flask of tea/coffee the night before

eat breakfast in pjs so school clothes are the last thing to put on after teeth brushed etc so no spillage

everything (bookbag/lunch) under the pram already to just plonk the baby in and off you all go..!

Can your 4 year old go on a scooter/buggyboard so you all get there 5 minutes quicker?

Biccy, ignore advice/comments re. your DP. That's nobody else's business. Sometimes things work better if you do them yourself!

Agree with all who say concentrate on essentials and doing as much as possible the night before (lay the table, get stuff ready by the door, etc). I shower last thing at night as it saves several minutes in the morning - most welcome, as we leave to walk to school at 7.20. Washing up etc can wait until you get home. Don't worry: you will find a routine! Plus you will find that having just one at home is a relative breeze, compared to two...

One word of warning: if you let them watch TV in the morning, only allow it once your DD is fully dressed including shoes and coat beforehand.

When DS1 started Reception I also had DS2 who was 2.5 and DD who was about 10 months. DH leaves for work at 7am so I was on my own too.

I found that being organised was key. I would lay out all of the clothes on the banister the night before, and pack school bags. I have to admit that I did used to get up at about 6.30am so that I could have a shower while DH was still here and so could see to the kids if they got up. I would get the kids washed and dressed at about 7am, then breakfast, then leave them in front of the TV (I know! Bad mother!) for 15 mins or so while I finished getting ready.

I was working PT, so on the days that I was working I had to leave the house at 8.10am. On the days when I didn't I would leave at 8.40am.

It is possible, but you have to be super organised and leave only the bare minimum to do in the mornings.

Good Luck!

Including coat, shoes and schoolbag in hand!

When DP leaves depends what time his first job is booked for and where he has to get to (he's a self employed tradesman), so a moveable feast. He tends to get up 10 minutes before he needs to be somewhere and run round like a headless chicken. He really is best avoided at this point in the day!

He does help with children. Yesterday he had ds for 3 hours so I could go shopping for new clothes with dd on her own. He normally gets dd ready for bed while I'm putting ds down. And every now and again (about once a fortnight) he can tell that I really really need to not be the one to get up, and then he will do it. He also normally does a lot of, often all of, the clearing up from dinner.

Yes, dd will scoot to school - I'll be the slow one pushing the buggy!

Agree with leaving all chores until after the school run .

My breakfast waits until after the school run too. My toddler gets his milk (in a sippy cup) - if he dawdles then he drinks it in the buggy. I usually give him breakfast when we get back as he is a slow eater and it's better for him to have all the tim he needs - if he is really hungry, he might get some chopped banana or raisins to nibble while we walk.

Also prepare as much as possible the night before, lunches, letters to be returned to school, clothes (for everyone) laid out ready to be put on without more discussion etc. etc.

Sorry I've missed how old your dc2 is, but when my ds1 started school ds2 was 9 months old. Both my kids are really early wakers (think before 6am) so I am up early enough it would seem on paper to get everything done easily, but I am very sleep deprived and so really slow at doing things. Also DP is getting ready for work and is always in my way so I quickly learnt that there was no point trying to get ready before DP has left. Whilst DP is getting showered etc I make the lunchbox.

Ds2 was bf as soon as he woke. I have a strip wash (never shower in the mornings, do that at night) as I find this much quicker and then through on some terrible outfit as I only have 2 seconds to choose something from the clean pile. Ds2 is never dressed before the school run (he has a clean nappy though), everyone else's babies has full outfits on, so I am probably the talked about mum (especially on days when Ds2 was still in same sleepsuit at pick up!). I then dress ds1 and clean his teeth. Throw ds2 into buggy, placate his screams with some toast and then leg it out the door normally arriving 2 mins before the bell goes.

I have hours to get out the door and still find it a struggle as invariably loads of unexpected things happen, but as lots of others have said just do bare essentials before school ( and I think you may have diffrent ideas of what are essentails to me ), and you will be fine. Ds2 still has breakfast once we get back from school. Also I found when he was younger he would fall asleep on the walk back and so when I got home that was the time I used to clean the kitchen and tidy up all the morning's mess.