My Son Takes So Long in the Morning to Get Ready.

Hi! 20 minutes is definately not enough time! I start my boys about 45 min to an hour before we leave. I have them get up and take a quick shower (this helps wake them up) while they shower I get some breakfast out for them and after they get out they eat and then get dressed, do their hair, brush teeth etc. Then we are ready to go! I also have school clothes, lunches/snacks and backpacks ready the night before, this helps to not tie up the mornings and they go pretty smooth.

No matter what you do he needs more time and a strict schedule every morning :-) My oldest is ADHD so I understand! Good Luck

A child with ADD requires more time to get ready in the morning. So, you are right. Your son has difficulty listening because he is easily distracted. Actually 20 minutes would be a challenge for most people -- to get up, dress, have breakfast, collect the items they need for the day and get on the road.

Maybe giving your children and yourself more time will ease the stress.

One of my children had ADD-H. These children require a lot of structure and routine. The area you live in is nice. It gives your children lots of opportunities to run off some of their energy outside in the sunshine.

Grandma in Charlotte County

Hi H.,
I just wanted to make sure that the times that you have down weren't a typo. You said that you wake the boys at 7:00 and you have to leave by 7:20? If that is correct then, I feel that you definitely need to get them up earlier. I wake my boys up an hour before we have to leave. That gives them plenty of time to get ready and you don't feel frazzled before you get out the door.
Hope that helps!
Take care, and God Bless,
V.

20 minutes is nowhere near long enough for my kids to get ready. Not because it necessarily takes all that long to put their clothes on and eat breakfast, but because they're kids and they'd rather wake up slowly, play a bit, eat, then get dressed, etc. Maybe try putting them to bed earlier and waking them up at 6:30... it's no fun being rushed around in the morning, so allow for extra time.

You give them 20 minutes -- or do you mean an hour and 20 minutes? My oldest daughter wakes up at 6:30, hops right into the shower, eats, dresses -- and still needs another five minutes before we're out the door at 7:30. She's always been a great one to wake up and get going. My younger one I start telling to wake up at 6:45, she drags herself in to eat breakfast about 7:10, slowly eats, quickly dresses, and we're out the door 7:35. She doesn't need much time at all to get herself dressed but she's very very hard to wake up. She's much better if she has more time to play around and wake up, but she typically chooses the sleep.