Our morning routine is not working at all!! I mentioned our new chart system last week. While it works well in the evenings, it just isn't cutting it in the mornings. My kids will just not get moving! This morning Frances and Benjamin were up a full hour early. That didn't translate into any less chaos this morning, though. At 7:30 Ken was still asking them what they wanted for breakfast and telling them to get their shoes on.
I've read that some parents have put this situation completely into the hands of the children. These parents tell the kids to get up and get ready and then send them to school in whatever state of dress or undress they are in at departure time. The theory is that the kids will be embarrassed at the prospect of going to school in their pajamas with messy hair. Have these people met any real children?? All the children I know, mine especially, would LOVE to go to school in their pajamas. In fact, Henry asks regularly when the next pajama day is because he had them in his day care pretty frequently. {Please ignore the fact that I was the teacher that planned them!!}
It has nothing to do with not wanting to go to school. My kids LOVE school. They have never complained about going or tried to stay home. And on the weekends when I tell them to get dressed before they watch TV, that only takes about 5 minutes. I am truly baffled why our school mornings are full of so much yelling and crying (and that's just Ken's reaction!!--KIDDING!)
Here's what we do:
The kids have an alarm clock. The alarm goes off at 7am. They have to get on the bus a little after 8, so that gives them an hour to get dressed, eat breakfast and complete their morning hygiene. They pick their clothes out on Sunday for the whole week. (This is awesome, by the way, because we used to get busy or forget during the week and cause more morning chaos.) I have a play list that I play for the morning. It's kinda lame, but I just got into iTunes this year and don't have much of a collection. Don't judge!
So what can we do? How do we push the fast-forward button in the morning? I should mention that I get Benjamin ready, but expect Henry and Frances to get themselves ready. The only things I help with are tying Henry's shoes (which Frances often does anyway) and giving Frances' hair a once-over.
I'll take any and all suggestions you've got! Or maybe just commiserate with me in the comments and let me know I'm not alone!
