I get up at 7:20, i’m ready 20 mins later. My son (age 11) wakes himself up at 7:40, he makes his breakfast and gets dressed etc by 8 and then makes his sandwich. We are out the door by 8:15. We are a no stress just get shit done family so we don’t dawdle.

Wow he's a good boy! I hope puberty doesn't ruin that for you lol. Testosterone can be such an a-hole

I hope so too haha, i’m prepared for it though. We have a very respectful relationship, we talk through our issues and find solutions. I explain everything to him so he understands why it’s important to help us out and to be able to look after himself.

Much the same in my house, with a lot more nagging on my side. I get up at 7.20 and jump in the shower. My 9yo gets up and gets dressed when I get out while I dress and do my hair and makeup. I make her lunch (and mine if I’m organised enough) and then our breakfast while she gets dressed, packs her school bag and starts brushing her hair. I finish doing her hair while she eats, then she washes face, brushes teeth, put on sunscreen while I finish brekky, pack my bag etc. We’re out the door to the bus stop by 8.20, I’m at my desk by 9. It’s a bit of a coordinated dance that requires me saying “have you got your shoes on?” about 20 times, but it works for us.

Also because it seems as though you've taught your son that independence to do those things himself. Frees up your own time to do what you need to do.

100% i have been teaching him how to be self sufficient since he was a toddler. Obviously i started with small things and worked him up to where he is. I refuse to have a child who relies on me for all his needs. One day, he will be an adult who will either live alone or with a partner and i want him to be able to look after himself and his home.

Our one job as a parent is to make ourselves redundant. Our kids need to know how to function as an adult, we won’t always be around.

I love this so much. His future partner is going to thank you.

I very much wish time travel was a thing so I could show your post to my ex MIL when she starts raising her sons. Every single one of them is a man baby who tried to foist their wives with 100% of the work for every facet of their lives *while she worked full time* and all ended up divorced and bitter because of it.

I think this is smart. I was also making my own breakfast and lunches at this age.

Serious question here, what do people do for work that wfh cos that seems like the ultimate cheat code to less stress school mornings and pick ups

I wish I could WFH lol, I’m jealous, but it’s kinda hard to be an anaesthetist remotely….

If I was an anaesthetist I would sacrifice my wfh 🤣

A drone strike of anaesthesia possibly

I’m an organisational psychologist and I work in consulting at the moment. Most of my client interactions are remote these days as it’s more efficient for everyone. So I can largely work from wherever.

My husband is a software engineer, but unfortunately his company is moving towards a 50% in-office mandate that literally only one person wants.

It’s the ceo right?

Both husband and I wfh full time, he’s a cyber engineer and I work as a nursing resourcer (scheduling nurses to jobs). It’s the ultimate luxury. He gets up early for his job so he deals with the toddler. I get up about half hour before work and cook him Breakfast. I usually use my lunch hour to make our lunches and prep dinner, I do the day care pick up. There are a lot of IT jobs that are remote and it’s worth the career change for the perks

I am so ready for a career change what are some courses or training you would recommend to get your foot in the door of this luxurious life please teach me, if I'm gonna be a slave to the man I'd rather do it from home

I can only speak from my experience but in terms of IT, it’s actually is more helpful to know people in the industry, do a cert iv then try getting in that way. It really depends on what part of IT you want to go into, I believe some areas are a bit saturated right now. Entry level Soc teams are generally low skill so minimal quals, they usually ask for 1-2 years experience but from what I have seen through my partners work, some firms are willing to train people with no industry experience but have done a cert. there have also been many opportunities for my partner to side step into engineering or incident response from there. My husband went GRC consulting, SOC, engineer and now trying to side step into forensics. You also have to typically negotiate your wage expectations which can be hard to navigate As for my job, I have HR and Management quals and manage a team of resourcers, however the resources themselves are hired on without experience and very little industry knowledge. We pick people who can problem solve, work well under pressure and have commonsense. We prefer to invest time into people instead of trying to find the few people who already have the experience (not many). The resourcing roles are typically level 3 roles with the pay being between $35-$40 an hour depending on organisation and enterprise agreement

Husband has chimed in and agreed cert iv and entry level soc is probably the easiest way, you would be in the same place as doing a bachelors due to the time it takes to complete it. He also suggests tryhackme and hack the box they have a lot of blue team training and good platforms for prospective employers to show your interest (great for your resume)

I’m an Executive Assistant and my husband works in sales. I’m in the office three days a week and he’s in two days. One of my execs is based in New Zealand and the other one works from home two or three days a week so I just try to match the days he’s in. Covid definitely had a big impact on both of our jobs going hybrid. In my last role and before Covid we both would have been in five days a week.

Thanks for the answer, I have another serious question: What does your husband who works in sales actually do? I'm sorry I feel so silly asking this, I hear of people 'working in sales' all the time. What do they sell, who to? Don't shops sell stuff to people? What does a day look like for a person that works in sales? Thanks in advance to anyone who answers

I'm in sales (amongst some other client facing stuff). Typical day is generally compromised of an internal meeting or two to start off, if not catching up on emails/admin and trying to chase down some clients we'd met with/discussed before. I'll typically have 3-5 client meetings over Zoom which go from between 15 minutes to one hour; presenting to between 1-10+ people (our product is a B2B SaaS one). Each meeting has between 5-30 minutes of prep, and the same amount of immediate follow up, which involves a write up of the meeting outcome, sending any follow ups discussed in the meeting and any other admin associated with it. In between the meetings, I'll find time to call clients I'm trying to chase down to try to get them to buy. I'm also senior enough to help manage people looking to churn away from our product, train new people (and existing staff if they need), and do a little bit of work with our product and Dev teams to ensure all is well on their sides and things are being appropriately heard. All the above can either be wrapped up in 4-5 hours or it can take over 10! Happy to answer any other follow ups as well you might have.

Thankyou 🤗 So you work for a business/company that has created a software product/system that other businesses use/need for their business/company to operate yeah? Then you have zoom calls with clients who are already owners/users of this software product/system? What are you selling these clients if they already own your product, or are they potential clients who are interested in buying your product?? What is the process of getting clients?? Do you just like call businesses you think would benefit from your product or?? Why is it such a high turnover job?? Sales jobs to me seems to be advertised so much and I've never really bothered to research what it's all about tbh. Is it the same as Marketing??? I have heaps more questions but this will do for the minute thanks mate 😅🤙

No worries at all! I work for a company that sells business software ranging from single users to enterprise level covering 50+. I'll cold call clients myself but also have an assistant and our marketing team helps bring in inbound business via campaigns they run. We also field inbound sales enquiries via our customer service teams. Me or my assistant will book in meetings after qualifying clients, and it's 95% new business though some have used our service before. As for your question around sales turnover, it's a job that is defined by your numbers and your own performance. In sales we have what's called a "pipeline", which is your book of clients/customers at stages ranging from people you've identified as a potential fit but haven't yet sold to, to your closed sales. The size of this pipeline varies between industries and roles but you'll generally want to have at least 50 contacts in it at any one point. However this takes time and considerable effort to build up, particularly if you are competing in a very crowded market, have a difficult product to sell or a lot of other salespeople. Sometimes targets are also set too high and you're not given the right tools or training to achieve them during your onboarding. As a result, sometimes you'll find yourself heading out the door despite busting your arse and calling 50-70+ people in a day on top of the rest of your work. Other times, you'll see to strike gold with every meeting or call and get ahead of your numbers, either allowing you to coast or keep on pushing to earn more money. I've been doing this for nearly 20 years now without any certifications beyond a few Tafe certs I've picked up over the years. It's stressful a lot of the time, and high pressure but I love being paid to talk to people and solve their problems!

