Do you have enough time in the morning?
By katsmeow1213
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
United States
September 4, 2008 7:11am CST
My kids wake up so early, they have far too much time in the mornings. One child has to be off to school at 7:30am, and the twins' bus comes at 8:30. I set my alarm for 6:30, get the oldest up. He gets breakfast, takes a shower, gathers everything he needs for school, and was still ready by 7am. The twins woke up at 7, although if I had it my way, I wouldn't wake them until 7:30. They take their time getting ready, but at 8am they're sitting on the sofa, dressed, clean, fed, backpacks on, waiting for 8:30 to come.
I'd rather not have this much extra time. Kids tend to act up a bit when they have so much extra time, because they get bored. But as my husband said this morning, it's better to have them ready at 8am then have them scrambling to finish up at the last minute while the bus is honking outside.
So what are mornings like in your house with your school age children? Do they have plenty of time to get ready, or not enough? Do they get ready quickly, or very slowly?
3 people like this
19 responses
@cher913 (25782)
• Canada
5 Sep 08
when i was working, mornings were crazy, but now that i am off (sick leave) they are not so stressed, plus, my kids are older (11 & 15) so they know what they have to do. they get up around 7 and my teen is out the door just after 8 to get to school early to hang with her friends, my 11 year old leaves around 8:30.
1 person likes this
@billymango (29)
• China
5 Sep 08
my gran always get up at 4.30, and my parent get up at6.00,than do the breakfast for me,i get up at 6.45
@miamilady (4910)
• United States
4 Sep 08
I wish I could borrow some of your extra time!
Mornings are always rushed with me.
Our departure times are not staggered like yours.
3 of us have to leave the house at the same time, although my daughter starts school and 8:00 and my son starts at 9:00. their schools are far from our home and near to eachother so we have to stay at that end of town between drop off times.
1 person likes this
@gemini_rose (16264)
•
4 Sep 08
We have just about enough time in a morning, and as long as nothing goes wrong at the last minute it all runs pretty smoothly. I get up at 7.30 am and wash and get my face on for the day! Then I get the kids up about 8am and they have their breakfast, then they get dressed and I dress my youngest and then pack their bags up. We then leave the house about 8.45am to get to school for 9.00am. We walk, if it was just me and the boys it would only take us ten minutes, but because we have little madam it takes us 15 minutes!
1 person likes this
@levisgirl01 (139)
• India
4 Sep 08
This is really a big prob.. well let me tell you that m not a parent.. in fact m just 20 years but my aunty (we stay in joint family)do have the same prob.. i have 2 cousins (aunty) and she also complains that because of their schedules , she can't stay connected in due with time !!! She tries to be better or much better with the things she did yesterday... but she says she fails... hehe... sometimes its a topic of laugh for all of us!!
1 person likes this
@jccjr5 (62)
• United States
4 Sep 08
Mornings have been crazy for me!! I am still getting used to the school routine. Last year I had one in Kindergarten and one in Preschool. Both were in afternoon classes. This year I have two in Preschool that starts at 7:30 and then I have to drive across town to get my daughter to 1st grade by 8:00! Which means I have to have three kids up, ready and out of the house by 7:15. This is no easy task. I try to wake them up at 6:30 so they can watch TV and wake up a little and then start eating by 6:45. It is so early that trying to get them to eat is a huge problem. I am actually considering trying to change the preschool times, we'll see.
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
4 Sep 08
Some people just have no appetite in the morning. My kids are the opposite. They have a huge appetite in the morning, but no appetite in the evenings.
Perhaps you could grab some portable breakfasts to eat in the car on the way to school, such as muffins, pop tarts, cereal bars, etc. There are tons on the market these days. Granted it's not bacon and eggs, but at least they are getting some nutrition before school begins.
Or another route to take... some schools serve breakfast in school, the ones around here do. You could have the kids eat at school, then they aren't eating as early.
@ravinskye (8237)
• United States
4 Sep 08
We usually have just enough time to get ready. My daughter started kindergarten this year. She decided she wanted her own alarm clock. So I set the alarm for her to get up at 7 and I set mine for 7 too. Though i tend to hit snooze once or twice! 
I set out her clothes the night before so she just gets up own her own and gets dressed. Then I get up and go down with her to get breakfast and everything else. She is usually ready with just a few minutes to spare. she gets the bus at 7:55.
I set out her clothes the night before so she just gets up own her own and gets dressed. Then I get up and go down with her to get breakfast and everything else. She is usually ready with just a few minutes to spare. she gets the bus at 7:55.@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
4 Sep 08
Later in the school year I will be awful about getting up on time. My oldest does have his own alarm clock, but he never uses it. I'm going to have to get him in the habit of setting it. The kids will all get their own breakfast, and the oldest will get himself showered and dressed without me, but I still pick out the clothes for the twins, otherwise they'll go to school mismatched, lol.
