Morning Routine: If you have a child that is EASILY distracted...

[ha98ed14]

what do you to to help them focus to get anything done? DD can't even eat breakfast in a timely manner because she is distracted playing with the edge of the tablecloth. I've been trying to move our morning routine along quicker in prep for K, which starts at 8 AM in less than three weeks. This is a consistent issue for DD. Her Preschool teacher told me she was the last one to finish any of her "work" when they did a project. DH keeps telling me, "It will be ok." But is ISN'T!!! He, who has infinitely more patience than I do, is going off to work and leaving me to get DD ready. I'm so dreading this...

ETA: We *already* put DD in bed wearing her clothes for the next day. I know that some people think that is gross, but it's what it takes for us to accomplish anything the next morning.

[brittone2]

Would she respond to a visual timer? Like an hourglass/sand timer? You have until it runs out to finish X task? Breakfast is over when it runs out (obviously finding an amount of time that doesn't result in her *needing* to rush through breakfast, but prevents extensive dawdling?)

[BabyBearsMom]

DD1 is two so she is always distracted but we have to get out the door at 6:45am every morning so DH can make his train. I make sure I give her more than enough time in the morning to get her out the door because I find if I rush her, I end up with a screaming child and very late husband. I make sure that I have everythign organized the night before. I limit choices to two items. I give her breakfast that she eats on the go, not at a table. I set up small rewards to get her through tasks. My rewards are suited for a 2 year old so you will want to adjust for a 5 year old, but as an example, if she sits nicely so I can put her hair up, I also help her put her doll's hair up. If she gets through the routine before 6:30, she and I sit down alone (without DD2) and I read her a story. If she gets into her carseat without any fight, she gets a fruit chew. Good luck!

[ha98ed14]

Would she respond to a visual timer? Like an hourglass/sand timer? You have until it runs out to finish X task?

Initially she probably would, but then she would go to her room to finish getting dressed and forget about the timer and time allotted. When happens when she doesn't finish it? Because I know she won't. Are their consequences?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Everything is laid out, we have no TV or toys, we pretty much have 20 minutes to get out the door and breakfast is eaten on the go. I usually make ds1 a scrambled egg on a bun.

[ha98ed14]

Everything is laid out, we have no TV or toys, we pretty much have 20 minutes to get out the door and breakfast is eaten on the go. I usually make ds1 a scrambled egg on a bun.

Do you worry about his choking in the car and not being able to get to him fast enough? This is what holds me back from letting DD eat in the car while I am driving.

[lhafer]

Have the same problem here. Luckily the routine gets established - but it still takes FOREVER for her to finish getting ready for school. No tv/screens until she is 100% ready for school. And I'm constantly reminding her through the entire hour - brush your hair. Shoes and socks. Etc. It's exhausting and she still struggles. I give her an hour to get ready for school, and it takes that entire time to get her up/dressed (she also sleeps in at least the shirt she plans on wearing)/breakfast/brush teeth/shoes and socks/and out the door. Luckily we live about 4 minutes from the school.

[brittone2]

Initially she probably would, but then she would go to her room to finish getting dressed and forget about the timer and time allotted. When happens when she doesn't finish it? Because I know she won't. Are their consequences?
I'd keep the consequences related, so if you don't finish eating (and this is assuming she's given ample time to actually finish if she is focused), breakfast is over when time is up.

If she's sleeping in her clothes, what does she need to do to finish getting dressed? Socks and shoes? Can you leave yourself enough time to be there directly supervising her so she gets out of the habit of dawdling? Is there any way to streamline the last part of getting dressed (choose the easiest possible shoes to put on or something like that?)

[pinay]

Do you worry about his choking in the car and not being able to get to him fast enough? This is what holds me back from letting DD eat in the car while I am driving.

DD1 is also 5 and actually eats best when she's in the car! She's strapped in and can't go anywhere, she's holding food that's easy to handle and we've never had an issue with choking. She gets easily distracted when eating (really, when doing anything I *need* her to do!) and I've found that giving her specific responsibilities has given her a bit more focus and involvement in getting these tasks accomplished. For example, rather than pouring her cereal into the bowl for her, now she gets her bowl and spoon, chooses her cereal and pours it in herself. I help her with the milk if it's relatively full, but sometimes she handles that too. Then she just settles in and eats with little fuss- maybe because she had some control over deciding what she was eating and how much, I don't really know the reason but I'll take it!

We are the opposite end of this problem right now- getting her settled down and asleep at a decent hour is a challenge every single night and I'm about to lose my mind! Good luck with the morning routine!

[SnuggleBuggles]

Do you worry about his choking in the car and not being able to get to him fast enough? This is what holds me back from letting DD eat in the car while I am driving.

No, it's not even on my radar of concerns. Not like they are high risk choking concerns.