kid not getting ready for school

My 4yo likes to go to school, but he often aggravates his mother in
the morning by dallying. The cycle of

(1) boy eats a bit at breakfast table
(2) boy runs to family room to join little brother watching cartoons
(3) mother yells at boy to do (1)

is repeated many times. I think we should just tell him that he will
miss a day of school if he is not ready by time X and actually follow
through on it. An alternative would be for him to go to school on an
empty stomach. Despite his dallying, he does like school very much,
and I think missing a day would be an appropriate punishment. I'm not
worried about the educational loss of his missing one day of
kindergarten.

Has anyone tried this, and do they have other suggestions?

Hi --

My suggestions a

1. Don't let little brother watch cartoons when big brother is supposed
to be eating! TV is very distracting; we still have a "no TV" rule
in our home at times when ANY child has work to do, and my kids are
much older and less distractable than your average kindergartener!
Why don't both kids eat at the same time?
2. Get him up earlier so that he can dally a bit and still be on time
to school.
3. NO, don't have him miss a day of school. But it's okay to have him
arrive late once and hear about all the fun stuff he missed. It's
also okay to give him a portable breakfast to eat en route to
school. A baggie of dry cereal and a water bottle, perhaps?

Good luck,
--Beth Kevles
-THE-COM-HERE
http://web.mit.edu/kevles/www/nomilk.html -- a page for the milk-allergic
Disclaimer: Nothing in this message should be construed as medical
advice. Please consult with your own medical practicioner.

NOTE: No email is read at my MIT address. Use the GMAIL one if you would
like me to reply.

On Dec 18, 10:43 am, Beliavsky wrote:
My 4yo likes to go to school, but he often aggravates his mother in
the morning by dallying. The cycle of

(1) boy eats a bit at breakfast table
(2) boy runs to family room to join little brother watching cartoons
(3) mother yells at boy to do (1)

is repeated many times. I think we should just tell him that he will
miss a day of school if he is not ready by time X and actually follow
through on it. An alternative would be for him to go to school on an
empty stomach. Despite his dallying, he does like school very much,
and I think missing a day would be an appropriate punishment. I'm not
worried about the educational loss of his missing one day of
kindergarten.

Has anyone tried this, and do they have other suggestions?

If the kid is late, our school gives a tardy slip to the student which
he/she has to give it to the teacher in the class. For some reason my
kids don't like that. It's like the opposite of getting a star. Do you
have anything like that?

I agree on shutting the TV off and also making both the kids eat at
the same time. Even if the little one doesn't eat, make him sit at the
table. He too has to go to a school pretty soon and he should know the
routine.

I stopped eating breakfast in the car. The car is getting too dirty.
Instead set a timer and ask him to finish breakfast before it goes
off. If he can tell time, make him sit where he can watch the clock.

Don't make him miss school. That's a reward if he likes to stay home
and play.

"Beliavsky" wrote in message
...
My 4yo likes to go to school, but he often aggravates his mother in
the morning by dallying. The cycle of

(1) boy eats a bit at breakfast table
(2) boy runs to family room to join little brother watching cartoons
(3) mother yells at boy to do (1)

is repeated many times. I think we should just tell him that he will
miss a day of school if he is not ready by time X and actually follow
through on it. An alternative would be for him to go to school on an
empty stomach. Despite his dallying, he does like school very much,
and I think missing a day would be an appropriate punishment. I'm not
worried about the educational loss of his missing one day of
kindergarten.

Has anyone tried this, and do they have other suggestions?


My son is completely incapable of not watching the tv if it is on. My
suggestion would be

- Don't turn on cartoons until after the eldest is off to school.
- Establish a routine in which once he climbs down from the table, the meal
is over.


I would not add missing a day of school to the equation. Some day he may NOT
want to go to school. And the optionality will be remembered. It may be
optional now, but it will not always be.

Beliavsky wrote:
My 4yo likes to go to school, but he often aggravates his mother in
the morning by dallying. The cycle of

(1) boy eats a bit at breakfast table
(2) boy runs to family room to join little brother watching cartoons
(3) mother yells at boy to do (1)

is repeated many times. I think we should just tell him that he will
miss a day of school if he is not ready by time X and actually follow
through on it. An alternative would be for him to go to school on an
empty stomach. Despite his dallying, he does like school very much,
and I think missing a day would be an appropriate punishment. I'm not
worried about the educational loss of his missing one day of
kindergarten.

If this is an ongoing problem, why is the tv on during
breakfast? Removing the tv seems far and away the easier and
better solution.

