Well, today is picture day at school. What that means for us is dressing up and looking nice, but that's not all. It means extra care in our morning routine to make him presentable.
As it is, I don't even brush his hair until minutes before we walk out for the bus. That's because it has a better chance of staying that way. If I brush it early, he rubs his head on the floor or wraps in a blanket for play time and it's completely undone.
Then there's coaching that needs to be done before he goes. I tell him exactly what will be expected and that he needs to be cooperative for pictures and the photographer. Fortunately, he loves having his picture taken in general. So hopefully that means he will be eager when the time comes.
He didn't want to put on his nice clothes today, at first. He usually picks his clothes is why and that changed routine for him. He likes having his choice of clothes. Breakfast isn't usually messy, but it's a risk. The biggest mess risk is taking his vitamins.
He doesn't like to chew his vitamins without a mouthful of milk. That creates mess possibilities galore. I try to get him to just chew and swallow but there must be a texture issue with the gummi vitamins. Yes, we have tried all sorts of vitamins and he doesn't like the texture of any of them. These are the only ones I can get him to take at all. And he needs them because his little body is hyperactive in more than just behavior. It goes through sustenance and vitamins just as fast.
But all that is done now for this morning and he's not torn to shreds. His clothes aren't wadded and soon I'll help him brush his hair. Looks like we'll have a good picture day after all. Please feel free to leave comments about your morning challenges and share your own experiences.
Like you, I leave some things for right before we walk out the door, which includes brushing his hair. I have him stay in his pajamas until five minutes before the bus comes for the same reason: mess making. The toothpaste that gets on him, the cereal milk that spills on him, the butter from his toast all over his chin, etc. LOL He's a regular pig pen character from Peanuts comic strip.
ReplyDeleteThomas gets up, brushes teeth, uses the restroom, eats, gets dressed and is ready long before the bus time comes. He is different than his brother. He needs to be ready to jet out the door as the time comes so he gets that done before anything else so he has time to sit and play games before school. If he wakes up early enough, he'll have extra time. I do it that way to get him out of bed as he is NOT a morning person at all and the extra game time before school is a great motivator.
Personally, I don't get dressed until after they leave for school. I don't move so well first thing in the morning and am thankful they each can get themselves dressed now as it's a relief for my own issues.
Routine, Routine, Routine is awesome. But we've been working on handling things when they get out of routine because we all need those coping skills. We don't have to like it, but we do have to deal with it. :)
Great post, Dave!