The creche/school run before work

Highroad12

Just wondering peoples routines in the morning. No matter how early I get up and how organised I am I'm always rushing in the mornings and never get to work as early as I want.

I drop the baby to creche and park my car there and get the bus to town. I'm a lone parent....prob doesn't make a difference though as its probably done by mostly 1 parent anyway.

shesty

Well if you are relying on a bus you are kind of tied to that bus time anyway, aren't you?

splinter65

Highroad12 wrote: »

Just wondering peoples routines in the morning. No matter how early I get up and how organised I am I'm always rushing in the mornings and never get to work as early as I want.

I drop the baby to creche and park my car there and get the bus to town. I'm a lone parent....prob doesn't make a difference though as its probably done by mostly 1 parent anyway.

I just want to say I admire you hugely as a lone parent getting organised to drop a child to crèche and make your way to work on public transport. It’s not easy when the other parents there to help, very impressive doing it on your own.

GreeBo

What time does creche open at?
Are you there waiting for it to open or could you get there earlier?

I leave the kids clothes out the night before and bag packed, after my shower i get her up get dressed/ nappy and out the door.

Perhaps you are trying to do too much in the mornings?
Can you post the routine/ times ?

Highroad12

shesty wrote: »

Well if you are relying on a bus you are kind of tied to that bus time anyway, aren't you?

Not really the buses are quite frequent. Wouldn't be waiting more than 10 mins for a bus and bus lane all the way then so the bus is actually grand.

Highroad12

splinter65 wrote: »

I just want to say I admire you hugely as a lone parent getting organised to drop a child to crèche and make your way to work on public transport. It’s not easy when the other parents there to help, very impressive doing it on your own.

Thanks so much. I'd be lost without my mam and dad who collect him from creche and mind him for me for the rest of the day till I get home from work.

Cakerbaker

Youre probably doing some of the following already but What helps us is getting everything ready the night before. Ours have breakfast in crèche so they only need to be dressed in the mornings though that can take varying amounts of time depending on their moods. I bring a coffee and maybe a banana for my journey in and have my breakfast when I get to work. Something is grabbed out of the freezer before we leave so it’ll be defrosted for dinner when we get home. Something like a lost shoe or a tantrum over a preference for a different top can make such a difference to the time it takes to get out.

Highroad12

GreeBo wrote: »

What time does creche open at?
Are you there waiting for it to open or could you get there earlier?

I leave the kids clothes out the night before and bag packed, after my shower i get her up get dressed/ nappy and out the door.

Perhaps you are trying to do too much in the mornings?
Can you post the routine/ times ?

The creche opens at 8am but I always thought that was too early to drop him.....generally half 8 was the earliest. Maybe 8am wouldn't be so bad though I only leave him in for 4 hours so my mam would have to collect him earlier then.

My routine is generally have everything ready the night before - clothes on rad, lunches in fridge. I get my shower the night before. Do my makeup when I get to work and breakfast there too.

I try to get up before him to get ready but sometimes he wakes before me.

He has his breakfast and then I dress him and out the door but I can't figure out why it takes so long!! Maybe I should be getting up earlier. Usually get up around 7am.

Highroad12

Cakerbaker wrote: »

Youre probably doing some of the following already but What helps us is getting everything ready the night before. Ours have breakfast in crèche so they only need to be dressed in the mornings though that can take varying amounts of time depending on their moods. I bring a coffee and maybe a banana for my journey in and have my breakfast when I get to work. Something is grabbed out of the freezer before we leave so it’ll be defrosted for dinner when we get home. Something like a lost shoe or a tantrum over a preference for a different top can make such a difference to the time it takes to get out.

Yes the lost shoe etc really does delay. This morning he kept taking his runners off because he wanted to wear his wellies. I was getting short with him....feel awful now.

RebelButtMunch

I think you might just have to get up that 30min earlier to have some buffer time. It'll get easier as the years go by

AtomicHorror

Highroad12 wrote: »

Just wondering peoples routines in the morning. No matter how early I get up and how organised I am I'm always rushing in the mornings and never get to work as early as I want.