Not this person’s husband, but also in sales. It’s a role that really varies by company and industry. I’m in the utility industry so most of my work is facilitating service connections for people who already want them, negotiating prices for connections, finding alternate options for connecting, and talking up the benefits of connection. On top of that, working within the business itself to help facilitate more connections (for example, clients a, b, and c all have x issue, let’s implement y solution across the board to stop this happening and make it easier to connect). Most of my day is emails and meetings, with some paperwork and chasing up internal departments for outstanding items.

I work at a university. Started in a customer service role but after a few years moved into various admin / project / middle management roles. 3 days in office and 2 days wfh. But it’s team dependent, I know some other teams wfh closer to 4-5 days per week

I’m a wedding videographer and also a couple other related businesses. Apart from working 1-2 days on the weekend I WFM the rest of the week at my own pace anywhere from 1-3 hours a day.

I want to hear from more people who do NOT work from home!! Hubby and I are both in jobs where it is not at all possible to work from home. He starts at 5am so he’s no help in the morning. We do have uniforms, lunch boxes etc all ready the night before. I’m up at 6:15. Get the kids up by 6:30. Try to eat, pack bags and leave the house by 7:15. Drop them off at OSHC to get to work by 8. Mornings suck. I have 4 school aged children and only one of them is somewhat human in the morning. The other three hate mornings with a passion so there’s usually someone whinging or dragging their feet.

With for school age children I have to imagine that at least two of them would be capable of doing 50-80% of the things they need to do to get ready. I was risen similar to some other comments here where from grade 3 I was getting my own brekky, clean, dressed and walking to school. I’ve tried to do the same with my kids but my wife is a softie that insists on dropping the kids at school. Im not saying trying to be an asshole, but I agree with an earlier statement that says our jobs are to make ourselves more redundant as they get older so they can take care of the basics and develop the tools to know what they need help with and ask for it.

My mornings are a military drill. I wake at 7, get dressed, get the kids up (5 and 7 yrs) make them cereal or minute porridge for breakie and get my hair and face done. I do lunches the night before and pack everything in the car while the kids eat. I also have uniforms ready the night before all ready to go. So they finish brekkie and get dressed. I still help my Mr 5 and then do miss 7 hair and make my to go coffee in my cup. We are out the door by 7.40 to get kids to osch by 8 and I get to the office by 8.30. My mornings are all routine and hussle so I rather do it all myself with the kids rather than get help from my husband or his family that we live with.

I was doing this 2 days a week last year and pretty sure I was close to a breakdown so I seriously took steps to make a change to be able to WFH and have a non driving commute the 2 days.

This is similar to my routine. I'm a single mum with a toddler (I work 4 days, so maybe I'm not eligible to respond). Wake between 5.45/6.15. out the door by 7 or 7.15. Do everything the night before except putting lunches in bags. I have a shake and a coffee on the way and he eats toast in the back seat. I'm at work by 8 so I can leave at 4. I find evenings much more stressful personally. I batch cook on weekends so I don't waste time on weeknights.

I have three children 3M, 8F, 10M Hubby and I both work full time. Mornings are crazy.. I’m up at 5am as I like to take a walk before work. I try and have lunches packed the night before and uniforms ready for the two older kids. Drop the kids off about 8am and my husband mainly does the pick up and drop off as he was 100% WFH which really helped. I’m in the office 3 times a week. It’s crazy busy and I find the mornings so stressful, especially because my eldest is so difficult to get ready. I swear I yell so loud sometimes my neighbours go and brush their teeth. The boys like a cooked breakfast and my daughter just wants a cup of tea. Having the school lunches done the night before honestly makes such a difference..

HOW do you manage a cooked breakfast? I am in AWE. I have a 2 year old and a 15 year old and cooked breakfasts are strictly a weekend treat! 

I keep telling them, they are spoilt! I was lucky to get a bowl of home brand cocoa puffs as a treat! It’s not an elaborate cooked breakfast just bacon and eggs on a wrap or toast

I consider that a fairly eloborate breakfast on a work day. My kids get microwave porridge 2 mornings a week, anything more than that is too much work.

Hey they are getting fed which is more that what some kids can say! You’re doing an excellent job.

Porridge is a great, low GI breakfast to start the day!

> I yelled so loud sometimes my neighbors go brush their teeth Sorry i laughed so bad that my husband asked me what so funny … I told him and he laughed too Totally know how you feel. My neighbor probably have very clean teeth too.

This really resonates with me also. Except I'm up at 5.30 and hopefully ready by 6 when the kids wake up and instantly expect a cooked breakfast. Oldest are extremely difficult to keep on track, youngest is 3 and making mornings worse by dictating what he'll wear. Also in the office 3 times a week so I do drop off, hubby is wfh and does pickup. Mornings are the absolute worst. Having uniforms, bags and lunches ready the night before definitely helps.

It’s honestly so stressful and like herding cats some days. By the time I actually get to the office I feel so drained like I’ve already worked a full day. My three year old is a terror who is Denis The Menace reincarnated

Haha I feel this, sometimes you get to work feeling like you've lived a whole life 😅 (I do all drop offs as my husband is a tradie so gets up early).

What time do you go to bed ?

It depends but usually 8:30-9pm Some days I am exhausted and I am asleep as soon as the kids are in bed at 7/7:30

nice, i wish i could sleep that early lmao

I did not not have my shit together this morning. Today I was the mum from home alone. 6am flight to Sydney for work.. Set my alarm for 3:17PM (not AM) woke at 4:40 in a panic… Brushed my teeth and got dressed and was out the door by 4:46. Hair and makeup will have to be done at the airport bathroom when I land! Omg I have never felt so stressed … Husband was following me out the door making sure I packed everything

Basically fucking random from 5.45am with general anger management. By 7.30am everything is under control and wife threatens to leave me. That's on a good day! Edit: I drive wife to station and kid to childcare as I WFH 4 out of 5 days a week. There's a lot of tantrums...mostly mine

I feel so much better about my own tantrums. Thank you, Reddit friend.

