Please share your daily morning routine with me!

[Wishitwaswarmer]

I am due to return to work next week (part time) after 4 years as a SAHM. On working days I'll need to leave the house at 7.30 having got myself ready for work, dogs walked and 2 DCs ready for nursery. If anyone could share how their morning routine works I would really appreciate it, I can only envisage shouting at the moment! I have a DH who works full time, normally leaving by 7.30am. he is more than willing to help if told what he needs to do! Thank you

I used to get up at 5am and go to bed at 8.30 when mine were that age, it really was the only way to fit it all in.

I don't have dogs but leave at a similar time to you. I put all our clothes ready the night before and bags are packed. Porridge oats covered in milk in the fridge so they just have to be microwaved while I'm making myself a cuppa. I get up at 6.30, straight in the shower and get dressed by 6.45. Get DD up and give her breakfast while I have a cuppa then dress her and leave.
It was a mad rush at first but you soon get into the swing of things, good luck x

I used to get up 15 mins earlier than the kids and get myself ready while they still slept. My OH is on bag-packing duty for the childminders (and still does their school bags now) while I got them dressed.
Breakfast then teeth/hair and out the door.

Now they are more independent (DD1 well trained and even does her own lunch now at age of 11) we all wake up at the same time and the kids get dressed while I am dressing too.

We are up, ready and out of the door in an hour now. No dogs to walk though. Do they NEED to be walked in the am or can they be let out into the garden in the am and walked in the pm? Or can one of you be on dog duty while the other is on kids duty? And perhaps alternate.

Ok, so one of you needs to walk dogs, so clearly the other is in sole charge for however long that takes. Other than that, work backwards from point of departure and set a rigid timetable, but build into it the 10 mins per DC which unaccountably disappears between leaving the house and driving out of the drive. I still don't know where it goes, but it does.

Thank you for the replies. I've been used to waking up whenever the DC do and working from there but it sounds like a more pro-active approach is needed! Having breakfast ready the night before is a great tip, thank you. I was worried someone was going to say early to bed, early to rise...I'm a natural night owl!

Stealthsquiggle - that is so true, where does that 10 mins go?! A great tip though to build that in to the time. I'm not sure yet if the dogs HAVE to be walked, I may be able to get somebody to come an hour or so later to do that. It would save time but cost money! It's good to hear about DH in charge of bag packing etc, that's the kind of thing I think I'll need to delegate. Thanks again, it's sounding a bit more manageable already just knowing that other people do it (and full-time too!)

Dc's clothes laid out the night before, & packed lunches made.

Alarm goes off at 6, 6.45 & 7 .

At 7 I yell at dc (aged 4-8) to get dressed. They know on pain of death to be in uniform, coats, shoes, & holding lunchbox & school bag by 7.

Quick shower, dress, make up. Brush own hair & dd1 & 2s.

If it's a Breakfast Club day we then jump in a taxi (or car if dh not working away) to school & then on to my work.

If not, they know to grab a bowl of cereal & we leave at 8 instead.

Dd2 throws the occasional spanner in the works by having a meltdown over the pattern of her tights or similar, but we muddle on.

'They know on pain of death to be in uniform, coats, shoes, & holding lunchbox & school bag by 7. '

7.45, even. They're not sufficiently well trained to circumvent time zones, more's the pity!

Ah you see Raven, that sounds much like us! Sadly my DC are 2 & 3 and categorically unable to put any clothes on for themselves, although very able to take them all off within a split second!

Ha Raven, that would be impressive! Thankfully I am fairly low maintenance and a quick shower and clothes thrown on is all I need. I am presuming damp hair for office work is not ok? I haven't blow dried my hair in years!

I second all the great tips here about routine. Getting up earlier than the kids is key. You'll get a bit of precious time to yourself to get your head together to start the day. We had to be out of the door by 7.30 when my two were at nursery, so a tight routine was needed. Now they're at school we leave a bit later, 7.45 for the cm drop off. Excellent tip about building in that extra 10 mins.

It's one of those things which you don't believe you'll be able to manage until you do it- and then it becomes your routine. Although you say you're a natural night owl, it's worth trying to get yourself to bed an hour or so earlier because it will feel hard compared to being at home, and you don't want to risk burning yourself out.

Good luck

I agree, it will work itself out and also the key is to get up first. I love my quiet time in the morning and on better days even fit some exercise in. But always coffee and a shower .

I always sort out bags the night before, grab clothes as needed in the morning. I dress just before leaving the house, asking for trouble otherwise. I never dry my hair in the morning, just brush and tie back. But I don't work in an office. I don't think it looks awful, no one has ever said!

Does the nursery do breakfast? Always a help on this mornings that have gone wrong.

Get as much done the night before as possible. Both you and DH get up at the same time get dressed etc. Then one dog walks while the other gets your DC's up, dressed and breakfasted.

Does your nursery do breakfast and lunch? DC's one did and that helped a lot.

