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We don't need too much time with the big kid to leave the house. He's not typically hungry right first thing, so I just get him dressed right when he wakes up so that's out of the way, and if he's not hungry before we have to leave, he eats a muffin in the car. He doesn't have high sleep needs, sleeps roughly 8/815-7.

She is used to just getting up and going. I don't give her a choice. I get her dressed in the bathroom after she goes, sunscreen, teeth brushed, brush hair, and out the door. She eats breakfast at school. Out in 10 mins.

I don't usually do mornings, but the times I do, it's usually pretty quick. Maybe 20 minutes? I get Xander up and give him a pouch. While he goes potty, I get Logan up and give him a pouch while I change his diaper. Then we all go downstairs and the kids have a couple frozen mini waffles. They eat those while I put Logan's shoes on and gather up our stuff. Then we go brush our teeth. Xander puts his shoes and coat on while I wrestle Logan into a coat, and then we're out the door! They have a fuller breakfast at daycare.

@mediagirl: What's causing it to take so long? When Xander's grumpy (or Logan, usually it's one or the other), they just get man-handled through all the steps and given a waffle to eat in the car if they won't eat prior.

@mediagirl: Far from it. I think it is routine. If Dad is gone she has to get up and go with Mom. The other morning took longer cause she didn't want sunscreen and she said she wanted to burn. That isn't an option, so I have to force it. I also will tell her she can't have TV time that night if she doesn't move it.

@mediagirl: Oh, I wouldn't stay that Xander is always easy or agreeable, but I know if you give an inch, he'll take a mile. There's definitely been times where he's just fighting me and crying through the whole morning, but I just pick him up, get him dressed, bring him downstairs, offer him a waffle or pouch (which he'll refuse if he's in a bad mood), drag him into the bathroom, hold him down to brush his teeth, put his shoes and jacket on for him, and then manhandle him into the car.

@mediagirl: I forget - how old is your little one? Xander's 3 (39m). Is yours older? Maybe we just haven't hit that stage yet and I'll be asking you for advice soon!

@mediagirl: haha, yeah, rough mornings are hard! And I'm lucky - usually Hubs does mornings. But I'll hear about it later. When I pick up Xander, he'll tell me "Dada was fustated!" And then I'm all "Oh really? Who was he frustrated at? You or Logan??"

@mediagirl: What time does she normally wake up on her own? Xander goes to bed at 8 and is usually asleep by 8:30. He wakes up around 7 on his own usually (sometimes earlier, sometimes later), but waking up at 7 is early enough for us to get out the door on time. Maybe if you gave her another 15 minutes of sleep, she'd be more agreeable??? Though I'm guessing you've tried that?

How are you waking her up? It takes us a few minutes to get our son up (he's got to be awake at 6 am to leave in 15 minutes), and we basically have to lie with him, and he'll wake up naturally and in a decent mood.

@mediagirl: LOL well behaved.

@Adira: Yep! That's it. Manhandled. I will pick her sleeping self out of the bed, place her on the toilet, and basically herd her along until we're ready to get out the door. Like I said, it's not optional, I'm not about to be 30 minutes late to work bc she was feeling a little sleepy. And I agree with what @runnerd said, the more time I give her the worse it is. She will just putz along until I start my normal herding process. Like today, she laid on the floor next to her brother's bed and lazily played with his toy. Fine for any other time of the day, but not in the morning rush! I'm sure I don't have the best process, but I get us where we need to be (mostly) on time.

What time does she wake up on the weekend if left to her own devices? And is there anything that can be done to shorten the morning routine or shift your or your husband's work schedule so she can wake up at that time during the week?

D usually wakes up in a good mood, but it also takes FOREVER to get him through all the steps to get him out of the house. We're still working on potty training and he's in overnight diapers, which most days he ends up pooping in. It's always an argument to let me change it. Either he says he wants to go potty (which he obviously can't when he's covered in poop) or he just flat refuses. Some days I have to bribe him to let me clean him up .

Then he takes forever to pee, probably because he peed in his diaper. But I feel like I can't put underwear on him until he's peed. And with all the poop I don't think we're ready for no overnight diaper. Some days after several minutes I give up and we go downstairs bottomless. Then he runs away because he wants to play instead of eating breakfast. For a while I was dressing him in his learning tower while he ate. But now he's not interested in breakfast, and I have to chase him down and convince or force him to get dressed.

I'd love it if the morning routine were only 10 minutes.

Oh yeah I will say I don't start the clock on my 10-15 minutes until I'm physically in the room with her. I open her door, turn on the light and tell her it's time to get up and go potty. Then I go get DS ready (10 months). Sometimes she gets up while I'm getting him ready, sometimes she doesn't and then we have to really get moving.

@mediagirl: about 15 minutes to wake up.

Mine is beast in the morning and i'm solo as hubs leaves the house before i'm even awake. Usually i'll get up at 6 take a shower and on my way to get dressed i'll turn the hall light on and open her door, call her name. get some clothes on and nudge her to wake up. more clothes and i start tickling her, singing to her, do my hair, go back and turn the lights on/open her shades. at this point she usually yells to turn the light off and get out of her room. I'm dressed and ready to go and my last line of defense is to send our dog in for kisses. usually by this point i've managed to get her moving. of course then we have to get clothes on, brush teeth, shoes, head down stairs, put the dog out/in, take out/prep dinner, grab lunches, grab a snack for the car, and actually get out the door. good days we leave at 7:30 bad days closer to 8. I have no idea how i'm going to do all this with an infant in less than a year.

A couple of mornings i've had to put her in the car seat almost naked just to get her to cooperate and go back inside to put clothes on.

@mediagirl: if it's commiseration you want, I'm right there with you - you're definitely not alone .I don't WOH, but DD does have preschool 3x a week, and other days we have doctor appointments, errands, etc. that we need to get out the door for in a timely manner. DD1 (almost 4) hates getting up in the AM. She burries herself in her bed, hides in my bed, refuses to pee, refuses to put on clothes, pays with toys instead, runs away, puts on dress shoes when I said sneakers, doesn't wear a coat, cries because she wants to bring a doll, etc.

The main takeaways I'm getting from the parents of the kids who are 10 mins and out the door is (1) they mostly don't eat at home and (2) the kids generally don't leave their bedroom/bathroom. I've definitely found getting my kids dressed before breakfast saves time, but then they often end up messy. in general I think morning routines are pretty deeply ingrained and (at least for us) will take time and a lot of effort to change. But boy would getting out the doir in 10 mins be worth it!!!