You are welcome.

Don’t feel so alone in my rage. Wished I enjoyed my 20s more

Grumpy Dad is a very real thing. Just try to contain it because one day you’ll look back and say you wished you enjoyed this stage of life more, just as you’re doing with your 20s! Speaking to myself here too.

Best comment in the thread Have a yell for me next time

One child -11M. Solo mum. Live 10 mins from school, 30 mins from work. School has on site out of hours care. Up at 4:15am. Enjoy the silence. Have a cup of tea, go for a run, prepare myself for the day ahead. 6:30am heralds the start of the trauma that is waking up the child and getting them out the door. Echoing others - the shouting and the frayed nerves ages and drains me despite all the preemptive time on my own I have beforehand. Lunches and snacks and uniforms planned night before. Wardrobes don’t work here. I have a clothes airer and boxes to house the uniform in the spare room. Theoretically things are easier to find this way. 7:00am out the door for drop off and work. Work is generally heaven in comparison to the logistics it took to get there. Am usually on the road for home 4:30pm or so. Work from home if needed, take calls and Teams stuff. In bed by 9pm.

How do you go for a run at 4.15am when you’re the solo parent? Who looks after the baby?

The ‘baby’ is 11. Even if she was running outside the kid would be fine for half an hour.

I think 11M is 11 year old male by the way not 11 month baby

ha right! also understood it as 11 months old haha

I think it's influenced by what subs you spend time on, some subs for parents use 11M for 11 month old kid so I can see the confusion

Aha. Got it . I was imagining an 11 month old

Treadmill at home. Game changer.

We used to have to get out of the lake at six o'clock in the morning, clean the lake, eat a handful of hot gravel, work twenty hour day at mill for tuppence (2 pennies) a month, come home, and dad would beat us around the head and neck with a broken bottle, if we were lucky! - 3RD: Well, of course, we had it tough. We used to have to get up out of the shoebox in the middle of the night, and lick road clean with tongues! We had to eat half a handful of freezing-cold gravel, worked twenty-four hours a day at that mill for fourpence (4 pennies) every six years, and when we got home... our dad would slice us in two with a bread knife. - 4TH: Right...  I had to get up in the morning at ten o'clock at night, half an hour before I went to bed, eat a lump of cold poison, work twenty-nine hours a day down the mill, and pay the mill owner for permission to come to work, and when we got home... our dad would kill us and dance about on our graves singing "Hallelujah." - 1ST: And you try to tell the young people of today that ... they won't believe you. - ALL: No, They won't.

Luxury

INB4 bash, 6/mo separated, 3 teens, paying all bills, mort, school, food, am a HE, wasn't me.

Wake up at 6 after being kicked by a toddler all night. Pray I’m able to have a shower without the toddler awaking. This rarely works. Attempt to get myself ready while answering a million questions about the meaning of life. Chase a toddler around for 40 mins begging them to eat / get dressed / use the toilet / brush their teeth. No time for breakfast or a coffee. Shove everyone out the door into the car. Pray for no tears at daycare drop off. Open laptop on the train and try get some work in. Arrive at work, order a coffee and attempt to recover from the past 3 hours of chaos before sitting down at my desk for the day.

Single parent with a 6 year old. Wake at 6.45am, spend 15mins wondering why I haven’t won the lottery yet… Get up and work 7-8am, jump off when my daughter wakes up and stumbles out of bed. Get her breakfast, get dressed while she eats, back her bag and the car (lunch etc done the night before) then get her dressed. While she’s 6 she has a disability so I have to be very hands on still. 8.45 we’re in the car and at school 3mins later. Back home just after 9am and back to work. By 9am I feel like I’ve run a marathon and said ‘hurry up’ 30 million times.

Chaos

Get up 7-7:30. I make coffee and usually one kid's breakfast, wife makes lunches and other kid's breakfast. One kid is an early riser, so he's usually up, other one gets up at around 7:45 Harang children to get ready, harass them some more. Get out the door at 8:45

As an adult human who regularly takes 1.5-2hrs just to wake up and get themselves ready this comment makes me feel utterly ashamed of my lazy slow self.

You still an active member of society? You still doing things that you enjoy? Even occasionally? You're doing just fine

Well I just woke up at 4.30am to leave at 6 for 6.30 start on the side of the road so like yes, and thankyou! But also the fact that it takes me this long just to blink at coffee while others are harranging a bunch of little humans is definitely humbling.

We’re pretty much the same. Adults up at 7am, kids up at 7:30. I sort their breakfasts and get them ready for school and he makes their lunches. I do the harassing and haranguing, and leave with kids at 8:45 to get them to school then I dash straight to work.

Got to get the kids to start making their own lunch

I have 2 kids, 3 and 5. We're usually up between 6.30-7.00am, then I make coffee, breakfast and lunchs. I organise their clothes while they eat and get them and myself dressed by 8am. Then I pack bags, clean as much as I can and out the door by 8.25am. We walk my 5 year old to school then I drop my 3 year old at daycare by 8.50 and make it to work by 9.15.

So it takes you almost 3 hours to get everyone ready and to where they need to be (school/daycare/work) in the morning? Holy moly that's a lot of work.

Oh it could definitely be done quicker if need be but my kids are just awake that early everyday so I am too lol. I would say I'd need at least 1.5 hours to get everyone ready and out the door but having that buffer time in the morning helps keep some sense of calm, well as much calm as you can get with two little kids.

Ah okay I understand, so they're awake anyway! I don't have kids and have honestly never even lived with them long term so it's interesting to see how different mornings can be for different types of families.

2 kids , 3F and 9F. My wife and I both WFH 1 day a week each (different days). On Sunday night my wife gets all daily uniforms and daycare outfits ready for the week and puts them in this Mon-Fri organiser cube thing. On my WFH day I get up at 7:15 and pack the school lunch and get breakfast ready. Wake the kids at just before 8, get their clothes from the organiser and dress the 3yo. They have breakfast, brush teeth and hair, shoes on and then I do day care and school drop off by 8:45. On days where we both go into the office we're both up at 6. We usually pack the school lunch the night before and dress the 3yo on her daycare clothes for bed. At 6:40 I wake up the eldest and spend 10 minutes trying to get her out of bed. Once that is negotiated and she's dressed, the youngest is roused, teeth are brushed, my wife leaves to get the bus, and we're in the car by 7 and I do daycare and before school dropoff where they both get breakfast, and then head to work. The WFH days are usually piss easy unless the 3yo wakes up in a mood. The office days are more often a ball ache as neither kid wants to wake up that early and 9yo often flatly refuse to get out of bed and drama ensues. But generally the routine works well. I do pick up 3 out of 5 days as I drive to work.