Thanks again for the replies, it is heartening to know it's possible. It seems so difficult in theory. I think I will have to force myself to bed earlier although will probably be really tired from working so might not be too much of a problem. I'll be setting an alarm for the first time in years!

And yes nursery does to breakfast which will save such a lot of time (and mess!).

i have two a similar age to yours - 2 and 4.

we,as a family, don't DO mornings :)

If you are a night owl it will be much much easier for you to get everything - and i mean everything - ready the night before.

Nursery bags packed, your work bag packed, coats out, shoes for kids out - last one v important as nothing like a lost shoe to throw a major spanner in the morning routine.

Now, if you are feeling really saintly, bung a slow cooker stew on before leaving the house, specially useful if the nursery only does high tea as your kids may be peckish on re-entry :)

Narmada-more great advice, thank you! Preparation is clearly the key! I don't really mind doing things once kids are in bed so will try to get as much as possible done. Slow-cooker also a great idea, will have to drag it out of the cupboard! Thanks

I am a single parent and went back to work when my DCs were 6 and 4. My morning routine then went like this:

0600 get up, make pot of tea, shower, apply make up and dry hair
0630 enter DCs' rooms turn on lights, make "time to get up" noises
0635 go downstairs and compose lunchboxes from sandwiches etc. made the night before; get cup of tea (this part is essential!)
0645 back upstairs, get older child up and dressed, make his bed, put him at breakfast table to start
0650 get younger child up (much harder), dressed, bed made and child to breakfast table
0705 breakfast over, clear to dishwasher
0710 clean teeth
0715 get all school stuff into car, kids into coats and shoes then in car; leave.

These days they make their own beds and get themselves dressed, though I still struggle to get the younger one up.

I find the key to a successful morning exit from the house is to have as much as possible ready the night before. I always make lunches the night before, no matter how late, and set out all the breakfast things ready. Also I choose my own outfit the night before and anything that needs to go with me to work or with kids to school is waiting by front door the night before.

I have my own breakfast at work usually - I take cereal in a pot because I just don't have time to sit down in the morning at home.

Good luck! You'll be fine!

0600 dd2 trots in to say good morning. Up out of bed, clothes on while ds1 dresses himself (he is always up at 5). Dd2 may consent to dress herself.
0605 washing on, kettle on, cereal poured, breakfast consumed.
0620 insert dd2 into her clothes if she's not done herself, do her hair
Leave DC to draw while I pack the bike with the day's stuff
0640 empty dishwasher while ds1 does homework, empty washing machine
0700 clean everyone's teeth, finish homework.
0715 coerce dc into coats and shoes (not sure how this takes 20 mins..)and finally get out of the door at 0735
I wash my hair and make packed tea, pack schoolbags etc in the evening before, always!

Although dc's are older than yours now, i went back to work when both of them were under a year old so I really understand where you are coming from. I work full time as a teacher and have to leave the house by 8 to drop off at the cm's.

I would second, third, fourth etc. the tips given already. The key is in the preparation the night before. As soon as we get in, I check book bags, sign anything that is needed, dates on calender etc. and homework/reading done and then repack ready for the morning. This includes makig sure pe kit etc. It all goes by the door ready for the off. I then empty packed lunch boxes, prepare the next days and pop in the fridge. Clothes are laid out in the bedroom the night before. Breakfast dishes are also laid out the night before although we have cereal so no preparing needed.

In the morning, I get up at 6.30 and sit around for 20-30 minutes drinking coffee, eating my breakfast and generally enjoying peace and quiet. 7am I go upstairs, stir the dc's and leave them to get dressed whilst I get ready (i shower in the evenings), with the occasional shout across the hall.

Everyone downstairs by 7.40, breakfast for dc's whilst I have a quick tidy and then teeth brushed and out of the door.

Sounds easy. I would be lying if I said I don't become shouty mum sometimes. DS, 9, is like a sloth in the mornings and makes me want to scream sometimes but we normally manage to be out of the door by 8 ish, all in tact and all presentable.

Good Luck. Once a routine is established it becomes second nature!

Forgot to mention DH is out of the door by 6.30 so not lounging around in bed. There are two of you so in theory should be easier.

Dog walked in the evening after DC's bedtime. Bags and packed lunches done while DP IS doing the dog. Up at 6, kids up just after, they sit in our bed with their milk and cbeebies while we shower and dress. Each take a child to dress, everyone downstairs when Rastamouse starts or we are behind!
All breakfast together, one do shoes and coats whilst the other parent stacks the dishwasher then go go go!

I think I'll have to go down the route of a properly timed routine or I can see it all going quite shouty already! I feel a bit sorry for the DC as they are mainly used to lounging about in the mornings. I know already that one DC will be hard work to get up and moving to a schedule but I like the idea of Cbeebies and milk in bed, that might be enough to lure them out of their own bed! It does seem to be the last bit (coats & shoes on, bags gathered, out the door) that seems to somehow stretch in to far longer than it should. I appreciate all the good luck being wished, am feeling better about it already