Best wishes,
Ericka

On Dec 18, 11:43�am, Beliavsky wrote:
My 4yo likes to go to school, but he often aggravates his mother in
the morning by dallying. The cycle of

(1) boy eats a bit at breakfast table
(2) boy runs to family room to join little brother watching cartoons
(3) mother yells at boy to do (1)

is repeated many times. I think we should just tell him that he will
miss a day of school if he is not ready by time X and actually follow
through on it. An alternative would be for him to go to school on an
empty stomach. Despite his dallying, he does like school very much,
and I think missing a day would be an appropriate punishment. I'm not
worried about the educational loss of his missing one day of
kindergarten.

Has anyone tried this, and do they have other suggestions?

Turn off the TV. A rule that there is no TV until *everything* is
finished and ready first, meaning dressed, teeth brushed, coat and bag
ready to go, etc. and for everyone, not just one child at a time. We
did arrive late to school a few times when my daughter developed
issues with her socks until she learned that throwing fits over how
her socks felt when putting shoes over them was not a good enough
reason to miss the good stuff. Since it was preschool, it wasn't a big
deal, but I knew that she didn't want to miss that stuff so I refused
to give in to the fits and told her that we didn't have to go at all.
At 8 she still has sock issues, but she has learned that after a
while, she doesn't notice anymore. lol.

On Dec 18, 12:51 pm, Chris wrote:

Turn off the TV. A rule that there is no TV until *everything* is
finished and ready first, meaning dressed, teeth brushed, coat and bag
ready to go, etc. and for everyone, not just one child at a time.

Thanks to you and the others for the suggestions, especially of
turning off the TV. We'll try it.

On Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:43:26 -0800 (PST), Beliavsky
wrote:

My 4yo likes to go to school, but he often aggravates his mother in
the morning by dallying. The cycle of

(1) boy eats a bit at breakfast table
(2) boy runs to family room to join little brother watching cartoons

Turn off the cartoons and have the little one at the table with you
instead. (How old is little brother? - He can sit in his high chair
and even if he is not eating, you can give him some toys to play with
instead of having him watch tv)

(3) mother yells at boy to do (1)

is repeated many times. I think we should just tell him that he will
miss a day of school if he is not ready by time X and actually follow
through on it. An alternative would be for him to go to school on an
empty stomach. Despite his dallying, he does like school very much,
and I think missing a day would be an appropriate punishment. I'm not
worried about the educational loss of his missing one day of
kindergarten.

Has anyone tried this, and do they have other suggestions?

At 4, you could even have him eat something in the car on the way to
school. Also, when is his lunch time at school? My dgd has lunch at
10:40, so even if she doesn't eat much for breakfast, she isn't hungry
at school until lunch anyway.




--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits

Beliavsky wrote in

ups.com:

My 4yo likes to go to school, but he often aggravates his
mother in the morning by dallying. The cycle of

(1) boy eats a bit at breakfast table
(2) boy runs to family room to join little brother watching
cartoons (3) mother yells at boy to do (1)

is repeated many times. I think we should just tell him
that he will miss a day of school if he is not ready by
time X and actually follow through on it. An alternative
would be for him to go to school on an empty stomach.
Despite his dallying, he does like school very much, and I
think missing a day would be an appropriate punishment. I'm
not worried about the educational loss of his missing one
day of kindergarten.

Has anyone tried this, and do they have other suggestions?

turn off the tv until breakfast is finished, the kids are
dressed & then, if there is some time, they can watch tv or
whatever.
i would NOT use missing school as a 'punishment' for dallying
over breakfast. he may be 4 & like school now, but using that
is just setting yourself up for more dallying when he's older
& less entranced by the newness of school and *wants* to miss
going.
tv is always expendable. schooling is not.
lee

"Ericka Kammerer" wrote in message
. ..
Beliavsky wrote:
My 4yo likes to go to school, but he often aggravates his mother in
the morning by dallying. The cycle of

(1) boy eats a bit at breakfast table
(2) boy runs to family room to join little brother watching cartoons
(3) mother yells at boy to do (1)

is repeated many times. I think we should just tell him that he will
miss a day of school if he is not ready by time X and actually follow
through on it. An alternative would be for him to go to school on an
empty stomach. Despite his dallying, he does like school very much,
and I think missing a day would be an appropriate punishment. I'm not
worried about the educational loss of his missing one day of
kindergarten.

If this is an ongoing problem, why is the tv on during
breakfast? Removing the tv seems far and away the easier and
better solution.

Best wishes,
Ericka

We had to unplug the family room TV in the mornings. My kids would run to
the TV first thing in the morning. When we put a ban on morning TV (for the
same problem that the OP is having) the kids would 'forget' and turn it on.
Now the TV gets unplugged the night before and will be plugged in after
dinner.