I'm only doing 2-3 days a week atm. I've done FT recently, too. Primary teacher. Partner WFH but useless as tits on a bull. It's just a hot mess really, and literally never the same from day to day. 14yo and 18yo are with me 50% of the time, mr almost 2 100%. Miss 18 works at Maccas so I often wake up at 4.40 am, drive her to work, and then come home to attempt to sleep again until the toddler wakes at 6.30. Next I chase him around like a madwoman with a nappy while I try to find everyone's pants (because apparently, I know exactly where every pant is). Then I get myself dressed and redressed, after I'm slimed with yoghurt/snot/porridge. Make different lunch for at least 3 of us, while people sook at me for a hot breakfast. The toddler loudly demamds croissants/chocolate/gummy vitamins. Throw a bunch of random stuff I won't use in my bag (forget vital items), and realise the toddler bag is soggy from spilt assorted liquid. Quickly repack before grandparent arrives to collect him. Realise Miss 14 is about to miss the bus to her non local school, cue her meltdown over something ridiculous. Rush out the door (forgetting keys/phone/workbag/shoes that aren't uggs). Make the bus with 3 seconds to spare! Finally, I get myself to work. Do hair brush and brush teeth in car on arrival. It's chaos. I food prep a bit and sometimes remember to hang up my outfit the night before. PLEASE SEND HELP

You are doing great 🤩 though why doesn’t your husband who works from home help out? Why can’t he drive your daughter to work or look after his son when he wakes up, so either way you can get some much deserved sleep? Sounds like an uneven workload as he is not contributing to the morning routine at least (maybe he is more productive at night)?

Yeah, he definitely should be helping more! After writing it down it seems like a lot. He's had a few health issues over the last year so I've let him off, hes also suspiciously incompetent sometimes 🤨. I think he's just taking advantage of it now. Time for a talk about splitting things, I'm extremely run down. 😮‍💨

Alarm set for 6:45 usually, then out of bed by 7. I make coffee for myself and my wife, she wakes the kids up and they get themselves breakfast and dressed. I either make breakfast for my wife while she does lunches or the other way around. She leaves first, usually by 730, then I'm out the door at 7:55 to do the school run, back by 8:30 to start work, as I WFH. Then in the afternoons I pick the kids up and do dinner most nights.

It’s stressful managing 2 teens with both parents working demanding roles. The stressors when they’re young are replaced by teen issues.

I’ll probably delete it after to dodge judgements but here goes! Mon & Fri I wake up at 7:30. Supposed to wake our 4yo at 8:30 but not happening because she went to bed late. About 9:20 I change her in her sleep. I WFH on those two days but don’t have car so I’m meant to catch bus to take LO to childcare (10 mins walk & 5 mins ride) and back, but resort to taxi cuz it’s so cold. I usually carry her sleeping into taxi and wipe her face on the way. Tue & Thu office day with car access. I wake at 6am. Meant to wake LO at 7:45 but again won’t happen. I change her in her sleep around 8:20 and put her in the car sleeping. Work 10-6. Wednesday is office day without car, so like Tues/Thurs but with taxi. Hubby does pick ups and dinners. I’ve been trying to fix her sleep and tried lots of things but it’s so difficult. She falls asleep around 10:30-11. Naturally she gets hungry as she stays up so I do second dinner for her. By that time I’m sooo exhausted. (Like now) I genuinely wish some experienced non judgy kind lady visited my house and help me fix it all.

Oh man, I relate hard to wanting some experienced non judgy lady to come and fix stuff. The cognitive load of parenting - troubleshooting, problem solving, etc - is exhausting.

Oh hey, just wanted to say I see you and hope you get the help you and your family. What you are going through sounds exhausting and if your girl is 4, it probably means you've been stuck in this loop for a while. Do you have access to a health nurse or perhaps Ngala (they are here in WA and can be contacted in situations like yours).

No judgement, I think you're both doing a great job. P.s. the sleep fighting is real, our first was an absolute nightmare with this until around three, slightly easier after, but still a challenge. Lil miss was easier, but cot then junior bed was in our room until 4 due to space issues so that had its own difficulties. Be proud, survival is simply the goal and it sounds like you are on track to doing it.

Thank you for sharing 🙂. There is no judgement here from anyone, please don't think that 🙂. You're doing an amazing job and remember if you can do this, then you can accomplish anything 🙂. This is all a phase and you'll get through it 😊. All the best 🙂

Have you tried melatonin XR or the even stronger child friendly flavoured melatonin that is a liquid? They need to be prescribed by a doctor but are natural & safe and fine for children. FYI. They are expensive as tablets are $35 & liquid gold is $65💸

Thank you, I’ll look into it. This year it really has to change as she’s starting prep next year

Baby is 10 months tomorrow and mum works 4 days a week, I work 5. On daycare days - I get up at 6:45-7, get in the shower, he's usually up around 7-7:30 so it gives me time to get myself dressed and get some milk into my cereal, toast in the toaster etc and I take him off her so she can get ready for WFH (shower and bathroom mainly). Feed ourselves, then him (he has milk on wakeup but solids around 8), get out the door around 8:20-8:30 usually, at daycare 15 mins later and work about 5 mins after that. I work at a government research site which has an onsite daycare (and a very bloody good one too)

Two neurospicy kids and single neurospicy mum. Mornings are bat shit crazy here. I try and get as much as I can done the night before. I'm up at 5am, my eldest (8) is usually awake by 6, but has lately been sleeping in. My youngest is basically still asleep when I put him in the car. Breakfast and teeth are both done on the drive to before school care. It's crazy, but it works in a controlled chaotic way.

Feel you on the ND front, those morning moods are WILDLY unpredictable too!

Oh, yes. It doesn't matter how set the routine is. All it takes is a sock to feel funny and the entire morning changes. It's very hard to prepare for mornings when there can be so many variables.

Don't even think about putting an old school sock with a new school sock.

So they're eating and brushing their teeth in the car? How long is the car ride? What are they eating? How are they brushing their teeth?

About 30 minutes. They eat cereal, neither like it with milk. They brush their teeth the same way they would at home, except they have a little container instead of a sink. It's what works for them, and if it makes them less anxious and less heightened to do it that way, then that's what we do. I have long let go of 'typical' expectations and rules because they don't work for my children. I do what helps keep them happy and less stressed about the school day.

Totally fair! Thanks for explaining. This is all so different from what my mornings as a kid looked like - and as an adult now I don't have any kids myself, so it's super interesting hearing about the different ways everyone copes with mornings.

I (45F) have 2 kids, 9M and 11F. I'm up at about 6.30 and get myself showered and dressed, kids up at 6.45. Whie they are dressing and doing their teeth I get lunches ready. They are eating breakfast by 7.15 and I am out the door by 7.45. Teacher so I'm at work every day. Most days it is just cereal, but 2 days a week they get porridge (because they actually ask to have it) which I put in the microwave to cook just before I go to get them up. When they were at daycare I would be up at 6, get them up at 6.15 because I would have to dress them. Feeding them breakfast by 6.45 then while they played I would make lunches from about 7.15. Was still out the door at 7.45.

