Get Organised.. Without Tears??

[Lucy]

It's a tough one. I work 2 days a week and this getting us all ready and out of the door bizzo was the hardest bit of my return to work, so I really empathise!

What I am going to suggest works for us.....keeps us all happy and well fed, & makes morning times on my work days a bit of fun, rather than a stress out.....

Obviously prep as much as you can the night before.
I lay their clothes on the dining table the night before (which they can see, and my eldest (age 3) gets a kick out of viewing her outfit the night before, even down to matching socks and hair ties, LOL!

For breakfast (all of my children eat like kings for brekky, so I hear you on that one!) I make up, the night before, a "breakfast box" (in a tupperware lunchbox) for them to attack in the morning......it includes a peice of fruit, a box of sultanas, a cold sausage or some ham, a hard-boiled egg, a breakfast bar.....you get the picture......it is all food that can be prepped the night before, and all things that are not too messy, and all things that can be eaten straight from the box at the table or in the car.......

No TV on at all until they are all dressed in the morning, and no brekky until they are all dressed either. Quick game's a good game!

We have a race to see who can be the fastest.ie I have to dress them all ready before Daddy gets out of the shower....

They usually fall upon their breakfast boxes with a mighty hunger by this stage, but if they mess about, they know that the lunchbox lid gets snapped closed and they don't get to delve into it again until they are in the car.....

They all appear to think of it as fun, and the mess is reduced to the managable area of my car......

Not sure if that helps any?

ETA

more tears over the fact her banana isn’t yellow enough or Im still hungry can I have fairy bread?

Olivia (my eldest) started doing things / saying things like this a lot from when she was about two and a half.....when I was heavily pg with Lexie. In hindsight, it was not about the banana or the fairy bread or anything like that at all. I am sure, in hindsight, that it was all to do with her "sensing" a shift in my behavior 9ie she maybe was picking up that I was really knackered and pre-occupied regarding the impending birth!), & I am sure she sensed her little world was on the change yet again. Often when they pick up vibes regarding change, their behaviour changes a little too, for a short time......so it is not really about the banana or the fairy bread, but more about her trying to assert some "control" for herself in the situation? A little bit of a 3 year old "power struggle" almost?

(I may be wrong about your DD, LOL, that was just my recollection of how things were for us.........)

Best of luck either way!

[Kaylene]

Some fantastic Ideas thankyou all for taking the time to reply.

Kindy wont let outside food in as there are children with strange but dangerous allergies there, but eating in the car isn’t a problem. Good thinking, I might change the routine a little too, by doing her hair and clothes first, giving her more time to wake up. Her bed routine is finally working well so I dare not wake her any earlier, I did try but each time I paid a cruel price.

I love the breakfast box and if she hasn’t finished take it along with her, that’s a fantastic idea Lucy, thankyou. And yes it makes sense that the changes in my mood reflect through hers. I will keep an eye open on that one.

Thankyou all so very much I will practice and LYK what works

K