I drop the baby to creche and park my car there and get the bus to town. I'm a lone parent....prob doesn't make a difference though as its probably done by mostly 1 parent anyway.

There's two of us and we have two kids. My parents help out 2 days. I work from home, so my commute is basically zero. We have it easy, basically.

We still rush pretty much every morning. Most mornings there are sharp words, tantrums, two breakfasts, wrong bowl, that's not the right jam, I'm Steve from Minecraft, I am a worm, my tie is missing, the cat(s) is/are getting sick in my shoe(s).

I never start as early as I want and neither does my wife.

It'll get easier over time, but honestly if you're able to do this even half-ways decent without a second adult, you deserve a medal and probably some kind of parade. Take what advice you can of course, but also remember you're far better at this than your inner voice would have you believe.

Cakerbaker

Would it be possible for him to have breakfast in crèche? If he’s anything like mine that would save a huge amount of time.

Meeeee79

Breakfast in creche is a must here as some mornings it can take 10 mins to eat, other mornings half an hour!

My little one loves breakfast in creche as all the other kids are having theirs at same time.

Definitely something to consider, along with dropping him off for 8. He wont notice whether its 8 or half 8!

shesty

Also pick your battles...if he wants to wear the wellies, stick his runners in his bag and go with it.No point wasting time over that stuff.You seem like you get up in plenty of time but if you feel 15 mins extra might give you a cushion then maybe that would be worth it?We have three and we are up in loads of time (they are early risers) and it is still a bit rushed.

As someone else said fair play to you.It won't be this way forever.

scarepanda

In this house it's mainly two things that make the difference, 1) routine routine routine, same thing every morning in the same order at the same time and 2) alarms. The toddler is as slow as a wet week at times eating. We have an Alexa in the kitchen that has two alarms set 5 mins apart, the first one is so everyone knows that there's only 5 more minutes to eat breakfast, the second one is times up, up and brush teeth and get dressed. And a third for 'time to get out the door'. The other thing for me with picking my battles is that she gets to watch kidstube when I'm brushing her hair, it keeps her still and distracted. When things go to plan we have About 10 minutes to spare, sounds great but it can disappear very quickly if there's any delays.

GreeBo

Highroad12 wrote: »

The creche opens at 8am but I always thought that was too early to drop him.....generally half 8 was the earliest. Maybe 8am wouldn't be so bad though I only leave him in for 4 hours so my mam would have to collect him earlier then.

My routine is generally have everything ready the night before - clothes on rad, lunches in fridge. I get my shower the night before. Do my makeup when I get to work and breakfast there too.

I try to get up before him to get ready but sometimes he wakes before me.

He has his breakfast and then I dress him and out the door but I can't figure out why it takes so long!! Maybe I should be getting up earlier. Usually get up around 7am.

100% have breakfast in creche, also I wouldn't worry about dropping him early, if they are open then drop him in!

Ah, just saw about only paying for 4 hours...I still think that would be better as the time constraints are in the morning rather than the afternoon, assuming its ok with your parents.

Also if he wakes before you, leave him, he will soon get used to amusing himself in his cot/crib.
Just make sure he doesnt see you before you are getting him up.

Tombo2001

Would you consider a bike?

I find it gives me enormous flexibility, always has done when managing school/ creche drop offs and then on to work.

And yes - it feels like you are running a marathon from the moment you wake up until the moment you get to work.

What I find helps is if you set 15-20 minutes aside for yourself first thing when you wake up - for me its black coffee, bowl of muesli, read the phone and turn on some music - before the madness begins.

jlm29

We’re always rushing, I thought that’s just how it’s meant to be with kids! I’m often on my own with the kids in the morning, I find having everything ready in a pile for each child is a help, lunches made etc. Also, getting myself up and dressed while they’re still asleep works well.
It definitely gets quicker when they get a bit older, hang in there!

