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See all MNHQ comments on this thread

MNHQ

Your help required - top tips on surviving the school run

241 replies

JustineMumsnet · 05/01/2007 11:48

Hi there,
We've been asked to put together a list of tips on surviving the school run/surviving car travel with the children in general eg how can you save time in the morning, at breakfast, how do you get them to leave the house/ stopping squabbling in the car etc etc

All your wit and wisdom gratefully received plus all who post a tip on this thread will be entered into this week's competition to win a Nintendo Wii games console and game .

Many thanks,
MNHQ

OP posts:
misspinkcat · 07/01/2007 20:04

If going to school is what you do why not?
If I was waiting for a special event to put make up on for, days would pass with me loooking like a ghost.

misspinkcat · 07/01/2007 20:07

Oh plant spray for spikey hair horrors. (YOu can use one spray for both by the way)

It also works to get kids to move faster.

misspinkcat · 07/01/2007 20:08

Reading this makes me SO pleased I don't drive to school.

twickersmum · 07/01/2007 20:43

mine are not old enough for me to have to face the school run yet.. but my boss used to dress her son in his uniform while he was still asleep!!
then when he woke all she had to do was brush his teeth, smooth his hair and get some breakfast down him.

Ripeberry · 07/01/2007 21:08

We live just under a mile from the village school and i would LOVE to walk my children to school.
There is a pavement all the way BUT at the last 20 yds or so it finishes and the only way accross is to stand in the middle of the road as the entrance is right accross a crossroad and the traffic is horrendous in the morning and afternoon.
Bad enough trying to get to school in the car had lots of near misses.
The local council refuse to extend the pavement and this crossroad would be much saf
er if it was a roundabout.

sugarplumfairy · 07/01/2007 21:20

Ditto all the above.

But my best tip is make sure everyone has enough sleep as grumpy children and adults make for nightmare mornings!

Live far away from school to be early, live close and be late as said by my DS aged 10.

onlyjoking9329 · 07/01/2007 21:28

we have a picture planner, home made of course!
picture of childs bag. next to it, picture of each item, book bag, lunch box, pe kit and anything else needed, they are all velcroed on at the side of the bag, as each item is done it gets posted into the 3D bag.
as my three have autism this is a very useful visual reminder, which help with independence skills.

Spidermama · 07/01/2007 21:35

Put tea tree in the plant spray for spikey hair horror mentioned earlier, then just shake and apply. Tea tree oil puts the headlice off you see.

That's a double tip for you.

cat64 · 07/01/2007 21:39

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Glassofwine · 07/01/2007 21:43
  1. Get up aprox 15 mins before children and have a shower - you will feel so much better.
  1. When you've dried yourself and bothered to apply body cream (again you will fee so much better) wake all children, open curtains, put lights on etc.
  1. Get dressed in the knowledge that the children are still in bed.
  1. When you are dressed stomp into bedrooms and start issuing orders.
  1. When children have got up hand any slow ones (dd1 in our house) a timer and tell them they must wash face and be dressed before timer goes off in order to collect a piece of pasta in their jar (infamous MN pasta jar method).
  1. Make a healthy and filling breakfast inc some fruit.
  1. Hopefully the children will all be at the table by the time you've made the breakfast.
  1. Train them to put plates etc into dishwasher.
  1. Never put the tv on.

  1. When they've finished breakfast issue bullet points in the order you wish them to do ie. teath, hair, shoes and get them to keep repeating it untill each task has been done. Mine enjoy this and would forget what they're supposed to be doing otherwise.

  2. While they are brushing teath etc dry hair using hairdrying plugged in downstairs (mine is hidden under the sofa). This way you can keep an eye on proceedings and still be the stylish mum at school.

  3. While they are faffing about with shoes nip to bathroom and quickly slap on some foundation (1 min) some lipstick (30 secs) and some mascara (30 secs). Again you will feel soooo much better.

  4. Have bags ready from the night before.

  5. Buy each child a £10 scooter and scoot to school.

  6. Bask in the knowledge that you are one of the mums with clean dry hair, soft skin and a bit of make up not one of those couldn't be bothered types.

  7. Invest in ipod/mp3 player and take it with you for the return journey, so you walk quickly (mine is 20 mins uphill on the way back) so that you can tell yourself you have exercised. Or you could download the Today programm podcast and keep up with world events.

