#Morning Rush Marathon: #Getting Kids To School
It’s the day after my son’s nanny, Ate Irene, went home for her 2-week vacation. It was all up to me to get my son to school on time. Here’s how it went…
Joshua woke up at exactly 6:30am. Check!
Joshua wanted to watch his favorite movie in his room while he eats. So I put on “How To Train Your Dragon2.” Check!
Ate Joy, our helper, came in to feed Joshua his breakfast of pandesal bread with cheese and pears. Joshua started to eat. Check!
I went down to have breakfast. Then I go up again to give Joshua a cup of orange juice and his favorite cereals in case he wasn’t eating. Good idea!
It’s 7:10am. I went up to give him his bath. He wasn’t done eating! He had only started on his pears. Poor boy, I didn’t want to stop him from eating so I allotted 10 more minutes for him to finish.
7:25am: Josh finally finished eating so it’s a rush to get him his bath. In fairness, he cooperated well enough. Meds drunk. Teeth brushed. Uniform on. Hair combed. Check!
It’s already 7:40 when we finally went downstairs. We still had to put on his socks and shoes. Then I remembered his baon! (school snack).
“Ate Joy, did you prepare his baon?”
Oh no! We both forgot about it! So she rushed off to get Joshua’s cookies and water bottle prepared in his lunch bag.
Meantime, after hurriedly putting on his socks and shoes, I started counting change for the tricycle fare. It was tedious because I had to count out 25 cent coins to come up with the exact fare. Whew!
Off to school at 7:45! I carried Joshua to the gate because it’s crunch time! School starts at 7:45!
Good thing a tricycle came by as Joshua and Ate Joy started walking to the corner. Check!
2 Minutes later, someone was ringing the doorbell violently. Who could that be?
Oh no, it’s Ate Joy shouting, “Ate Ida, yung ID ni Joshua!” (Joshua’s ID!)
Waah! I ran back inside to the shelf where we kept his ID. It wasn’t there! Now where could Ate Irene have placed it?
I remembered! We fetched Joshua from school the day before and went straight to our old house to take some pictures. It was being turned over to its new owner that day. His ID must still be in the car!
Car keys! I hurriedly scoured through the car to look for Joshua’s ID. I found his used socks, briefs (we had to do a diaper change in the old house), milk bottle, fetcher’s ID… Ah his school ID!
I passed it on to Ate Joy who hurriedly went back to the waiting tricycle with Joshua in it.
“Ate Ida, tissue!” Ate Joy shouted out. What?!
“May uhog!” (He has mucus!) Ate Joy explained.
“Wala akong tissue!” (I don’t have tissue!) I shouted back.
Ate Joy pointed to what I was holding in my hand and said, “Bigay mo na lang yang hawak mo. Kahit yan na lang pampunas ng uhog nya.” (Just give me what you’re holding. I’ll just use that to wipe up his mucus.)
“Ano ka, briefs tong hawak ko no! Alangan naman briefs pampunas mo sa mukha nya!” (Are you crazy? I’m holding his briefs! We can’t use briefs to wipe his face!) I was aghast!
I checked the car again and found a pack of tissue. Good!
Off they went in the tricycle and made it to school 6 minutes late. Sigh!
I had to sit down to catch my breath, sweat was running down my back and brow. It felt like I ran a hundred miles!
So that’s what a “morning rush marathon” felt like.
I vowed we would do better tomorrow. I would get my kid to school without losing my cool.
Here’s how:
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Prepare your child’s school things the night before. That includes his uniform, diaper, undies, socks, shoes, school bag and ID. Put them all together in one place so you won’t forget any item.
- Prepare their breakfast a few minutes before you have to wake them up. This way the food will be ready as soon as they open their eyes. No excuse to dilly dally.
- Have 2 alarms set to wake them up. Kids take time waking up. They tend to snuggle under the covers, savoring their sleep. Set the 1st alarm at about 15 minutes before they actually have to get up. This gives them ample time to snuggle and still wake up on time when the 2nd alarm goes off.
- Have a bathroom routine. This will help make bath time faster if your child knows what steps to follow. Have all their bath items set in 1 place in the bathroom within easy reach. Whether they have to drink their vitamins/meds or brush their teeth, make sure everything is close at hand.
- Prepare their snacks/lunch bag early. Either pack it the previous night or before you wake them up, depending on what snack it is. If it isn’t perishable, do it the night before. It helps if you plan it early on so you won’t be rattled. Place their lunch bag close to the door so it’s easy to grab on the go.
- Prepare for their transportation the night before. Whether you will take the bus, tricycle, train or taxi, have the proper fare prepared beforehand.
- If you will drive them to school, have your car keys and driver’s license ready in 1 place. Nothing is more stressful than not finding your car keys just as you are rushing out the door.
- If they take a school bus, set a routine and practice a few times. Try waking them up at different times to see which routine would be best so they will be ready at the appointed time that they will be picked up. This way you won’t keep everybody waiting and be late for school.
- Have a “goodbye routine” set up. This will signal to your child that it’s time to go to school. No separation anxieties. Our routine is walking Joshua to the gate, giving him a kiss, saying “I love you. See you later!” then watching him walk to the corner where I shout out, “Bye!” Then he turns and blows me a kiss. Precious! (Tho lately, before he walks to the corner, he calls out, “Mama, go inside.” Aww such a gentleman!)
- Don’t take any help for granted. I realize that having a nanny is really helpful in getting Joshua to school. She already has her own routine down pat. Now that she’s on vacation, I have to try to emulate hers as much as I can so as not to confuse Joshua. I am just thankful that we have another helper to ease the morning rush.
QUESTIONS FOR YOU:
- Do you have a special routine set up to beat the morning rush?
- What do you do to get your kids to school without losing your cool?
