What are your weekday mornings like with a Middle Schooler?

[Anonymous]

One is in 8th and one is in 5th. They've both been getting up with their alarms for years now. I poke my head in if i don't hear them. They've also been making their own breakfasts for years. Sometimes if they have a big day I'll offer to make them a smoothie or eggs or something.

[Anonymous]

WOW.
Your kids are so independent.
There is no way my 5th grader would be able to get up, dress, eat, pack lunch and go to school by himself.
I didn't do that at his age either, so I don't expect it of him.

We both have inattentive ADHD, but come on. There must be *some* neurotypical middle schoolers who don't do it all in the morning either

[Anonymous]

7th grade girl: she does everything herself -- gets up, makes her own breakfast and lunch, usually walks to school... we'll drive her if the weather is bad or if the timing works out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine gets himself up, out of bed, showered, fed, lunch and back pack packed by himself, and out the door before 7:00 AM.


Took us about a semester to get to this point.

This is my 8th grade DS, except he showers at night and buys school lunch because he hates packed lunch. The bus comes at 6:25, so he and I leave the house at 6:55 and I drive him in most mornings since it is sort of on my way to work. In return for the extra half hour to sleep in, he makes me a cup of (Keuring) coffee in the morning and drops it off at 6:10 (he is a natural early bird, and I am not. Also, I would ordinarily not leave until 7:30 if I wasn't doing the middle school drop off. I give him a ten minute warning at 6:45, and that's it. Strongly recommend working coffee delivery into the am schedule

[Anonymous]

Middle schooler sets own alarm and usually gets up on his own. Parents act as backup alarm if he's not up by 6:30. He gets his clothes together on his own. We normally all grab breakfast together. If one of us got ourselves together particularly quickly, we may make pancakes or eggs. Normally it's toast and peanut butter sort of stuff. He gets his school stuff together the night before, so in the morning it's just making sure he has everything and putting it in the car. We drop him off at school on the way to work.

He's mostly self sufficient but does need some adult prodding occasionally.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine gets himself up, out of bed, showered, fed, lunch and back pack packed by himself, and out the door before 7:00 AM.


Took us about a semester to get to this point.

This is my 8th grade DS, except he showers at night and buys school lunch because he hates packed lunch. The bus comes at 6:25, so he and I leave the house at 6:55 and I drive him in most mornings since it is sort of on my way to work. In return for the extra half hour to sleep in, he makes me a cup of (Keuring) coffee in the morning and drops it off at 6:10 (he is a natural early bird, and I am not. Also, I would ordinarily not leave until 7:30 if I wasn't doing the middle school drop off. I give him a ten minute warning at 6:45, and that's it. Strongly recommend working coffee delivery into the am schedule

^^ I just saw the PP-- DS is inattentive ADHD as well but he's become a lot more responsible since starting MS (and starting Adderall).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:WOW.
Your kids are so independent.
There is no way my 5th grader would be able to get up, dress, eat, pack lunch and go to school by himself.
I didn't do that at his age either, so I don't expect it of him.

We both have inattentive ADHD, but come on. There must be *some* neurotypical middle schoolers who don't do it all in the morning either

Well, clothes are picked out the night before, and lunch is made the night before. Sometimes the kids will lay out as much as they can for breakfast after I've closed the kitchen following dinner. So if they're going to make scrambled eggs, they lay out the forks, the frying pan, spatula, plate, etc. The girls will also work together - one may make breakfast for both while the other stands behind her doing her hair. (Not the most hygienic thing, but if they don't care I'm not going to care)

[Anonymous]

My 8th grader gets up, gets ready and goes to the bus stop 100% independently when she is at her father's house. He leaves for work between 4:00 and 5:30am. When she's at my house, I wake her up and we usually make her lunch together. I drop her off at school. This has been the routine since she started middle school.