  8. Remember to intermitantly smile at the children during this process so that they think you are quite nice really even though all you have done is nag.

  9. Please can I have a Wii

NorksBride · 07/01/2007 21:48

All the below, plus (in case I missed it), I have a board on the wall and a big calendar above where I make the packed lunches where important school stuff is written down or pinned up - not just which days need music & sports equipment but forms to be returned, library dates, parents evenings, fund-raisers, party invitations, lunch menus. Blah, blah. It's priceless!

NorksBride · 07/01/2007 21:51

And School Run Mum should have fast hair. Long hair twisted up or pony tail or short hair that looks good 'ruffled'. Anyone with time to get a hairdryer out before school is evil.

Spidermama · 07/01/2007 21:52

Glassofwine I like you. I am taking notes.

misspinkcat · 07/01/2007 21:55
  1. Get up aprox 15 mins before children and have a glass of wine - you will feel so much better.

This thread is verging on the ridiculous - anyone would think you were all planning the Normandy landings fgs!
It's getting a few poxy kids to school - wicker baskets and picture planners and all.

2nervesleft · 07/01/2007 22:17

Nobody goes downstairs until dressed and wearing wipe clean aprons for breakfast.

Use TV programmes for younger children to measure time i.e. "you must finish your breakfast by the time Noddy finishes".

Never allow them to watch a different channel for a change - this can lead to a false sense of security in your timings.

Get yourself dressed while they are gawping at Noddy.

Send them to breakfast club even though they have eaten as the parking outside school is considerably quieter.

utterlyconfused · 07/01/2007 22:17

Actually, the "shout a lot" one is the best. You can ask nicely once, twice, or a hundred times, nothing will get done until you shout so you might as well do it straight away.
Yep.

exbury · 07/01/2007 22:43

Never mind snowsuits for babies - try one of these (sorry, couldn't find a site in English) - DD (age 13 weeks) thinks, as do I, that 10am is a civilised time to get up - with this I can put her in her car seat, get DS to school, get home and have another hours sleep and she is none the wiser - and, importantly, neither is he - if he found out I would never hear the last of it!

singersgirl · 07/01/2007 22:50

Ooh, if I'm going to be entered into a draw for a wii I'll post my tips, though they've all been covered already.

Packed lunches and snacks ready the night before.
Book bags and swimming kits etc ready and by the front door.
DS2's uniform including socks and pants laid out; DS1 is OK to find his stuff now.
On school nights, I prefer to shower and wash hair the night before as I am useless in the mornings.
Dress before the children.
No TV or Gameboy on school mornings.
Know exactly what the latest time is for each stage of your routine eg we should be getting shoes and coats on by 8.30.
If you're ready earlier than you need to be, go anyway. It is better to be 10 minutes early than risk missing the sweet spot.

I also shout a lot, mainly at DS2 who is always disappearing upstairs at crucial moments to find a pocket sized toy.

shimmy21 · 07/01/2007 22:52

feed them their breakfast the evening before to save time

coppertop · 07/01/2007 22:56

Get someone else to take them to school while you stay in bed.

shimmy21 · 07/01/2007 23:01

tell your dcs that the first child to arrive in the school playground with teeth cleaned and a hair-brushed gets a sweet from the head-teacher every day.
They'll never get their first so they wont know it's a lie.

shimmy21 · 07/01/2007 23:02

THERE first

exbury · 07/01/2007 23:32

..or be so disorganised that your DC's do the organising. Although we have never actually forgotten anything vital, or got there disasterously late, my DS stands at the door saying "is it swimming day, Mummy?" and "have you got the keys, Mummy?" (OK, so I have locked us out of the house twice in the last 6 months, but never yet on the way to school )

hana · 07/01/2007 23:33

only buy the same type of socks for your dd or ds , that way, you'll always have matching pairs for schooddays.

whatwouldjesusdo · 07/01/2007 23:49

do a last minute check of faces, front of jerseys and fingernails in full daylight, and keep flannels in the kitchen.

get them to bed at the right time the night before, so they get up easily.

have 2 bathrooms in your house, it makes things so much easier.

teach them that jogging to school instead of walking is healthy exercise.