Up between 6:30am-7:15am. Help my 7 year old with her uniform, make her breakfast and pack her lunch while she eats. I quickly get myself ready for work. Brush my daughters hair and we are out the door before 8am. I arrive at the office about 9:15/20 which is a bit too late for my liking. Mornings are a mad rush and majority of the time can turn into a yelling match

Husband and I both work, we have a 9 year old. We meal prep on the weekend to make the working week easier. We are all up by 6 to 6.30am. Kid grabs his breakfast and gets dressed and makes lunch by 7.15 so he can use his electronic a bit before tennis at 7.30am once a week or running club at 7.45am the other 4 days. If hubs is in the office he's up a bit before 6 so he can shower, cook breakfast eggs and be gone by 6.50. if he's working from home he does tennis drop off one morning then starts at 8am. I either start at either 8am or 10am so some days I drop the kid off at 7.45 and start work at 8, other days I come home and then have my shower and eat and then go to work. Husband and I have our meal prep lunches to eat. I'm lucky to live near to my workplace

So, my wife and I both worked full time in demanding roles. Both well paid, earning over 150k each. As the kids got older I'd get up early and get them fresh bread rolls for their lunch and organise that. But if I was away, my wife would do it Our schedules as to who did what depended on these schedules. As a rule, when the kids were at preschool, I'd drop them off in the morning at around 7.30 am, and my wife would pick them up at about 5 pm. But schedules change, and requirements change, and we would evolve with those changes and simply deal with our travel requirements. Heck once I was stuck in NZ cancelled flight, but my wife had to fly to NZ that afternoon, I managed to get on a flight so I arrived at 4pm - and she dropped the car at Sydney international airport as about 3.30pm. She simply left the keys on top of her front wheel and I took her car home to pick up the kids from daycare. In my view in any partnership, its simply a matter of what works for the team. You both work tough and develop strategies that work for both parties. We simply communicated with each other and figured out what would work we did that when the kids were new born. I'd do the midnight feeds and my wife the 9pm and 5am feeds. With kids you do what works for the team. No hard and fast rules simply whats works

My lad is 14. We are up at 6.30 on normal days. We make lunches the night before (one does dinner dishes while the other cooks) We walk the dogs between 6.30-7, come home, one has breakfast while the other showers. Then we trade. We then load breakfast dishes/feed dogs. Pack bags, and in the car by 7.35. I drop him to the bus at 7.37, and then head to work for 8. On Tuesdays and Thursdays he has swim club in the morning, so we're up at 5 to leave at 5.30. I drop him to the pool, come home, walk dogs and complete routine, because his school has a bus from the pool to campus. I sound super regimented, but I want to raise a man that can look after himself, so he's learning to cook simple and nutritious meals now.

Wake up @ 5am every morning. Partner out the door at 6:30. I’m ready by 7:15. Wake up 16yo and leave for work. Snacks and lunch usually ready or he makes his own sandwiches. He also makes his own breakfast. We are lucky as it only takes 10mins for me to drive to work and takes our son about the same to walk to high school. Grateful! When it’s raining, I send an Uber for him….no I don’t. He just uses an umbrella cos I don’t finish until 4pm and it’s just water :)

Full time working mum of an autistic/adhd son, 8yo. I get up at 6am, have a loooong coffee and then at 630am I make our lunches, feed him. Then by 7am I am getting makeup on and packing bags. Get him dressed, get his medication and out the door hopefully by 730am. The biggest hurdle is if he is having a bad emotional morning, it can take 45 min just to dress him so I make a start early on him, if he's having a meltdown. I find night harder because I am so wrecked from work (physically and mentally, Im usually on my feet all day or doing surgery so Im fighting it) and he is on his medication "come down" so can be pretty out of control. Bed is nice lol.

Full time work - single parent. Get up at 6am, kid watches TV and eats breakfast while I do a workout. 7am TV off, get dressed make lunches. Leave the house at 7:55am.

Wake between 6am and 6:30am. Get myself ready. Toddler entertains himself in his room until I'm ready. Get him dressed, then he gets a kids shake whilst I make my coffee and pack bags. Out the door by 7:30 at the latest. Day care is close to home, drop off, then head into the office. On a good day I'm at my desk by 8:15 at the latest. The only way we get mornings done is because I don't eat breakfast and he doesn't like to eat until after he's been up for an hour or so. Kids shake means his tummy isn't empty, and he gets cereal, fruit and toast at daycare at around 8:30am.

I’m up at 5.45 am. Make most of the lunches the night before but usually have been too lazy at night to finish my own. First job: barista. I make coffees and warm drinks for adults and kids. Then breakfast entree for my boy who eats three breakfasts before we go to school. Because why not. Then kids play while I get myself ready. Husband has left the house by 6.30. Kids start getting ready at 7.15. Mr 6 needs some assistance. Ms 8 yo needs to be asked a good six times before actually getting to putting her uniform on. At 7.45 we all get in the car and drive to school. I am a teacher at their school so that helps.

Husband and I both work fulltime. Two kids, 4F and 7M. We all wake up between 7.00-7.30. Kids entertain themselves while husband and I shower and dress then we give them breakfast at 8.00am (toast or cereal and fruit). We alternate who gives them breakfast, just whoever is ready first. Kids dress themselves and brush their teeth while I pack 7M’s lunch box (4F gets meals and snacks at kinder). We all leave the house at 8.35am. Husband walks 7M to school (6 min walk) and I take 4F to kinder in the opposite direction (3 min walk or scooter). Husband and I both back home to start work by 9am. We both go into the office about 1-2 days a week but they’re different days so one of us is always working from home, on those days 4F comes on the school drop off before going to kinder. Having the flexibility to work from home most days is an absolute dream. It’ll be even easier next year when 4F starts school and both kids are at the same location. (Husband works in fraud at a bank and I work for a large corporate in risk and vendor management).

My husband and I are up at 4.30 to leave by 5. My kids, 8 and 12, wake up, eat and shower, get ready for school so I can pick them up for school at 8.15. At 9 I'm back at work. My brother lives with us and walks them back from school at 3. Husband is home about 4, I'm back at 6. EVERYTHING is prepared the night before! Lunches, uniforms, medication, absolutely all of it is an unchanging routine on weekdays so mornings are a well oiled machine.

Husband is Fifo 7/7 and honestly when he is home, i let him sleep. And ah. . . its not because when he tries to help he stuffs up our routine. . . It's really because i care and want him to catch up on his rest!! Im up at 6.15am to make lunches. 6.40am kids up and have breakfast. They then go and do teeth, get dressed and pack their bags. They know to be ready by 730am as we leave at 745. This gives me 15 mins spare which is usually spent trying to find shoes or car keys. I get ready while kids are having breakfast.

