Preschool Morning Routine

Hi All:

I'd appreciate any time-tested tips for your preschool morning routine. We are really struggling to get everyone ready and out the door for work and preschool on time (and without power struggles). I have 3.5 year old boy/girl twins and I work outside the home. My DH is a part-time stay at home dad and he's been ill with the flu, so this first week of preschool has been absolute chaos!

Thanks in advance!

Meg -- Mom to 3.5 year old boy/girl twins

 

This has been our first week of back to school and it has not been easy. I tend to get up and going as soon as I wake up on those days. I try to have the kids outfits ready (although my daughter likes to pick her own out) when they wake up. I feed them, they get dressed, brush teeth and we are out the door. Our problem has been with my late sleeper. We have to leave about 8:15 and Meggie has been getting up at 7:50. I usually have the boys all ready to go when she wakes up.

You just need to get into a routine. I try to make sure that I am showered/dressed/fed before anyone else wakes up on school days. Then I can concentrate on them and their routine.

 

We've been doing it since birth and it's still pretty tough, but FWIW, here's our routine:

6:30-7:00: DH and I wake up and shower, and one of us gets started making breakfast.
7:15: Kids' light goes on, and they wake up if they weren't already up.
7:15-8ish: Breakfast (with associated whining).
8-8:15: Get kids dressed and brush hair (sometimes).
8:15-8:30: Run around looking for hats, jackets, shoes. Browbeat children into putting shoes on. Shepherd to car and threaten with loss of privileges if they don't get into their seats relatively quickly.

We are lucky that both DH and I have fairly flexible work schedules -- we both aim for arrival at 9:00, but it's OK if we're late. Also, Boulder is a small city and I can leave the house at 8:30, drop the kids off at school, and get to work by 9 or 9:15.

We do as much as possible the night before -- make my lunch (the kids get lunch at school, thank goodness), collect any necessary items for school, run and empty the dishwasher, etc. But we don't pick out clothes the night before, because the kids always wanted to change their minds in the morning, so that just meant we fought about it twice. We let them have almost complete control over what they wear as long, as we don't think they'll freeze or overheat.

It was really rough from just after age 3 until a few months ago (they'll be 4 in November), due to power struggles and other 3-year-old behaviors. For whatever reason, things are marginally easier now -- it ebbs and flows.

If yours are just starting school, it may take a month or two before you really get into a routine. Also, with DH sick, all notions of efficiency are probably out the window. I know when we're in that kind of crisis mode, I tend to panic and feel like we'll never get our act together, but I'm always surprised by how much easier everything is when we're all healthy again! Just wanted to throw that in there in case you have a tendency toward panic the way I do. Hang in there! :hug:

 

Our routine is:

Up around 6:30
Eat 6:45
dress at 7/7:15
I get ready- they play 7:30
Pack backpacks 8:00
Out the door around 8:15 if walking/driving at 8:40

Mine are early risers---but they go to bed really early too (7/7:30). That way they get 11 hours sleep and sometimes nap (1-2 pm). Would an earlier bedtime get them 'up' faster? Mine wake naturally and I think that helps them be more alert first thing and less grumpy...plus we have a lot of time between wake/leave and that helps lessen the 'go go go' mood- the extra time helps. Esp. since we can walk or drive to PS, depending on how much time we have left after we get ready. Some days are MUCH faster than others due to whining/potty breaks/and other 4 yr old angst.

We lay out clothes/socks/shoes/hair stuff the night before and get papers/stuff ready as well.

 

We're not in pre-school YET, but here's our morning routine. DH and I both work outside the home full-time... I did notice that once we pushed our wake-up time back an hour, things got significantly less chaotic. That extra hour of sleep is a godsend.


5:45-6 a.m. : Wake-up (we used to get up at 4:45, but the kids would always wake up shortly after,
they wake up about 6:15-6:30 and are much happier. We always let them wake
up on their own)
6-7 a.m. : Breakfast for DH and I, snacks for the kids (they get breakfast at school), get our stuff together, dress everyone, hair, etc.

7-7:15: run around looking for shoes, baby dolls, whatever security items they want for the day.
7:15-7:30: get in car, poke around, fight with them to get in their seats and buckled in.
7:30-7:45 : Drive to school, drop everyone off, say good-bye, hugs/kisses and convince them they LIKE school (for some reason they get shy first thing in the morning, but by night we can't get them to leave)

They go to bed about 7:30 p.m. and take a 2-3 hour nap in the middle of the day, so they're still getting at least 12 hours of sleep at night.


FWIW - even though the crankiness has gone down SOME since we switched DH's and my wake-up time, it's been a minimal change. They still fight, fuss, scream and cry over anything and everything. Mainly they are fighting for Mommy and Daddy's attention.

 

You need a routine for sure. But with a sick husband, I'm sure it is impossible.

When he is feeling better, I'm sure you'll find see what works.

 

I don't have to get ready (other then have clothes on ) because I don't have to go to work. But I'll share anyway.

I wake up at 6:45 get my coffee, get dressed/brushteeth/all that jazz. At 7:15 I make their breakfast and get their milk and wake them up at 7:25. They eat right away and are usually done by 7:45/7:50 and they brush their teeth and get dressed. I make them (well, my dd because she likes to pick out her clothes) get their clothes ready the night before. By 8:05ish we are done getting dressed and are getting on our shoes/jackets. :good: We leave at 8:15.

Good luck. :hug: I hope things get easier once your husband gets to feeling better!!

 

Preschool started on Monday and it has really been a change of pace for us. We need to leave an hour to an hour and half earlier than we normally do. My best advice is to prep as much as posssible the night before - lunches & backpacks packed, and then for me & DH to get up in time to shower & get mostly ready before the girls wake up. We don't pick clothes out the night before but that isn't an issue here. They have to get dressed and eat breakfast first and then play during the time remaining. I have found that all three of mine do better if they have at least an hour after waking up before we have to get in the car. We have to leave at 8:40, so I wake anyone that is still asleep at 7:30, make them get out of bed by 7:40, set a timer for 8:25 which means time to wrap up playing & get shoes on, at 8:30 I say it's time to get in the car, and yes it takes 10 minutes to climb in the car in the attached garage and get buckled in.

Make sure you build in the time it takes to get the kids in & out of the car and checked in and not just drive time. Preschool starts at 9 and drive time is 10 minutes. Once we park it takes at least 5 minutes to get out of the car, walk through the building which is a maze. When we get to the door it takes several minutes to hang up backback, lunch box, sign her in, etc. Adults/sibs are supposed to be out of the room by 9:00. This teacher is a stickler for time!

 

Mine go to preschool/daycare 3 mornings a week, grandma comes to our house 2 days/week. Here's our daycare morning schedule:

5:15am - I am out the door to the gym. I have gotten everything ready the night before (their clothes, anything they need to take to school, DH's lunch, etc.)

6:30am - DH wakes up, showers
7:00am - DH wakes the girls, breakfast, dresses them, hair done
7:40am - they are all out the door on the way to school

Two key items here:

1. Have everything ready the night before
2. Do not turn the TV on in the morning

 

Here is our schedule:

6am I wake up, get myself ready, and check e-mail
7am DS and DD wake up, make their beds, & get themselves dressed; I make breakfast
7:30am Breakfast time
8am DS and DD wash their own faces and brush their own teeth; I do DD's hair
8:15am DS and DD go to the bathroom & put on their shoes
8:25am We are out the door!

** I choose their clothes the night before and have everything laid out for them.