Talk to Allianz about school run stress and you could win a £250 John Lewis voucher NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

The team at Allianz would like to hear about Mumsnetters' experiences with school run stress,

Here's what Allianz have to say: "The school run is an important component of every day family life and we are keen to help families across the UK make the process as enjoyable as possible."

So, which factors cause the highest stress levels on the school run? Maybe it starts with getting everyone out of bed on time? Or perhaps it's getting everyone out of the house on time?
Do you have any tips for making the school run a smoother and less stressful experience? If a stressful school run is unavoidable, how does it affect the rest of your day?

Whatever your experiences of school run stress, Allianz would love to hear about it.

Everyone who posts on this thread will be entered into a prize draw where one winner will receive a £250 John Lewis voucher.

Please note your comments may be included on Allianz's social media channels, and possibly elsewhere, so please only post if you're comfortable with this.

Thanks and good luck,
MNHQ

Try and find everything the night before. My most stressful school mornings ate when I can't find DS' s glasses or we can only lay our hands on one shoe. So much easier if I can spend a few minutes searching in peace the night before!

my kids now take the bus to school - it is far less stressful :)

I used to drive the school run, and found it very stressful, stuck in traffic and then finding somewhere to park. It was a really unpleasant way to start a day, so I decided we would try walking. It probably only takes an extra 5 minutes, and it we really enjoy the walk and the chance to chat on the way. Our route takes us through a park so on the way home, weather permitting we get the chance to stop and play. We both now enjoy the school run, and we're healthier for it.

They key to being stress free is to be organized, have bags packed, PE kits sorted, lunches made, getting up on time. My eldest however, normally about 30 seconds before she is due to leave suddenly can't find her recorder, or a text book, or PE socks and I get stressed running around sorting stuff at the last minute whilst chastising her for not being organized!

I think i am quite lucky at the moment because we are staying with my parents and they go to the gym early mornings so they drop him off on the way to the gym. Saying that, there is always some sort of shouting in the morning about why he hasnt got his uniform on yet, his cereal is getting soggy, etc!

I think the most stress comes from getting the kids motivated to actually go to school so that they're more willing to get out of bed. Sometimes I have such a hard time getting the 6 year old out of bed as although he loves his friends, he's impossible to deal with in the mornings, especially when he decides he doesn't want to go to school.

I also think it's stressful when you forget to do things the night before and then find that you're looking for things in the mornings. So I guess it would be good to set a routine up for that.

Bribery is generally the solution to everything in our house. The boys are rewarded with a treat of their choice if we get to school on time without me shouting. Seems to work a treat. Before I resorted to bribery they would be running around half dressed, having not brushed their teeth and not done their reading at the time we would need to leave so always had to drive in order to not be late.

The first days of the new school year were the worst - every parent was driving their child to school. Have found the roads calm down a week or so later when everyone relaxes into a normal schedule.

Our main stress comes from the fact that our eldest daughter takes an insanely long time to get dressed! She can stand holding a sock for 20 minutes and no matter how early we get up I have to constantly chivvy her along and we're nearly always late. The actual drive and parking can be a bit stressful because it's so busy but at least by that time we're on our way.

I love the school run.
DD2 &3 (4 & 5) go to the local primary which is 5-10 mins walk away. They are still excited about school so they are more often than not up by 7am then after breakfast and getting dressed and the dreaded hair style they have some free time to watch some tv. I know some people swear by no tv but they have 1 hour 45 mins from getting up to leaving for school so it fills a void and is a great motivator. They also like to race each other to get dressed first.

On the way we always make sure to leave early so they can dawdle if they want. Many of our neighbours go to the same school and we know some leave it till the last minute so we know to leave our house before they walk past. There is one main road to cross with a zebra crossing so we have been teaching them essential road safety and it is a good chance to refocus them if they are being silly on the way.

Coming home they always dawdle and we need to rush to be home for DS so they are rewarded at the end of the week if they come home sensibly.

I know most mums make the kids carry their own book bag and coats etc but DD3 has fell twice this week and tripped her dsis over with her book bag so we tend to carry them for her. As she gets taller she will carry more. Maybe I should invest in a trolley for bags or just have another baby so they can load the pram up

Getting everything ready the morning before really helps as does pinning down hubby as to what his plans are because he seems to think that if he's not in a rush, he can get everyone to take their time but we need to be out by 8.30 no matter what and I like to be able to tidy kitchen before we leave as it makes such a difference to return to a clean one.