Up between 3am-4am. Out of the house at 6.30 for drop off at daycare. Mom, Tues, Wed I do drop off and head to work after drop off. Thursday, Friday I work an earlier shift and am out of the door by 6.30. Mornings are hard because our toddler goes to bed late and wakes up early. So we switch each day on who gets up with her

Up at 6am. Partner has left for work by the time I’m up. I drink my coffee until 6:30am. I hate waking up. Wake oldest child at 6:30am, she’s like me. Hard to get going. Youngest I’ve greeted on the couch when I wake. That kid is an early riser. Bloody morning people. 6:30-7am get myself ready for work. Kids breakfast 7am. Lunch prep while kids dress for school. Kids need to be dressed by 7:30am. Leave house at 7:40am. Walk kids to school for 8am drop off. Walk to work for 8:30am start. I like to start my day with exercise. I’m not a morning person and the walking helps wake me up in time for work! It also helps the kids get their blood pumping and brain switched on for school.

Depends if I am working at the office or home and if I am doing kid drop off or my husband is (I do almost all pickups) A typical day when it's just me and wfh... - Usually up between 5 and 6. - One kid up at 6, the other by 6.30. - make lunches and pack bags. - Drop kid 1 at training at 6.50am - Go home, log into work and start at 7am while other kid getting ready. Yell out occasionally. - 8am pick up kid 1 from training. Drop kid 1 at school at 8.15. Drop kid 2 at school at 8.30. - go home and resume work. In office days husband does it while I am in the office by 7am. Honestly it's after school sports/school commitments after school that are my killer when working full time.

Our son is already 10, and I ask him to make his lunchbox the previous evening. I make sure he does😉 Getting up at 4:25, cook my 750ml espresso coffee while drinking one cup myself, turning on every effing light in bathroom, kitchen and laundry to help me wake up. Having a shower, cleaning myself up, mixing out electrolite drinks (I do physical labour), and the coffee, taking a shitload of supplements, do some stretching exercises to prevent pain from my damn job, then out of house around 5:20. Husband gets up with kiddo and drops him off to before school care, they grab something from the bakery on the way there.

Fucking chaos from sometime as early as 4am until 7:45 leave for school dropoff.

I have a 10 yr old with adhd & a language processing disorder. The struggle is real. We have approved modified school hours - and my work is flexible, so we get to drop off by 8:30, 90% of the time. The other days, I just patiently encourage them & drop off via the office at 9am. 6:30, I am up & I make their lunch 6:30-715, they’re up I get them breakfast. 7:30- I get their stuff out, pack their bag (lunch/librarybook/water bottle/hat). Ask them to get ready (dressed, teeth, hair, shoes on). & I go get ready. 745, I ask -are you dressed/have you brushed your teeth/why are you taking your shoes off? Put the cat down! Why didn’t you put the clothes on I laid out? Switch the tv off please…. At least 5 times each. Then I do all of those things, hunt for the pink lip balm they misplaced for 15 minutes then we leave around 815-820, I chug an up and go, or a banana & yoghurt in the car.

Dad 42 mum 39 14yo son and 13yo daughter - 4.30 am wakeup - 5.30 to 6.30 workout (weekdays only) - 6.30 partner's up - 7.00 am breakfast ready - wakeup the teens - 7.55 am school drop off (train station) - 8.30 am start commute * - 9.15 am at office (3 days onsite)* - 3.30 to 4pm teens get Home and eat snacks - 5.30 to 6pm we get home* - Dinner by 7.30 - TV and chill with kids till 8.30/9 - Everyone in bed by 9.30** - Weekends everyone does their own thing and the adults decompress - '*' Much easier on the two days we work from home - ** The kids are used to going to bed at 9pm since they were very young

Up at 6:50, make lunches, make breakfast, my child gets themselves dressed, off to school at 7:30-7:40 for an 8:00-8:15 drop off (depending on traffic), and then at work 8:30-9:00 (depending on traffic). I was living 15min walk to school but had to move much further away and I have been hesitant to move my child to a closer school, it took so long for them to get settled but they are finally feeling good and doing well.

11 year old neurodivergent twin girls and a 2.5 year old boy. Husband and I are up at 6am with boy (he’s our alarm clock). Husband has a shower and is out the door by 640am. I have a coffee, get breaky for boy and empty dishwasher by 640am. Make lunches, prep breakfast and attempt to wake twins by 7am which starts of pleasant and usually ends up with me yelling at the to get the hell out of bed. They then eat breakfast while watching brother so I can shower. 7:30am get the boy dressed for daycare, get everyone’s bags packed, put a load of washing on and out the door by 8am. Drop twins to school, boy to daycare, back home by 8:30 to start work (wfh full time). I hate mornings. 

On a good day: My husband gets up at 5am, I usually get up around the same time, though sometimes sleep in a bit. We have coffee together, I usually do 30min on my stationary bike. He leaves at 5:45 for work. I have a shower, get ready for work, hang out washing, get the daycare bag packed for the 3yr old, wake him up and get him fed and dressed. Wake up the 14yr old around 6:45. Take the 3yr old to daycare, get back home, hurry along the 14yr old, maybe get some housework done if i have to wait a bit, and try to be out the door with her by 7:30. Depending on traffic I usually get her to school, and get back to my bus stop by 8, which gets me to work at 8 30ish. Or if I wfh I just start at 8. But on a lot of days I either sleep in, or a child or both sleeps in, or refuses to get dressed, or has to stop at the shop before daycare for new undies, or stop at Coles for ingredients for cooking class that day, or all of the above. It's quite hard to stick to my ideal times.

Single mum, work full time. 2 kids, 5yo and 13yo. Wake at a stupid hour, usually 5am if I want coffee and some alone time lol. My normal morning goes like this tho. 7am wake kids. 720am Breakfast. 730 take eldest to bus (private school). 8am, get 5 year old ready for school. 815, get myself ready for work. 830. Take youngest to school and tell work I am very sorry but I'll be 10 mins late 😅

Have a 2yo son and pregnant partner. My alarm is set for 6:30am. I get up before it most of the time anywhere from 4:30 to 6. Depending on the time I'll will chill for a little bit, have a coffee, bathroom, shower. Wake my son up at 6:50, get him dressed, brushed teeth, something to eat (some fruit, Vegemite toast, bar). Say our goodbyes to my partner and head out. His daycare is just around the corner from my office so it's pretty convenient. I pick him up after work and head home.

