Help - mornings keep going wrong!

[SpudtheScarecrow]

No matter how organised we are in the morning something always seems to go wrong at the last minute making me shouty and then guilty for the rest of the day.

So, today, lovely morning, to all intents and purposes we were ready at 8.10 don't need to leave til 8.45 so very relaxed. Then just as we were leaving DS2 (5) has a meltdown because he doesn't want to put his shoes on but I am doing them too tight. DS1 (7) accidentally shuts DD's (2) finger in the door because he is ready and eager to get going. Then DD cries all the way to school because she doesn't want to hold my hand and wants to run in the road. DS2 cries because we are walking too fast for him (because he has made us late with the shoe thing)

Eventually drop them off with hugs and leave everybody happy but I just feel so wrung out by it all. We do all the getting stuff ready the night before but it seems that something like this happens several times a week. I have really good intentions and try and give praise for doing the right thing but there's always a point where I crack and end up shouting then I feel guilty as that's not who I want to be. It's a bit better if DH is here as we don't have to take DD with us but he often isn't around for the school run.

Thanks to everyone who's made it this far - turned into a bit of a ramble!

That sounds so stressful, I'm not surprised you get shouty! Could you aim to leave the house at 8.35 so you are there 10 mins early? At least that way you have 10 minutes grace to allow for shoe/hand-holding etc tantrums without worrying about being late?

I agree with leaving earlier than you need to - in your head at least. My son has just started Juniors which starts 15 minutes earlier than the Infant school (that my dd still attends). We are on day 5 and still not got timings right. I had to run most of the way on Friday - the kids scootered!!!!
Try and identify what it is that goes wrong maybe and try to avoid - e.g. your 5 yr old puts his shoes on at 8.10 not just before you go (depends on your house of course).
Hope it improves

Thanks, yes, think I am going to aim for leaving earlier. We are only about 3 minutes walk away (at adult pace) so had moved my target to 8.45 instead of 8.50 but think am going to aim even earlier unless it's pouring with rain and have some time playing in the playground. We do sometimes get shoes on earlier -we're not a no shoe household so prob need to do that too.

I sympathise, I feel so frazzled by the time I've managed to get mine out to school. Everyone else seems to take it in their stride. I only have two,dd1 who is 6 and has AS, and dd2 who is 4 and has just started school, but we are 15 mins walk away at adult speed, which is a pain when it's raining. And at the minute dd1 gets out at lunchtime and then we have to go back later to get dd2. Luckily after next week dd2 will start doing a full day. I think that walking to school with young children is seriously overrated.

Hi Spud, how did things go today?

If you can possibly get a younger sibling in a push chair do it! My poor ds was brainwashed into thinking he loved to go in a push chair til he was practically secondary school age! (slight exaggeration for comic effect........)

Can you tempt them to move it along a bit faster by 5 mins of football in the playground before the bell for class starts? I would def get DD into the pram too - will be cold and wet enough in a few weeks that she'll be less inclined to object anyway :-) Only a few more months and she'll be able to keep up anyway

Thanks everyone, DH was at home today so DD and I stayed in our PJs until wew'd marshalled everyone out of the door so it was all calm and lovely. If only it was like that every day

I had the same thought about using the buggy, DD is really good at walking so I have got out of the habit of taking it but if I have it at least I can pile all our stuff in it and threaten DD with going in it if she doesn't hold hands.

Am also going to aim to get there much earlier, I asked DSs and they like the idea of more play time so am going to reset my mental clock. I think part of the problem is that I keep thinking we have loads of time and then so don't have any slack when things go wrong.