Highroad12

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

I think you might just have to get up that 30min earlier to have some buffer time. It'll get easier as the years go by

Yes definitely going to start getting up 30 minutes earlier and try breakfast in creche.

Highroad12

Tombo2001 wrote: »

Would you consider a bike?

I find it gives me enormous flexibility, always has done when managing school/ creche drop offs and then on to work.

And yes - it feels like you are running a marathon from the moment you wake up until the moment you get to work.

What I find helps is if you set 15-20 minutes aside for yourself first thing when you wake up - for me its black coffee, bowl of muesli, read the phone and turn on some music - before the madness begins.

I'd be afraid to cycle into town with the traffic and that. The buses are grand and I'm in town within about 30 minutes so it's me that the problem lol

Highroad12

GreeBo wrote: »

100% have breakfast in creche, also I wouldn't worry about dropping him early, if they are open then drop him in!

Ah, just saw about only paying for 4 hours...I still think that would be better as the time constraints are in the morning rather than the afternoon, assuming its ok with your parents.

Also if he wakes before you, leave him, he will soon get used to amusing himself in his cot/crib.
Just make sure he doesnt see you before you are getting him up.

Yes Il check with my mam about collecting earlier. I wouldn't want to leave him in creche for longer than 4 hours as I think that's enough for his age.

Highroad12

scarepanda wrote: »

In this house it's mainly two things that make the difference, 1) routine routine routine, same thing every morning in the same order at the same time and 2) alarms. The toddler is as slow as a wet week at times eating. We have an Alexa in the kitchen that has two alarms set 5 mins apart, the first one is so everyone knows that there's only 5 more minutes to eat breakfast, the second one is times up, up and brush teeth and get dressed. And a third for 'time to get out the door'. The other thing for me with picking my battles is that she gets to watch kidstube when I'm brushing her hair, it keeps her still and distracted. When things go to plan we have About 10 minutes to spare, sounds great but it can disappear very quickly if there's any delays.

Yes think you're right about picking your battles. He tries to take out his trains in the morning and won't eat breakfast then because he just wants to play.

scarepanda

Highroad12 wrote:

Yes think you're right about picking your battles. He tries to take out his trains in the morning and won't eat breakfast then because he just wants to play.

Ya, the only thing about that though is he probably can't do both :-). Use it as a bargaining tool with him. If he's eaten all his breakfast by X time or alarm or something like that he can play with them for 5 minutes.... Whatever works really!

Highroad12

OP HERE

Thanks everyone for the good advice.

I am going to get up that bit earlier in the mornings now and have him up the creche earlier and he can get his breakfast there.

Just means he will have to be in bed earlier :-/

jester77

It's really about having a routine nailed down. I do it every morning, and not in any rush now as we have it nailed down time wise.

Have your shower finished at the same time every morning, allow enough time to get clothes on (including tantrums, but 90% of the time I just let them away with what they want to wear unless it is not suitable), be in the kitchen at the same time every morning for preparing breakfast with enough time to eat. Allow time for sun cream in the Summer and extra jackets/raincoats in the Winter. Always be out the door at the same time every morning. If all the above is timed with some buffers, then you will be fine the majority of the time.

Also allow time for the drop-off tantrum that can sometimes occur.

GreeBo

Highroad12 wrote: »

Yes Il check with my mam about collecting earlier. I wouldn't want to leave him in creche for longer than 4 hours as I think that's enough for his age.

Obviously everyone is different, but i wouldn't worry for a minute about him being in creche for longer.
My Daughter is going on 2 and has been gong to creche since she was 6 months and still loves minute of it. We changed creche a month ago and she loves the new one too.

Some days she is in at 7:30 and out at 6:30 other days in at 9 and out before 5 and she couldn't give a fiddlers either way.

Unless they clearly hate it you are not abandoning them so don't feel bad. You are already doing the job of 2 people, don't try to make the creches life easier too!

Digs

I’m a SAHM so nowhere to be getting myself to like you and there’s two pairs of adult hands in our house, hats off to you, doing it alone is no joke!

