My schedule changed where I get the kids ready for school/daycare before heading to work (they use to go to Grandma's to get ready).I am looking for ways to make the mornings more fun for the kids and less stressful for me. I have three kids and they seem to move slow, eat slow and are not motivated to get dressed They are 6, 4 and 1 1/2. I hate spending the morning trying to talk them into getting dressed, finish eating, etc.. My four year old daughter gives me the most problems. She eats slow, does not want to get dressed and hates having her hair combed. We have the same fight every morning. They have one hour each morning which should be more than enough time. I get up before them to get myself ready. I hate leaving for work feeling like a mean mamma. I would love to make the mornings more fun and meaningful. Any suggestions?
We struggle even without a
We struggle even without a deadline, but something that works for us is having a little reward.
My kids love their gummy vitamins and their probiotic pills. They get them and a cup of juice when we get in the car to go. It makes them move just a little faster at the end.
I'd also suggest letting them turn on one cartoon if they are moving, eating, getting dressed happily. If not, it goes off.
I'd also do breakfast last, since some kids just aren't ready to eat first thing in the morning.
I have all boys, and races seem to work like a charm, or having them surprise me and I act like it was the best surprise in the world when they are dressed before I even tell them to be.
Brooke Romney is an unbalanced mom of three young boys who constantly has too much to do, and too little time. She writes the Mom Beat column for The Gilbert Republic.
I also use TV to motivate my
I also use TV to motivate my kids in the morning. If they get moving and get everything done and backpacks by the door, they can watch TV for a few minutes before leaving.
For my 5 year old, who also hates to get dressed and hates having her hair combed: she loves to watch me get ready. Then when I am done it is her turn to get "made up" so we do her hair (I let her comb it herself) and she gets to tell me how she wants it styled -- nothing fancy, more like, one ponytail or two? I let her chose her clothes but she has only a couple minutes to do it. If she doesn't make a decision, then I get to choose.
We also kick off our shoes by the door whenever we come home from anywhere. It's messy, but we never have the last minute "I can't find my shoes" fiasco anymore!
Susan & Neil Hampton have three spectacular children, Alexander, Isabel and David, plus one amazing teenager, Eric. Susan does community outreach for arizonamoms.com.
“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.” - Margaret Atwood