DC3 usually requires a nappy change the moment I tell DC1&2 to put their shoes and coats on and unfortunately I can't hurry him along or try to alter that particular schedule so that always adds stress...

If we actually leave at 8.30, we're usually around 8 mins early but I'm the only one that knows that!!

I try v hard not to yell but it's challenging, particularly when they're dragging their feet but usually as soon as I tell them to hurry up, one of them trips over a tree root into a pile of mud so I try not to!!! If we meet friends on the way, that helps hugely.

I find no matter HOW long we have been doing the school run by boys STILL cannot get the right jobs done in the right order!!!! Bags, shoes, hair..IN THE CAR without me asking a dozen times a day! Does anyone else find this!!??

I think I have done every gamut of stress from trying to get 2 toddlers and a baby ready before dropping off an older child, then one by one all there. Looking back it seems a bit of a blur but the hardest by far is trying to motivate 3 teenagers to be up and ready to catch the school bus. I'm now slowed by not only weariness and old age but now disability. So to motivate 3 argumentative Teenagers out of bed and out a door by 8am is exhausting.

Three children at three different locations means that everyone has a specific role in the morning from making breakfast to loading the car. Being organised and everyone having a job is essential for the smooth running.

We are quite lucky as dds school is only around a one minute walk from our house. However because of this we have to make sure we are on time as its a tiny school and would look really bed were we to arrive late! Generally breakfast and getting dressed is most stressful in our house. So I tend not to put on tv until we are all ready to leave and allow 5mins of peppa pig as a treat for getting ready on time, this normally works a treat :-)

4/5 days are definitely stressed, so make sure you enjoy the 5th! Worst case scenario for me is when it's all been going well then a last minute hitch makes you late

other parents in such a rush!

Stress is usually caused by the inverse relationship between the closer to t he end of the week thehigher the stress levels. The kids get more tired, the school uniform tends not to have been washed and items are more like to have been lost! Clue arghhh sound at 8.30 am each Friday

The traffic is so bad in the mornings that every minute after eight o'clock means being ten minutes later arriving, it's a nightmare to get everything organised and out of the house at a reasonable time!

I have 9 children, 7 of school age, a toddler and a small baby so the school runs can be stressful if things start to go wrong. Once things have started to go wrong it tends to have a knock on effect and.

I wake up early, wake the older children so that they dress, have breakfast and leave in time for catching the bus to their secondary. I feed the baby while they are getting ready, then I try to speed up the primary children and give them their breakfast once the secondary children have left.
I try to be as organized as possible with making them put their bags and shoes away the night before and get everything else ready for the morning. I leave plenty of time, but even doing that we can still often have a frantic search for a shoe, someone didn't eat their breakfast fast enough, someone has lost a school book or note, someone remembers something urgent with only 5 mins to leaving time, someone needs the loo just as we are leaving, a coat goes AWOL, someone has a grumpy day and nothing suits them, then I can find that overnight road works have sprung up, I'm stuck behind a garbage truck, I can't get the minibus down a narrow road, I can't find a parking space...etc.
It gets stressful because if you aren't bang on time, you get a late card :-( and I hate that so we try to be early if possible!

our school run is timed to perfection!!! im very organised so i always have everything done the night before. my girls take ages to get up in the morning so thats what causes me stress getting them out their beds, washed, dressed and breakfast. We walk to school and it only takes about 15 mins so i like to spend this time chatting to them and getting them excited for the day ahead, i would never drive to the school as it is so congested and i would struggle to get parked!!!!

I hate that I don't feel safe walking our kids as the crossing is dangerous and my daughter was almost run over on it. We end up driving even though it is a few blocks away.

The only way to make it less stressful in my opinion is to have everything organised on Sunday night for the week ahead. Lunches planned out, school clothes ironed, pants and socks washed, ready, and loaded. It all goes to crap by Friday, but then I start again on Sunday!

The most stress is caused by DS not wanting to eat anything at breakfast, so I have to go through all the different options again and again until I can persuade him to actually eat something.

We have a 30 minute car journey - so music that we all like really helps. If I'm stressed we get Radio 3 (which the kids hate but is incredibley calming) but to keep us in a good mood from the start, something like Mika is great.