Leaving the house in the morning

My girls will start preschool next week, after spending the first 2.75 years of their life at home with me, DH, or our wonderful nanny. DH is going to be in charge of getting the girls ready for school in the mornings and I'm wondering how long it will take Piper, Cricket and DH to get out of the house. The school is 15 minutes away. School drop off is at 8am and DH will go directly to work afterwards. So he needs to get himself ready as well as get the girls up, make and serve their breakfast, convince them to put clothes on, do their hair, and herd them out the door into the car.

For those of you who send your kids to daycare/preschool, how long does it take you? I'm thinking that DH could wake the girls up at 6:30 and be out of the house by 7:45 if he's all ready himself beforehand, but is that unrealistic? Or more time than he'll need? We've never tried to put the girls on any sort of schedule in the mornings so we're clueless!

 

Your situation may be different than mine, but my girls get breakfast at their daycare/preschool, so I don't need to worry about that and we have our morning routine down to a science. I get up at 6:00 and get ready until 6:35. I wake the girls up at 6:35 and change diapers, get them dressed, do their hair. We're putting coats and hats on at 7:00 a.m. and driving out of the driveway at 7:05 to make it to school by 7:25.

 

It takes us about 25- 30 minutes to get out of the house, but we do not do breakfast at home, that is done at daycare. I wake the kids up about 15 minutes before I am done getting ready. They go to the bathroom and dress themselves (I put the clothes out for them). Then we head downstairs where they put their coats and shoes on and then we are the door. Some days take longer and some days go faster, it all depends on what sort of mood the kids woke up in.

 

Our biggest hurdle isn't getting up or dressed, it's getting out to the car. Seriously, I ended up climbing up and down the stairs this morning.

As for time, we don't do breakfast at home either, so it's around 30 minutes from get up to out the door. Another 10 minutes to get down to the car!!

 

DH and I get up at 6:45ish and the girls get up around 7. Breakfast starts around 7:15 (we take turns getting up first and making breakfast), and we are usually out of the house by 8:15.

So, your schedule would be about the same as ours, but shifted half an hour earlier. But that is with both of us getting them ready, and DH often showers after we leave. When he has to eat & run, that adds at least another 15 minutes for me.

For us, the slowest part is breakfast. Sarah is a slow waker and a slow eater, but since breakfast is her best meal, we don't like to hurry her. Sometimes she eats 3 (small) bowls of oatmeal and it can take her more than half an hour.

Meanwhile, Amy bolts a few bites of food and then goes to play, which means that we have to drag her away from whatever she's doing when it's actually time to get ready to go.

Then there is the whole getting dressed process, which takes longer now than it did when they were 2 (but it's faster than when they were 3! ). It helps immensely to have them pick out their clothes the night before, because it's not the actual dressing that takes so long, it's the process of telling them 3 times that it's time to go pick out their clothes. :gah: Somehow, if the clothes are ready and waiting, they don't dawdle nearly as much.

"Doing their hair" -- :rotflmbo: On a good day, we comb it. On a bad day, they go to school with bed head.

I've also decided (as a general rule, not just on school days) that 15 minutes before we really need to leave the house is when I need to start telling them to put their shoes & coats on.

Good luck, and just remember that everything gets easier with practice! I hope they love school!

 

I get the kiddos up at 8am, brush their teeth, wrestle with them to do the nasal rinse since they're *always* snotty due to preschool, change diapers, and get them dressed.

I then make them smoothies instead of breakfast, and they wander around and drink them leisurely while playing. Meantime, I pack lunches, make sure their bags are set, etc.

On a good day, we get shoes on, brush hair, and leave around 8:45am. On a bad day, we don't leave until after 9am (drop off is supposed to end at 9am). Sometimes it's because one of them decided to poop three times in the space of one hour.

Good luck! I *still* owe you an email, but just haven't gotten it together...

 

I wake mine at 7:30 and we are out the door by 8:30-ish, but it does take practice [takes DH an extra 1/2 hour to get them ready]. I am totally up and dressed by the time I wake them. We pick clothes the night before. Breakfast on MWF is pancakes/waffles, fruit, milk. I make the pancakes/waffles over the weekend so just re-heat. T and Th when they have cereal is definitely a slower day. I would allow extra time the first few days until DH gets the hang of it.

Just as an unsolicited side note, I have found that many preschools are quite strict about being there on time. Apparently it can be stressful for a child to come in late and miss "meet and greet".

 

We don't do breakfast at home either so I would add a good 20 minutes onto this schedule. I wake at 5:30, shower and all that. Get the girls up at 6:30, get them ready. Out the door around 7:05. Usually I have to add 10 minutes to come in a get whatever it was that I forgot or they ask for once we are in the car. If we are driving by 7:15, it's :good:

 

We need to be out the door shortly after 9 for MDO, and I find things run smoothest if we're up by 7, giving all of us about 2 hours. They often wake up feeling a little finicky, and not ready to eat right away, plus Joel has to have a breathing treatment before we go, too. I pack what I can for their lunch the night before and get their bags all ready, plus pick out their clothes.

 

We have 3 kiddo's, so a bit different then your situation. They also get breakfast at daycare/preschool.

That being said, we often end up toasting them some waffles or a bagle to eat in the car, becuase we are running so far behind!

I *Try* to get up at 5:45 to shower and fix myself up, but depending on whether or not the baby was up and down the night before, that just doesn't happen.

Usually I'm up at 6:15, get showered, fix myself up, etc. The kids all wake up on their own between 6-6:30, so they'll be wandering around. About 6:30 we start getting them dressed (twins are 3, baby is 18 months) the girls dress themselves but need help picking their clothes out.

We're LUCKY to get out the door by 7:30! It really depends on the mood the kids are in that day. Yesterday, for instance, one kept throwing fits so we didn't make it out the door until 7:45. this mornign though, everyone was in a good mood and we were in the car leaving at 7:20...

If they didn't dress themselves, it'd be easier. When I used to do it by myself, I had somewhat of a 'processing line' going! LOL I'd put one kid on the changing table, change them, dress them, do their hair, socks/shoes BEFORE they were allowed to get down. One right after the other, I'd have all 3 kids done in less than 15 minutes. Then they just had to get coats on and go. BTW, 'doing their hair' consists of brushing it and putting it in a ponytail.