Tips for a smooth morning | ADHD Information

I got sick of all the dawdling in the morning & finally made a deal with my daughter that after she's COMPLETELY reAdy for school, she can have computer time until its time to leave. It worked; shes ready in record time. Of course, shes 12, this might not work for younger children.

I also have her pack her bookbag & lay out her clothes the night before. She gets her shower at night to save time in the morning too.

I just started making huge batches of pancakes, french toast, & eggs & freezing them in single serve potions.I got the idea from someone else, but its working like a charm. Saves a ton of time in the morning & older kids can just microwave it themselves. Plus, its healthier & has less preservatives than the store bought versions.

joemom,

I also use flylady, and there is a whole section on the website for back to school chaos.  I have learned with my child the best thing for him is ROUTINES ROUTINES!  Thats what the flylady is all about! 

www.flylady.net  Take a look, it can change your household, it sure has changed mine.

Thanks for some tips. But nothing works in the morning with my 8 year old son. I dread every morning i have to get him up for school. The doctor suggested giving his meds when i get up. I do this. And some mornings its like he has never had his meds. I refuse to let an 8 year old make me late for work. I fight with him to get dress, brush teeth, and make his bed. I work 6:30-6. I am tired. And i am 42 years old. I am divorced. And my boyfriend lives with us. It is a contant battle. Will this ever get any easier?

We lay out all clothes, shoes, & accessories the night before.  Also make sure backpack is all ready to go and lunches are started the night before.  In the morning, just have to make the sandwiches and throw in the cold stuff.  The TV must remain off until completely ready, then she can watch if she has time left over.

I also start the year getting her up extra early because she is a slow poke.  If she complains about how early, I tell her "If you can be ready three days in a row and still have 30 minutes left, then I will start letting you sleep 10 minutes longer.  If three days in a row (after that) you still have 20 minutes left, then I'll let you go another 10 minutes.  I usually leave it at that...Always want that extra ten minutes time for the unexpected things that occasionaly happen.  If she has a bad day and pushes it too close and almost doesn't make it (ready) in time, then she gets up 10 minutes earlier again for the next few days until she is managing time better.

Also, I have her eat breakfast and brush her teeth before getting dressed.  That way if she spills something or gets toothpaste on herself, we aren't rushing around trying to find another outfit to wear.

It works for us.   She's never missed the bus or been running out to it at the last minute.

 

MamaBear

MamaBear38963.8735300926

For my son it used to be get up and dressed, and you can play ps2 until it's time to leave. We are out of the house by 6:15 am, he picks his own clothes, and  whatever else he wants. This year he will still get up at 5:30, the bus will come at 6:45, so no time for ps2, just hoping for smooth sailing!

Tips for a teenager:  Ignore them totally.  If they miss the bus they pay taxi cab fees to the parent who drives them.  No money oh well, extra chores around the house.  And yes he did survive to the ripe age of 16.

By now most people will have kids back at school or starting on Tuesday....If you have any tips that make the morning run smooth for your family please share them. 

One of our problems was getting dressed in the morning and if I was not there to supervise ds would be playing with something half undressed and unaware of the time ....I ran across this tip from the Fly lady and my gosh it WORKS!  The tip is to lay the clothing out in the shape of a chid the night before (including shoes, socks and unders)...we call his his clothes boy.  I don't know why but now my son can get dressed in less than 5 minutes.  We also have started a pajama boy and after the bath he jumps on the pajama boy and gets the clothes on.... I know this may be too childish for some of you with older kids but for the young guys this seems to work. 

Anyways this is my tip, I would love to see some others that you have run across that help the morning go smoothly.

I used the marble system. I wrote a list: 5 min to get out of bed, 5 min to get dressed, etc. Each item earned a certain number of marbles. I also let him sleep until he woke up. Those two things pretty much did the trick. He got used to the just getting out of bed and getting dressed, and pretty soon the bad habits were broken and I stopped using the marble system. Sometimes "bad habits" and ADHD behavior seem to be in the grey area since I really can get some of this stuff to just go away with a behavior strategy.I also use the marble system. One for getting out of bed the first time I ask, one for getting dressed, one for teeth, and 2 for making her own breakfast. It works well for us.[COLOR=CYAN]Wake the kid up an hour before they have to get up to give
them their meds.
Then by the time they wake up, they'll be calm. But if that makes it so that
the meds wont last the entire day, then i dont know what to tell you.(I hope
that this color shows up alright.)[/
COLOR] Cool but that does not work for us she would rather lay there and I usually dress her while she is laying down.  Bedtime and mornings are my enemy. *I remember laying clothes out like a person and you're right, it really does help. I used to think it would be nice to make a clothes tree for him where you could hang the shirt, pants and socks so that it would look like a person. Aove the shirt could be a head with cute face or something and then a hat could go on top...cute!   Adding a place for wallet,keys, and change might be nice for an older child.

*As a teenager, he now has a shelf with hooks below for clothes and towel.  On the shelf he has several small clear lucite boxes that hold paraphernalia that he needs for the day...wallet, change, glasses, meds, keys, meds etc

the following is off topic,but...funny while I'm writing this, he said, "I'm going to get in the shower now...I'm going to try to levitate...mommy, I'm going to have AP tests up to my eyeballs"

*Tip for parents with more than one child.  Stagger when they wake up or where they need to be in the house while getting ready so that they are not in each other's way and argumentative behavior is minimized.

*give meds before they need to get out of bed so by the time they get up it may be starting to kick in.  Sometimes he liked eating a cereal bar for his tummy. This was a lifesaver for many years.

*One parent let her kid sleep in a t shirt and sweats so that he was ready for school when he woke up.  I don't think he was ADD either.
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