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I have had it with trying to get the kids ready for school in the morning! DS5 isn't so much of a problem. It is my 7 yo who is on my last nerve. They get up around 6-6:30 and watch TV. DH goes in around 7:00 to get them breakfast. DS7 eats REALLY slowly. Often I call him up to shower at 7:45 and he says he's still eating! Then he spends, no joke, about 30 minutes in the shower/bath. I have had to go in and tell him to get out up to 4 times during 1 bath. He just forgets or ignores me, or has no concept of "2 more minutes." While getting ready myself, I have to check on him every 5 minutes to see if he's making progress. He ALWAYS forgets something and I have to call him back upstairs.
I made a poster with pictures of what he has to do and hung it in the hall. I made a check list where he can check off what he has done every morning. I've offered rewards if he can ever get it all done. He hasn't yet. We don't have to leave for school until 8:45, so he has about 2 hours to get ready and we still have these issues.
I just told them that starting tomorrow, NO TV in the morning until they are completely ready. We'll see if that works.
Perhaps showering the night before would help. My daughter is the same way. I call her the pokey little puppy. It takes her forever just to put her shoes on!
I have the no tv rule in the morning too, I feel like it really slows things down.
One thing I did notice in your routine is that your son is getting up about an hour before breakfast time, he's 7 let him take a little responsibility for his morning meal so he can get started earlier. I'm not sure what your kids are used to eating but a lot of breakfast is simple enough for a 7 yo to prepare. I know some kids are a little less independant than other and only you know how much your son is capable of. Lets take cereal, maybe your son can grab it from the pantry and serve it himself, let him. Maybe he can handle the pourin of the cereal but not the milk since the gallon is too heavy, pour one serving into a cup, thermos, water bottle whatever the night before and leave it on a shelf in the fridge low enough for him to reach. If he can't do the cereal either then pour it into a bowl the night before and leave it on the counter with his serving of milk in the fridge. Maybe they eat oatmeal, again leave the milk or water in a portion size container and the packet of oats in the bowl he needs to use and teach him how to use the microwave. Maybe they like to eat eggs, make mini breakfast burritos wrap them up and put them in the freezer, let him microwave it when he wakes up. Waffle's & Bread are easy enough to put in the toaster. Maybe you can buy an egg timer and show him how to set it for 45 seconds so after the toast pops he doesn't burn himself by grabbing it right away. He's a great age to learn to take a little responsibility for one of his meals. Also he's a slow eater, this is a good thing! Please don't teach him to shove the food down his throat just to get ready faster, eating too quickly can lead to weight gain down the road.
You didn't mention picking outfits so maybe it's not a problem in your house but something that has had a lot of success in my house is: I bought a hanging clost organizer from IKEA, it has 5 cubbies. On the weekend I pick out everything needed for an outfit (socks, shoes, underwear, everything) and put it all in a cubby. I fill each cubby so he has an outfit for each day of the week, at first I told him to start at the top and work his way down but I realized he likes a little more freedom so i just let him pick which ever outfit he wants from the 5. Some days I know it's going to snow/rain/be extra hot/cold so that day I tell him today you have to wear the XYZ outfit. If your child doesn't have enough shoes for each day of the week you can just toss a picture of the shoes in the cubby instead.
As far as forgetting things, make it part of his bedtime routine to get everything he needs set up by the door or in the mudroom or someother special spot. If he's forgetful you'll probably still need to help him with this step but at least you won't be as rushed as you are in the morning.
Absolutely, turn off the TV in the morning! They get all caught up in it and everything else goes out their little brains. It's like a drug.
I wouldn't offer rewards if he gets it all done. I'd "offer" him punishment if he doesn't. He needs to learn the concept of time and the fact that the world has a schedule he will have to adhere to his entire life. If they dither when they're seven they'll dither when they're 25 and have a job interview in an hour.
You'll be doing him a favor if he learns that now. (Anyway you can cut down the two hour window? That's an eternity to mess around in when you're seven.)
(Anyway you can cut down the two hour window? That's an eternity to mess around in when you're seven.)
I do think that sometimes having way too much time in the morning makes it worse. School didn't start until 9am when DS was in elementary. I seem to remember having some issues as well because he'd get involved playing or something.
Our kids, 8 and 7 shower and dry their hair at night. They also choose outfits for the next day before bed. I wake them around 7:15-school starts at 8:30. I cook breakfast, so it's usually ready for them by 7:30...the breakfast is done so there's no piddling around. We usually have eggs and bacon or oatmeal and fruit or bagels and yogurt...whatever the mood strikes me. I sit with them while they eat, talking and encouraging them to eat.
The TV is on, but it's always the news so they have no interest in it whatsoever.
Breakfast should be done by 7:50 so the girls can get dressed, make their beds, brush their teeth, fix their hair, feed the dogs and get books and lunch kits ready for school. We are out the door by 8:15.
At night it's:
shower
homework
reading
make lunches
pick out clothes
Our routine has worked, but I am really up their butts in the morning. I also have a 3 and a half year old to get ready, and will soon have a newborn. I really hope we can keep this routine...
some days are better than others...my 7 year old is NOT a morning person. We used to take showers in the morning, because they liked waking up that way, but they piddled around too much.
My son was difficult in the mornings. He needed to shower to wake up. I remember a few times going into the bathroom and found him sitting on the shower floor, just letting the water hit him. The poor thing. I can relate. I am not a morning person. It takes me forever to wake up. There's no way we could have done the evening baths instead.
I agree with the others that 2 hours is way too much time for a morning routine. I woke my children an hour before having to leave the house.
You can't change how long it takes him to eat, but you can shorten the shower by going in and shutting off the water and handing him a towel.
I think NO TV before everyone is done might work. Just make sure that nobody gets to watch TV until they are both done. That way you get the peer pressure factor on your side. His sister will start harrassing him to get ready if she can't watch TV because of him.
One thing I did notice in your routine is that your son is getting up about an hour before breakfast time, he's 7 let him take a little responsibility for his morning meal so he can get started earlier.
That's a good point. My parents never made us breakfast (except on Sundays). We always got our own cereal.
If he is a slow eater, he should eat sooner since he's awake. There's no point to sitting around watching TV when things could get done. I think the OP has figured that out since she's decided on the NO TV rule.
I agree with what most others have said. We don't do tv in the morning, if we did, we'd never get out the door. And we prepare everything the night before, shower, clothes out, lunches made, book bags packed, shoes in the right spot, breakfast dishes out. Sounds like your son may benefit from a little extra sleep in the morning. I will say though that my 10 year-old son is a snail. It can take him an hour to eat if I'm not on his case. Some kids just procrastinate I guess.
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