I never imagined that getting Win to put his school uniform on every morning would turn into such a battle. I thought he would get up, get dressed, and generally be quite good at making sure he is ready on time.
Getting out of our house in a morning is very much a team effort. Jared works for himself, so unless he is working away, or has an appointment, he does breakfast whilst I get dressed – then we swap. I finish everything off and make sure everyone is ready, then Jared walks Win to school.
Since Win learnt to dress himself I have (almost) always laid his clothes out the day before. I find it really helpful for both of us, and on Saturdays he can choose whatever he wants to wear from his drawer. I lay out his school uniform every night (unless it is still drying downstairs), and I naively thought this would prevent any fuss.
As with many things; children often don’t want to do things when they know what is expected of them. They like to do their own thing, and exercise their independence. Every morning was turning into a huge battle of wills, and I felt like I was getting frustrated and unnecessarily worked up.
The last few weeks we have been setting an alarm for 8.25am. Win knows by this point he need to be dressed with his shoes on. I have told him that I won’t nag him, or ask him to get dressed and it has made a huge difference to our mornings. He panics if he is still in his pyjamas, and rushes to get ready. Things still aren’t perfect, but they are certainly a massive improvement.
What tips do you have for getting your school goers ready in the morning? I would love to know your tricks!
E xx
Oh man Esther..this is our home every morning times 2!! I feel like a mad woman, and when Nath leaves for work it’s like a mad panic. I love your alarm idea. To cut out being a nagging mum I’m totally trying it. X
Good luck! I felt like a crazy person, and I don’t even take him most of the time. I hate nagging so much, I just feel like such a bore! x
Great idea about the alarm. I do find it difficult to get Libby ready in the mornings. I actually think it’s a bit of nervous excitement about going to school, she just seems to be all over the place. But when she’s dressed and ready, we always do her school reading book because she’s not too tired at that time and it’s a great way to calm her down before school.
Nat.x
That is a good idea to calm her down. Great idea! Win is definitely a bit all over the place, and can’t seem to concentrate on what he is doing. He does have a schedule with pictures so he doesn’t forget anything! x
By no means am I perfect at this… but I love it when all three kids are dressed before we go down for breakfast, any spillages on clothes can be solved with a quick wipe. If I’m getting desperate I challenge A to a game of ‘who can get ready first’ which is probably every parents’ technique. I have a second set of toothbrushes downstairs so I don’t have to go back upstairs to clean their teeth. John is out the door by 7.40 so I have to be organised if I’m going to get to school on time! I like the alarm idea though, whatever works!
Jared and I have this discussion all the time. I prefer to get the kids dressed before brekkie too. I think it makes everything so much better. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t. I wish Win was competitive with someone other than Ru. Win will only rush if it’s against Ru…and Ru isn’t the slightest bit competitive! x