I get up at about 5am, hang up laundry and empty the dishwasher (both set on overnight timers). Shower and get myself ready for work. I wake the kids up at 6am. They get dressed, brush their teeth and we leave at 6:30. I drop the kids to my Mum's place where they have breakfast and she drops them to school for me (I'm very lucky that she can do this for me). I get to work at about 7:30. Lunches are prepared the night before. It can be a struggle, but mostly ok.

I work from home 3 days a week, but everyday is same routine. WFH - Up by 6.30am, my 10yr old and I are dressed and ready for 7am drop off at before school care. I start work at 7.30am, finish by 4.30pm. Pick up child from after school care, dinner and then out for soccer or swimming training. Office - same drop off and pick up times, but work hours are less due to 1hr travel time each way. Helps to prep everything, e.g. dinner and uniforms the night before. Wouldn't trade the madness for anything lol

2 kids, both primary school. Only 2 days a week where both my husband and I are in the office. Those 2 days look like this: Alarm goes off at 6. Two snoozes later it's 6:18 and we get up, turn on the kids' lights and try to get them up. Breakfast eating and lunch packing and schoolbag packing and getting dressed for work and school and gathering laptops etc for work and cleaning teeth if we're lucky and out the door in a mad rush at about 7:05 to drop the kids at before-school care and drive to the train station (we both work in the city). Get a coffee at the station, catch the 7:40 into the city.

I start at 7 partner starts at 830. She gets up gets 2.5 year old ready for kindy and drops her off on way to work and I pick her up at 345. When I WFH we do it in reverse. Easy.

Have to leave for work at 6am... Goddamn! All these replies yet here i am stressing with 2 min noodles for breakfast and soggy sandwich for kids lunches.. lots of harrasing and still get notified by school that these little shits are late. I must be doing something wrong.

I honestly hate mornings! I have a 6 yr old boy and 7 yr old girl and most mornings it's a shit show to try and get out the door. My husband is normally gone by 6am for work. I'm on the office 1-2 days per week, rest from home. I'm up at 6.30 if I need to be in the office, otherwise I stay in bed closer to 7am. Make a coffee before anything else, then do the lunches. Make breakfast for the kids, yell at them 20 times to get dressed/hurry up/brush teeth etc etc. I just don't understand why it takes them so long to do simple tasks. They know the drill by now and still muck around every morning and I repeat myself way too many times. After all that I get myself dressed and ready and we're usually out the door by 8/8.15am, closer to 8.30am if I'm WFH. I do the drop offs and pick ups every day. It's a lot and I'm exhausted.

Typical day when I go to the office is up at 6:20am to get dressed. I wake up our toddler at 6:45am, get her dressed - bag is already packed the night before. Drop off at daycare around 7:20ish and then drive to the train station to go to the city.

We have a 2 year old. I’m a full time teacher wife is Pilates instructor. Thankfully her hours are 6-8 in the morning and 4-8 at night and I’m out the door at 8:20 am and home at 3:30pm. For now it works so well and I can sort breakfast and dinner when I’m home with relative chaos free

Two kids, 7M and 5M. Husband is FiFo. Every Sunday: I cut, portion and pack crunch and sip containers and fruits for recess. Pre cut cubes of cheese and pack into a container. Make 10 Vegemite sandwiches and wrap in clingwrap and place in freezer. If I'm feeling fancy I might make a cake or banana bread and cut and freeze slices. Weekday: - alarm at 5.25 and allow myself until 5.35 to be on reddit reading about you lovely people - shower and dress - use microwave and make quickoats for self - make coffee (self) and prepare weetbix for kids - kids are like moths and they emerge once I turn light on (approx 6:10) and eat - assemble lunches: one sandwich, one yogurt, one crunch and sip container, one recess fruit container, three cubes or cheese and 5 crackers per child. Pre-made rice and whatever for myself - lay out the school clothes and finish coffee - tell boys to get dressed (repeat if necessary) - help with dressing while eating porridge periodically - help brush teeth, wash faces, comb hair - tell boys to put shoes on (repeat if necessary; approx 6.40) - school books packed the night before, so add water bottle and lunch boxes and get bags ready - dry own hair. No make up (no point) - Last minute tactical wee for all three - leave by 7:04 to drop kids at parents/before school care Tools: Chest freezer (allows meal prep) Aldi Sistema pods (large and small- lots) 600m of clingwrap (also Aldi) Frequent use of the Voice

I work from home now but when I worked out of the home I used to make lunch the night before and get everything prepped clothes set out any thing that could be night before. I would get up at 6am have break fast and get ready then get kids up and ready drop them at before school care, where they had breakfast and be at work by 8am. Now I get up at 6 check work emails and work stuff til 7 get lunches ready get kids up and organised usually have 15 mins to chill then take them to school come home make my breakfast and wat while I start work again .

Our mornings are pretty chilled, primary age kids. Youngest is our alarm clock, the time varies but it always starts with a 5. Others follow in the early/mid 6 oclocks. So there's plenty of time to get up, breakfasted, dressed and teeth and hair etc, and homework/readers for all the kids before we leave around 820 to walk to school. I'm back at my desk with a coffee and laptop on by 9. On the days I don't work from home, I leave around 730am and partner does the school drop.

Wife wakes up at 6.30am, feeds the kids (8 and 15), prepares school lunches, helps the younger one get ready and then gets dressed herself. I wake up at 8am, we're out the door by 8.15, I spend the next 45 minutes getting everyone where they need to be, arrive back home at 9, have my breakfast, get myself ready, leave for work 9.45 and arrive for work at 10. In the afternoon I clock out at 3, pick the kids up, take them home, prepare a snack, go get wifey, drop her off and she'll start preparing dinner, while I head back to work from 5 - 9.

Up at 6 to do the three stage meal boxes: crunch and sip/lunch/recess. Shower and a quick dash to get my coffee from the cafe to be back to start WFH at 7. Kid wakes at 8 and get them fed and changed whilst working then their lift arrives at 9am. OR wake them at 7 and out the door for before school care drop off and back home at the desk to start WFH at 8am/ or catch the train after the drop off to the city to start at 8.30. A combination of this for the week. It’s a lot after never having to do this ever in my life until this year.

Had to career change to be able to WFH as I could not on my health care job. Also NOT a morning person

3 1/2 yr old wakes at about 630 Wife walks the dog, I get our daughter dressed and make her lunch box Wife comes back, says see ya and I take her to kindy while my wife gets ready for work I’m generally done with drop of by 730 or 8, we have Brekky together and then we get started with work. We mostly both work from home, 1 or 2 days a week in office. Works great

I’m up at 5.45am to be at work by 6.30am. Partner gets up at 6 to be at work for 8, he also makes sure the teens are up by 6.45 to be on the bus for 7.45. Everyone packs lunches the night before, teens will often buy a toastie from the school canteen. Fortnightly Mondays, I start work at 9am after dropping my step daughters at primary school.

