(no subject)

[siercia]

So, as you mostly know, in September, Ms. Widget is going to be starting preschool. With this change, I'm going to be moving from a laid back morning scedule (where we sleep in until 8 or 8:30, fetch Imagy at 9:15, eat breakfast together, leaving me with about an hour to work / shower / housework / whatever before leaving for work to get there at 11:00) to a morning schedule where we have to be up, dressed, breakfasted and out the door by 8:15 at the latest.

My evenings will change from Wiley relieving Imagy at 6:30ish (coming home to an already fed Widget), my arriving between 7:15 and 7:30, Widget playtime until 8, Widget bedtime from 8-8:30 THEN cooking dinner (usually eating around 9) to one where I will likely be relieving Imagy around 5:30, cooking family dinner, putting the Widget to bed around 7-7:30, then having the evening to myself.

Now, no one in my family is a morning person. I mean, we have a 3 year old who sleeps til 8 or 8:30 regularly! I am dreading this change in everything (sleeping, meals, work schedule, you name it).

Do any of you lovely ladies have suggestions for things I can do to make this transition easier? Any particular aspects of a morning or evening routine that will help me deal with mornings when I am NOT equipped for that?

I'm thinking of trying to start transitioning within a few weeks; start by trying to at least wake myself up by 7:30 in the morning (even if I don't wake Widget to start) to start conditioning myself to the new hours. Then start getting Widget up earlier so we can work towards getting her sleep schedule shifted as well.

I realize that this is a normal morning for most people (I've just been lucky with my schedule so far), so I'm hoping someone's got some suggestions to make this a little less painful.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Hi I happen to come across your LJ. We do not know each other. but I had the same problem last year with my son. What I did was I started in june waking up each week 15 minutes earlier until I reached the time I needed to get him out of bed for school in Sept, I also did the same thing with bed time. I eased him into it (and who's kidding who, eased myself). I didn't make a big deal out of it, and he never really felt the change. But start now ! I had a friend who didn't and she had such a hard time in Sept.
hope this helps !

Kim

[reebert.livejournal.com]

I would say to do as much as you can the night before. During her bedtime routine have her pick out her clothes for the next day. If she'll be taking a lunch to school make it up the night before. I would suggest absolutely no t.v. in the mornings before you go. She will eat breakfast slower if she's watching t.v. and you never know what might come on that will catch her attention and cause her to go into fits if you have to turn it off and leave. I have one friend that uses a kitchen timer with her kids. As soon as they get up she sets the timer for like 10 minutes. That's how long they have to get dressed. Then she sets it for 20 minutes and that's how long they have to eat their cereal. Then another 20 minutes to brush hair and teeth. The whole morning is broken up like that and for each time they are ready by the time the buzzer goes off they get a little star sticker on a chart. If they cause a fuss and go over time they don't get the stickers. At the end of the week if they have all their stickers they get to do something special with Mom or Dad. Something that was predecided like baking cookies with Mom, playing baseball with Dad, going to the park to feed ducks, etc. It works really well for her kids.