She has only ever called me twice to tell me she overslept and needs me to pick her up from her dad's and take her to school. I'm fine with it happening at that frequency. She's not an adult and I can't expect her to never make a mistake.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine gets himself up, out of bed, showered, fed, lunch and back pack packed by himself, and out the door before 7:00 AM.


Took us about a semester to get to this point.

As a parent of a kindergartener looking ahead, this is mind-blowing (can't believe they become so self-sufficient so quickly!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Mine gets himself up, out of bed, showered, fed, lunch and back pack packed by himself, and out the door before 7:00 AM.


Took us about a semester to get to this point.

As a parent of a kindergartener looking ahead, this is mind-blowing (can't believe they become so self-sufficient so quickly!)

WOHM here. Start early, don't underestimate what you DC can do, and add responsibility each year. Until late ES, I made a chart each year of what they needed to get done each morning (say, eat cereal and a cheese stick, get dressed, brush hair pin 3rd grade), and they checked items off each morning as they went. A week where everything was checked off and done by xxx am everyday meant a small treat over the weekend. 6th & 8th graders are now 100% self reliant in the am.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
WOW.
Your kids are so independent.
There is no way my 5th grader would be able to get up, dress, eat, pack lunch and go to school by himself.
I didn't do that at his age either, so I don't expect it of him.

We both have inattentive ADHD, but come on. There must be *some* neurotypical middle schoolers who don't do it all in the morning either

5th grade is elementary school, not middle school.

[Anonymous]

6th and 8th graders usually wake independently but sometimes need to be woken. They get their own breakfasts, dressed and ready for school without my help. My 8th grader usually just makes it out the door but my 6th grader is ready to go 10 minutes before he needs to be. The only thing I do for my 6th grader is help pack his lunch. I make the sandwich but he does the rest. It wasn't always this easy, though. My 8th grader missed the bus lots when she was in 6th grade.

[Anonymous]

6th grader has to be prodded to stop abusing his snooze button, but once he is up, he dresses himself and makes breakfast for himself and his 2nd grade brother while I fix their lunches. I've tried to get them both making their own lunches, but it is hit or miss - honestly, none of us are morning people and it's just easier to take the path of least resistance since I've been making their lunches so long I can do it on autopilot half asleep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WOW.
Your kids are so independent.
There is no way my 5th grader would be able to get up, dress, eat, pack lunch and go to school by himself.
I didn't do that at his age either, so I don't expect it of him.

We both have inattentive ADHD, but come on. There must be *some* neurotypical middle schoolers who don't do it all in the morning either

Well, clothes are picked out the night before, and lunch is made the night before. Sometimes the kids will lay out as much as they can for breakfast after I've closed the kitchen following dinner. So if they're going to make scrambled eggs, they lay out the forks, the frying pan, spatula, plate, etc. The girls will also work together - one may make breakfast for both while the other stands behind her doing her hair. (Not the most hygienic thing, but if they don't care I'm not going to care)

Do they have to be reminded to do #2? That drives me crazy when at the last second they need to make a rush for the bathroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WOW.
Your kids are so independent.
There is no way my 5th grader would be able to get up, dress, eat, pack lunch and go to school by himself.
I didn't do that at his age either, so I don't expect it of him.

We both have inattentive ADHD, but come on. There must be *some* neurotypical middle schoolers who don't do it all in the morning either

Well, clothes are picked out the night before, and lunch is made the night before. Sometimes the kids will lay out as much as they can for breakfast after I've closed the kitchen following dinner. So if they're going to make scrambled eggs, they lay out the forks, the frying pan, spatula, plate, etc. The girls will also work together - one may make breakfast for both while the other stands behind her doing her hair. (Not the most hygienic thing, but if they don't care I'm not going to care)

Do they have to be reminded to do #2? That drives me crazy when at the last second they need to make a rush for the bathroom.

I'm not reminding them of anything. If they forget something, then they'll have to deal with it whether it's skipping lunch or forgetting to do their hair or whatever.