If there’s anything that can be done the night before then it’s done in this house. I get uniform for the school goer and clothes for the younger two ready and place them on the kitchen table. I make them overnight oats (and me!) for breakfast in jars left in the fridge and they are grabbed and gobbled. Lunches are made the night before and I have their coats and bags lined up by the door (I have a box for each of mine with their name on it under our hall table with their coats/hats/gloves etc which has made grabbing and locating stuff infinitely easier.) When they come in in the afternoon/evening and start kicking off their shoes and socks and coats etc they know to put them straight in their box.

One thing that helps us is being clinical about the time we leave. Absolutely no later than 8:20am the 5 of us are out the door. The 3 year old does absolutely everything in her ungodly power to try upset the ship but she’s met her match in her mother

P.S I find making the same breakfast (and one they like) saves time not only because it’s already made but it eliminates any choice or squabbling! I do “nice” breakfasts like pancakes etc at the weekend but weekdays are all about routine here.

Jurgen The German

My wife leaves the house at 6:45 to be in work for 7:30 so I do the morning routine.

Kids generally wake around 6ish so routine is

Greet them with hugs and kisses
Change nappies and dress 14 month old
I Shower
Change nappy and dress (if he plays ball) 30 month old
Make breakfast for both
Little bit of play time
I get dressed
Brush 30 month olds teeth
More play time if everything else goes according to plan
Coats on, out to car and they are dropped at creche for around 7:50 every morning
If I'm in the office I head for the M50 to make it in for 9

Mostly it goes smoothly but the last wee while the 30 month old can act the bollox and not want his nappy changed or argue over what clothes to wear.

It can be bloody stressful though especially if I'm out on a call on a given day, last week I had to be in Waterford for 10 am on two mornings and the boyo was being particularly obstreperous, you'd want the patience of a saint by times.

italodisco

Playschool is a 15 metre walk from my front door........ yet im always running and panicking .

GreeBo

Jurgen The German wrote: »

My wife leaves the house at 6:45 to be in work for 7:30 so I do the morning routine.

Kids generally wake around 6ish so routine is

Greet them with hugs and kisses
Change nappies and dress 14 month old
I Shower
Change nappy and dress (if he plays ball) 30 month old
Make breakfast for both
Little bit of play time
I get dressed
Brush 30 month olds teeth
More play time if everything else goes according to plan
Coats on, out to car and they are dropped at creche for around 7:50 every morning
If I'm in the office I head for the M50 to make it in for 9

Mostly it goes smoothly but the last wee while the 30 month old can act the bollox and not want his nappy changed or argue over what clothes to wear.

It can be bloody stressful though especially if I'm out on a call on a given day, last week I had to be in Waterford for 10 am on two mornings and the boyo was being particularly obstreperous, you'd want the patience of a saint by times.

The only bit of this I would change is to shower etc before you go near them.
mine will happily play for 30mins+ on her own but if she sees either of us its game over until she is picked up, so we dont go near her until we ourselves are ready.

But hey, if it works, stick with it!

Highroad12

Jurgen The German wrote: »

My wife leaves the house at 6:45 to be in work for 7:30 so I do the morning routine.

Kids generally wake around 6ish so routine is

Greet them with hugs and kisses
Change nappies and dress 14 month old
I Shower
Change nappy and dress (if he plays ball) 30 month old
Make breakfast for both
Little bit of play time
I get dressed
Brush 30 month olds teeth
More play time if everything else goes according to plan
Coats on, out to car and they are dropped at creche for around 7:50 every morning
If I'm in the office I head for the M50 to make it in for 9

Mostly it goes smoothly but the last wee while the 30 month old can act the bollox and not want his nappy changed or argue over what clothes to wear.

It can be bloody stressful though especially if I'm out on a call on a given day, last week I had to be in Waterford for 10 am on two mornings and the boyo was being particularly obstreperous, you'd want the patience of a saint by times.

You seem to have a lot more to deal with in the mornings than me so fair play, its definitely not easy.