I'm sure that every working mum and perhaps even non-working mums can relate to what I call the 'morning nightmare'. This is, the time between waking and getting everyone in the car to get to school and work. I know that for me, I wake every morning with a sense of dread as to what this particular time will be like.
You see, the morning slog is left solely to me as my husband has already left for work and it is almost never successful. The clock is our enemy as we (hmmmm.....I!) race, prepare, work, scream, order, cry to meet our deadline.
I usually give my children between an hour and fifteen minutes and an hour and a half to get ready. This usually depends on how well they get out of bed (a threat of cold water over a certain sleepy boy has been uttered once or twice, I admit! Lol!). Their chores in the morning are limited.....have shower, get dressed, eat breakfast, do hair and teeth, pack your bags, get in car. I don't care how well their bed is made or their room is tidy. I can deal with that another day. There is no tv on in our house at this time and there is no playing. I do the mother-lode of the work.....iron, lay uniforms out, prepare lunches, feed dog, etc and often I prepare a lot of things the night before so save the stress levels.
It sounds simple, doesn't it??? Why then do most mornings always end in a meltdown? This morning my son is sitting for the statewide year 3/5/7 test so being at school on time was imperative. Naturally, if one child has to be there early, the other decides that it is time to go slow. The moment my back was turned, she was playing with the dog, looking for 'missing shoes', poking faces at her brother, dawdling, you name it! Arrrrghhhh! It culminated in me threatening to drive off without her, her screaming, me getting in the car and her taking her dear sweet merry time to do so.
Yes, we were ten minutes late for school! My poor son must be in a terrible state after the goings-on here this morning. I pulled into the kerb outside the school and said to Miss 7, "So, do you have anything to say about the way you behaved this morning?" Her response....."No! I know that you want me to say that I'm sorry but I'm not because you made me mad!" (yes, surprisingly cheeky for her!) Double arrrrrghhhhhh!!!
So I am sitting here trying to establish a more positive spin on our nightmare mornings. I'm thinking that reward vouchers to be used on the weekend can be issued at the end of each morning session before we get in the car. I'm wondering if that would be successful enough to stop this feeling of horror at the thought of surviving the morning madness! But if anyone reading this has any better plans, then let me know....please!
Sheesh, no wonder I feel like I'm getting an ulcer!
(photo courtesty of freefoto.com)