@Blondie2222 (28611)
• United States
5 Sep 08
No I don't. I'm not a morning person so if it's the weekday I set my alarm for 7:30am n only have enough time 2 shower n get ready 4 work, pack a lunch then its out the door to be at work by 8:30am every morning. I would get up earlier but I'm not a morning perosn like I said. Then when I get home I do laundry, dishes n all that good stuff then eat dinner sometimes n by that time almost 8pm so no time to relax really...Then do it all over again...Which we had more time in life but hopefully things wont be soo busy anymore...
@iskayz (5420)
• Philippines
5 Sep 08
Hi there!
Well I don't have kids yet, but I do have responsibilities to do in the house like walking the dogs every morning, cleaning and brushing their hair which do takes a lot of time. Then I have to tend to my garden and check out the plants a bit and clean the yard then prepare my breakfast. Then after eating I have to clean the house and deal with some extra stuffs. I live alone so I do everything myself.
Its always the mornings that people are so busy I think. Especially those with kids going to schools. Me, I always do everything in the mornings so I can have more time in the afternoon and can spend the rest of my day here in mylot. But I do things in a calm manner. I also don't look at the clock often when I start to do my responsibilities. It just makes doing things faster than like cramming always and trying to keep up with the time.
Ciao!
Well I don't have kids yet, but I do have responsibilities to do in the house like walking the dogs every morning, cleaning and brushing their hair which do takes a lot of time. Then I have to tend to my garden and check out the plants a bit and clean the yard then prepare my breakfast. Then after eating I have to clean the house and deal with some extra stuffs. I live alone so I do everything myself.
Its always the mornings that people are so busy I think. Especially those with kids going to schools. Me, I always do everything in the mornings so I can have more time in the afternoon and can spend the rest of my day here in mylot. But I do things in a calm manner. I also don't look at the clock often when I start to do my responsibilities. It just makes doing things faster than like cramming always and trying to keep up with the time.
Ciao!
@wiseshopping1 (679)
• China
5 Sep 08
time is very limited in the morning for me.
everyday i wake up at 07.00, my job time is 07.00. after i get up, i brush my teeth, wash my face, i do up my hair and then tidy my handbag, at last i go to take the bus. unluckily, i have to middle transfer another bus. so when i arrive company, it's nearly 08.20. that happens very often. my boss never criticize me even i'm always late for job. maybe he can understand why i'm late, maybe he knows that i'm working hard for him.
@razor123 (979)
• India
5 Sep 08
I know every night exactly what is my plan the next day and I get up accordingly taking into consideration everything to get to that place. I always make sure I get up so that I can finish everything within the stipend time I have allotted and leave the house in time. I don't get up too early as I get little time to sleep at nights.
But what your doing is fine and good too. Getting your kids ready well in advance. Your husband too stated a very valid point which said "It's better to have them ready at 8am then have them scrambling to finish up at the last minute while the bus is honking outside." I totally agree with him.
@sunshine4 (8703)
• United States
4 Sep 08
I have the exact opposite. I get up at 6:45 and wake up my boys that go to the high school. We are all taking a shower now ( luckily we have 3 full bathrooms in my house:)). At 7, I wake up my daughter...actually, I wake her and tell her she has 10 minutes...this is her pre-wakeup call. I turn on her tv and she lays in bed until 7:10 then she gets dressed. At 7:25, the boys are out the door and my daughter is down stairs dressed. She usually had yogurt for breakfast, then goes and brushes her teeth and brushes her hair. Shoes on and out the door for the bus at 7:35. Then I can breath for about 5 minutes because this is when the kids I babysit start coming!
I do agree that if they kids have too much free time in the morning, they can get bored and start acting up. We all get ready really quick in this house...sleep is important to us:)
@SynthEtika (40)
•
4 Sep 08
It depends what time u get up actually and the time it get you to get everythings ready. If you have to be ready for 8 o'clock and you know that usually spend one hour an hour and half to get ready then you know you have to get up by 6:30 AM. I usually get 5,6 hours of sleep at night so I don't mind getting up early and yes it is better to have the kids ready at 8AM then scrambling to finish up at the last minute with the bus honking outside. All the best and take care...
@magojordan (3252)
• Philippines
5 Sep 08
Well I think it's really good to let them have more time in the morning so that they could prepare better for the day. I always make sure I have enough time in the morning to get some exercise, to eat breakfast and to take a bath and my other morning rituals. I really don't want to be stressed out first thing in the morning because I don't have enough time to do stuff.
