The night before:
They pack their lunches, pack their bags for the next day, and leave themselves a note if there is something special to remember (e.g., “science project!”) They lay out their clothes and shoes.

The morning:
I start by gathering up my youngest (5) in my arms. I carry him to the bathroom and have him pee, then bring him in to DD9’s bed. Then I wake DS7 and have him pee and he also goes in to DD9’s room. We all cuddle on her bed (full-size) and read a few bible verses and talk through the plan for the day—the weather, anything special going on at school, etc. We end with a quick prayer. We always start the day with 15 minutes of connection. THEN I shift into drill sargeant mode.

After our morning meeting, I make breakfast and they have a standard checklist to complete before they get to eat:
Get dressed
Brush teeth
Brush hair
Sunscreen/bugspray/lip balm depending on weather
Shoes on

Once they have done all that they can sit down to breakfast and if they get ready quickly I sit with them and chat. If they drag their feet they can take an apple to eat at the bus stop.

Another vote for screen time. They get screen time from the time they are ready (including coats, hats, and mitts being on; I live in a cold climate) until we walk out the door. It's about 15 minutes of screen time every morning.

OP, don't let the haters get you down.

Getting three kids read in the morning is extremely difficult. I did it for years with a single and twins, and at times, even with plenty of organization, I thought I would lose my mind.d

My #1 tip which must be followed every single day is that you must be up, dressed, teeth brushed, makeup, bag ready, etc. yourself before your kids get up. Is that possible? That way, you are the general marching the troops through the morning routine. Create a routine and don't deviate from it. If the kids need time, you fold laundry while they are getting ready. But you have to be ready before them, otherwise it all falls apart.

Oof no suggestions but that's hard. Ignore the people that are all "I do that and milk my cows and run a marathon all before I leave for work!" Parenting isn't a competition.

Can you tell them it's a race and set a timer?

Anonymous wrote:I am a single Mom of 7.5 year old twin boys. Not easy. Only thing that works for me is to be like a general; keep the schedule! I wake them up, put their clothing out, tell them to get dressed. Ask them what they want for breakfast, and prepare that while they get dressed. While they are having their breakfast, I prepare their lunch boxes and maybe have a bite myself. I send them to brush their teeth, put their shoes on and while they are doing that, I get myself ready. I feel like I am herding sheep the entire time; but that's the only way we can get out on time. Good luck.

Do as much as you can the night before. Lunch boxes can be packed with most things the night before. I used to put sandwich fixings in a baggie and in morning just put sandwich together. Fruit, etc already in lunch box. Clothes laid out.

I agree you have to be a General. Backpacks at front door. Strict bedtimes. Good luck. As they get older, it does get easier. This too shall pass!

Hopefully odds are in your favor that at least one of the three will be a morning person. My 6 year old expressed interest in an alarm clock and she sets hers earlier than mine now. She once came into my bedroom at like 5:45, ready to roll, wondering why I was holding her up.

You will get through it. I do this with my 10,8, and 3 yr old and also bedtime solo every night. The 10 and 8 yr old are independent but will either be arguing or playing, thus delaying us. And no telling what mood the 3 yr old will be in.

The single thing that is most helpful is if I’m up, showered, fully dressed before they wake up. I’m more efficient in what I need to do and keeping them on task when I’m not also trying to get ready along side them.

The best is when I wake up extra early, go to the gym and workout, shower and get ready (in peace) there and am back home by 6:45. I have a burst of energy from the workout and am ready for anything. Husband usually leaves for work as I am walking in the door. I start lunches right away and wake the kids at 7 if there aren’t up already.

It won't kill you. Stopping the drama may be helpful though.

Anonymous wrote:I do this as well. In some ways older kids are easier because in theory they CAN get themselves dressed and ready. The problem is that sometimes they won’t.
Things that I find helpful:

1). I get up early and get ready for the day before I wake kids up.
2). Everyone gets dressed in separate spaces even if they sleep in the same room. Until they are separated, no one is really getting dressed.
3). Allow kids an hour to get ready. When you are six, you need to spend some time jumping on your bed or looking at different faces you can make in the mirror. This can take 20-30 minutes.
4). I make hot breakfast every morning, but all kids get school lunch during the day.
5). Have a hair brushing/face washing station by the door. All kids need to pass through it in their way out.
6). Don’t forget about the ten minute time warp between the door exiting your home and the car. Once you have your third child, it appears like something out of a science fiction movie, making you leap ten minutes into the future every time you exit your home to go anywhere. I don’t know where it comes from or how to avoid it. All I can do is plan to walk out the door ten minutes earlier than I would need to if I was on my own.

Just to chime in and say, different things work for different situations/individuals/personalities. I have an 8, 5, and 2 yo and we need to be out the door by 7 AM. So for example:

1) there's no way in hell I can get up earlier than we already do (5:45) based on our family's evening schedule and my body rhythms. So I can't get fully ready before the kids need to be up. I do try to be out of the shower before I bother to wake them up. So I build in several check-ins as I'm getting dressed, fixing hair, etc. to make sure the bigger kids are on track. Eg, it only takes a minute for me to attack the 5 yos bedhead when I've got my hairbrush out from styling.

3) My kids are ready in under 30 minutes. I wake the older two up by 6:30 if they aren't already awake. We have settled on a no playtime routine because for us, there's no boundary (if they start, then why not longer...). So it's easier to make mornings all business, so to speak. If they have their coats and bookbags on and are near the door before mom is ready to leave, then I'm not going to stop them from goofing around. But before that, it's not accepted.

4) We don't do school lunch, but not sure that makes a difference in the morning routine, as lunches are packed the night before. So as the kids grab their bags, they also take the lunchbox out of the refrigerator. Kids have breakfast at school, I'm a grab-and-go person. Trying to have a hot or sit down breakfast at home would definitely add 20+ minutes to our routine.

6) The ten minute time warp is 100% accurate. Plan for it and then it won't make your day seem to start late every day.

Anonymous wrote:Wake up earlier.... and kinda grow up too.

This would work for my son too!

Mine has decided by himself that he wants to wear socks to bed so that's a savings of 2 minutes. If I expect a rough morning, I just have him wear a sweater over his PJ top or in the summer let him sleep in a clean t-shirt he wears the next day. Desperate times...

Anonymous wrote:The big rule in our house is no breakfast until you’re fully dressed for school, right down to shoes. Concentrates the mind wonderfully.

Mine are not motivated by food (some kind of genetic mutation, I suspect) but toys get taken away if we're not moving at a steady clip in the mornings. Like you say, focuses the mind!

3 kids is a lot,
Sorry op, but people say it is well worth it... I hope you find a way.
Best of luck!

Streamline everything. They need to move in the direction of the door. Have them sleep in pjs. Can you teell us where the snags are now? No screen time in the morning, completely dressed (and not going back to their bedroom) before eating. Keeep the schedule going.