Hellobee Boards

Without tears?....heh. What a crapshoot. Getting E dressed is such a hassle now.

@mediagirl: For us, it's having enough time to wake up, eat breakfast, watch a show then getting dressed and out the door without having to rush too much. We would definitely have tears if I had to rush him. We give ourself an hour to get ready and get out the door.
If my lo gets fussy and for example, won't get in his car seat, a little tough love and some blueberry puffs do the trick

I'd say my morning hardly ever goes smoothly because I feel like I'm constantly running around, but about 50% of the time we get out without tears.

Generally I get up at 6:15 so I can shower and dress before DD gets up around 6:45-7:00. Then it's eating breakfast while watching the news or a show. Changing, feeding and/or giving a bottle to DS. Then start getting DD dressed around 7:30 so there's time to dress, brush teeth and hair, put on shoes, etc before loading everyone into the car.

For me, giving DD warnings ("we're gonna get dressed soon" or "when that show's over we're gonna get dressed") helps. I've also just implemented a positive rewards system where she earns a poker chip for doing things (like dressing, brushing teeth, etc) and when she gets 10 she can pick a "prize."

We started picking out what we'll wear to school the next day and then laying the clothes out on her chair. She knows to expect this now and we have had fewer morning meltdowns about clothing.

We've been working on this one. Mainly we just tell her that either she does it (put clothes on, brush teeth, etc), or I'll do it for her - and I mean it! Being the independent girl she is, she doesn't want me to do anything for her so she usually runs and does it

@cascademom: There's a Good Morning, Daniel /Good Night, Daniel episode. The evening song helps us too.

http://www.neighborhoodarchive.com/dtn/episodes/117a_good_morning/index.html

@sunny: This has been really helpful for us too! I forgot to do it last night, so this morning was ugly...she wanted to wear shorts and a sleeveless shirt. Not gonna happen since they start their day on the playground! Picking out clothes the night before has made the biggest difference of anything I have tried.

Are you having to wake her up? An hour and 25 minutes seems like a lot of time for a toddler to get ready, so I would try to push back her wake up time if you can. My husband and daughter leave the house around 7:45 and she's almost never up before 7. If she does wake up earlier, she watches TV while he finishes getting ready. If she doesn't wake up earlier, all he has to do is put clothes on her (that I left out the night before), brush her hair and teeth, and give her something quick to eat (She eats a full breakfast when she gets to school so he just gives her something to hold her over). She really doesn't fight him because she's well rested and excited to go to school and see her friends.

@mediagirl: hhhmhh.. maybe putting the TV on while she does those things to distract her? I'm cranky in the morning so I would have little shame using Doc McStuffins if it helps me avoid a battle.