I hate mornings

[sandfish]

So every weekday morning we wake up at 7 and have to leave the house at 8.30. One and half hours, sounds like loads of time to get up and out doesn't it. But no, every morning is a total stress fest and sets me up for feeling crap all day. It is really getting me down. But I seem to be trapped in this rut and I can't see what I need to do to change things.

I have 3 kids under 6. I have to get one ready for school, one for nursery and a baby that stays with me. DH has to catch an early bus to work so basically gets himself up and out and leaves the children to me.

The oldest one is capable of getting dressed but a total drama Llama and complains and fusses loudly about everything he is asked to do even though it is the same every day. The middle one can put some clothes on but he really would rather just be left naked so unless i supervise he just runs round the house in the buff mucking around. The baby is not a morning baby. He wakes up , screams for a feed, then is happy for 2 mins, then has breakfast, but then despite not being hungry or tired, screams pretty much continually any time he is not being held, which is basically most of the time as I am trying to get my older children to get dressed, ready and clean teeth, getting their breakfast etc.

So my morning is basically 1.5 hours of screaming, fussing and arguing. The older two even bicker whilst eating breakfast and it drives me nuts. By the time we get out the house I've been giving orders like an army general, and fighting hard to keep my temper. Then I spend the school run brooding on how much I have come to resent my life and everything in it.

Is this what everyone else's morning is like? If not how do you do it . How do I regain some sanity??

Sorry one last thing, before you do anything make yourself a cup of tea! Or maybe DH could do that for you? My DH will do that for me every morning.

I get up at 6 am drink coffee check emails in peace
Have a shower, do my hair etc then get dcs up at 7
No TV until breakfast eaten, teeth done and dressed
Lunches done the night before
My major stress is dh being in the bathroom at 7.30 when I want dcs to be teeth cleaning!

Oh dcs often get up before 7am but they go into dh if I'm still in the shower

It's actually harder now because after drop off I have to go straight to work

When I was on maternity leave I just left the house a state until, I got home

I would come home get baby to sleep and have a shower then !

This is me too gilly >> 'All week I have been screaming in the morning, I know the neighbours can hear me but apparently my dd cannot!'

I'm up at 6:45 to leave at 8:25 and I get everything organised the night before. The kids (9 & 7) run amok every morning. I'm just having a moments peace before I go and hurry them up again. I hate feeling sweaty and upset before I've even got to work. If I didn't work I'd be tempted to let them be late and drop themselves in trouble at school but work trumps school so the pressure is so much worse.

I do the opposite to most of you.i get the Dcs ready first then park them in front of the box while I get ready so less chance of mess on me before work.

I get everything ready the night before, and dd1 doesn't come down until she's dressed. Then she eats breakfast while l feed the baby. She goes back upstairs to brush teeth after breakfast and that's when l have mine.

Mornings aren't my issue, it's afternoons from 4-6pm that l seriously loose the will to live...

Urgh sounds stressful and its probably the same in everyhouse on a school day ive no schoolchildren anymore wohoo but when I did I used to get up before them just 10 minutes to have a cuppa before the maddness started it did help,

ignore the whining and bickering and use a lot when getting them ready mine would take the piss outta me fine and dandy but mention Mrs smith will be cross if we were late and it was like a magic wand.

We are lucky to live 2 mins from school. We wake between 7 & 7.20, downstairs for 8; then breakfast, hair, teeth & out the door.

Everything that can possibly be done the night before is; clothes laid out, packed lunches, bags prepped; shoes & coats laid on sofa ready to go. Toothpaste on the toothbrushes if needs be..cereal and bowls on the table etc

Could you do picture diagrams of what they need to do; they can tick their jobs off as they do them and it removes an element of the repetitiveness of you having to remind them every day....?

Some days are thrown by a tantrum / change of routine for some reason but on the whole, they are pretty good at assisting in getting out the door. Kids are 8,6 & 2.

I'd go about against the grain and say you don't need to get up earlier as often too much time can give more reason for faffing & fallouts! If we're all ready by 8.20, they get to watch to for 15 mins.

Good luck, OP.

I'm a single mum with 2 (7&4), we all have to leave the house by 8 for school/work.

I put out their clothes the night before. They get up at 7ish and get dressed, 7yo helps the 4yo if needed. I get up about 7.15 and get myself dressed/ready. They go down and get their own breakfast. I go down and make their packed lunches & eat my breakfast while they're finishing breakfast. Then we all go upstairs by 7.55 to brush teeth, back down shoes & coats on and out the door.

It doesn't always work like that and yes I spend most of the time encouraging them to hurry up/reminding them of what they need to be doing and probably 1/5 mornings I end up shouting but they are much better now at doing things themselves and that I think is the key.

We talk about being a team and helping each other so we can all get out the door on time. 7yo has particularly embraced this most of the time and encourages 4yo to get things done. Oh and if that fails it's a race, everything is a race, who can get dressed the quickest, who can put their shoes on the quickest, who can beat mummy, etc etc.

Not sure how I would manage with a baby as well though - they would probably live in the sling so I had two hands free which is what I did with dc2 as a baby.

Mine are 13 & 9, and still the bickering continues...

Trouble is, I am no more a morning person than they are...

I hated mornings when mine were little. The only thing that worked for us was....,
Outfits sired night before
Shoes, bags, pe kits by the door and ready to go
Breakfast table set up night before, including a spoon of coffee and water in the kettle
Lunches done night before