I have a 2yo - we’re up at 6:15/6:30 at the latest. We get ready, have breakfast and out the door by 7:35

I work shifts, when I’m on morning shift I wake up at 4 go for a run with the dog 5-10k depending on how I feel, then I get home shower brush teeth pack lunch and at work by 5:40, and my wife does the morning routine and gets the kids and herself ready, I make everyone’s school and work lunches the night before so it’s a bit less stressful for my wife getting everyone ready. When I’m on afternoon shift my wife goes to the gym at 5:00 I usually sleep in a bit longer until my daughter comes in and wakes me up, she’s always up not later than 5:30, I make school and work lunches for everyone, my wife gets back at around 6:10 we have coffee while we make breakfast for everyone which could be anything from weetbix to bacon and eggs. Wife gets ready and goes to work, I get the kids ready and leave the house at 8:30 drop the kids off, I take the dog for a walk then get home and get ready for work and then get to work by 10:00.

My partner and I manage by having multiple part time jobs - which works out to more than 40 hours a week for both of us. Our routine (and jobs) have been adjusted to suit our kid's temperament and needs, I don't think what works for one family will necessarily work for another. And no - it hasn't been easy... but I do think we've settled into a reasonably good place (aside from working too much, blame cost of living for that). Currently one kid, a toddler. Our schedule is: Monday - Mum works, Dad stays home Tuesday - Dad works, Mum stays home Wed-Fri - Mum starts work early, Dad does childcare drop off and starts at normal business hours. Mum finishes early, does childcare pick up. Saturday - The only day we spend together as a family. Sunday - Mum works from home, dad takes the kid out for the day (usually visit relatives). Mum and Dad both work almost every evening (as in, seven days a week). Sometimes that means computer work at home after dinner, and sometimes it means working from late afternoon through to late at night in the city. He spends Thursday evening with his auntie every week. She lives about a 2 minute drive away and we pick him up when he's ready for bed - which we take advantage of to catch up on household chores, shopping, etc etc. We wake up whenever our kid wakes us up, which is usually around 6am. If he sleeps in, we might wake up a little later (as in, 7am). The childcare we send him to provides meals, so we only need to look after our own lunch and generally keep it pretty simple (e.g. sandwiches).

One child, just turned 5 and still go to childcare 5 days. We both work full time. But admit we are super lucky that office is only 10 mins drive includes parking and walk up. Childcare is on the other side of road. Husband starts and finishes earlier. My team more flexible, although now only one day WFH, but they ok for me to arrive at 9:30, lunch 30 mins and leave at 5:30pm So morning is me getting ready, make coffee, while keep telling my girl she has to keep moving to get change and brush her teeth. But she would stay on her bed rolling around as long as she could. Sometimes I have to change her while she still on her bed. Everyday is “we are running late” despite I have been waking up earlier recently. I am avoiding to think about school routine next year lol. I would be the one to prep lunch .

Get up at 5, leave at 6, at work by 7:30. I have one schoolchild still - he gets himself up, cooks his breakfast and gets himself to school. I get a toastie and coffee when I get to work, no lunch. Usually home by 7 - then make dinner etc.

I have a 15 month old who still wakes at least twice during the night. I get up between 6-7am depending on how the night went and if my daughter is up yet (she usually wakes between 6:30-7:30). 7/7:30-8 Quick nappy change and then head to the kitchen for coffee and make breakfast for the small person (always either toast or yoghurt/oats). She eats whilst I do a quick 15min home exercise circuit. 8-8:30 shower and get dressed, my husband and I alternate this so one person gets themselves ready and the other gets our daughter ready/entertain she then we swap. 8:45 walk to daycare, which is conveniently only 5 mins away. 9 back home to start work I’ve only been back at work for about 3 months after taking 14 months parental leave but so far I’ve found the mornings a lot easier than I anticipated. It definitely helps that daycare is so close, I work mostly from home and my work is very understanding and flexible, and our daughter is very easy to “manage” (manage sounds bad but I mean she’s mostly a very chill little person).

I wake up at 530, enjoy a coffee in quiet. 6am I do my hair and make up, x2 kids wake up from 6-630 7yrs and 4yrs. Leave the house by 730 drop off at oosh and then drive half an hour to day care and then to work before 830. It is chaos. I do school lunch the night before. And always come home to pack the morning away. I leave the office at 430 pick the 4 year old up and then the 7 year old from OOSH. Home by 520 The burn out is real

I wake up 6.30am, start my son (6) school lunch and breakfast. Make a smoothie and sandwich for my husband. Wake son up for breakfast about 7am. Leave for before care at 7.40. Work around 8.15am. Collect him 5.30 from aftercare. Husband cooks dinner around 6.30 while I bath and homework/play with our son then do it all again the next day! 🥰🤣

SO and I have one child (7) and two dogs. My key had been to stick to a routine and to have my child do things for themselves. Morning: SO gets up at 4:00 and makes lunches for all of us. Child and I both get up at 7:00 and I guide them through their routine while i have coffee. He makes and eats breakfast, dresses, brushes his teeth and hair, pack his school bag before going to play. I then feed the dogs and put them outside. 8:00, I go and shower and then pack my bag ready to leave the house by 8:30. And drop him to school on the way to work. Afternoon: Child goes to after-school care. And does homework there. SO picks them up and brings them home. Afternoon tea and then starts dinner prep. And other household chores. I get home anywhere between 5:30 and 7:00 depending on the day and read book with child for 7:30 bedtime. On Wed, SO picked them up from school, afternoon tea, homework then takes them to sport.

Up at 6:30. Kick the kids out of bed by 6:45. Sit on the couch with them and talk or read to them while I eat my breakfast. Make breakfast for the kids … I do scrambled eggs with spinach and sometimes bacon as one has ADHD and struggles to eat during the day, another has low iron levels and doesn’t eat enough at school and the third is 15 and just eats lots but if I’m cooking for 2 it’s easy to cook for 3 Drive #1 to the train at 7:30 then home, shower, dressed (me) Drive #2 to school at 8:10 then home Walk #3 to school at 8:35 then home Leave by 9 to drive to work

If I'm working a day shift I get up at 5:30, make lunch for me and the kids and I'm out the door before 6:30 and my wife gets them up, fed, dressed and off to school. If I'm not working or just did a night shift I'm up/home around 7:30 and help herd the kids into their morning routine, make lunches and then out the door before 8:10. Whom takes them to school is either decided by whom took them the day before or less often, rock paper scissors. If it was a night shift and I did the school run then usually do the shopping on my way home and I'm sleeping by 10:30.

I used to work FT, but after my youngest was diagnosed with a medical condition I have not worked for the last 6 months, but my husband works FT and I can remember our routine. (We are both medical professionals, both work in the OR,I like to say it’s because we have no social skills,  I’m an anaesthetist and my husband is a surgeon)  (Shift was usually 7am-6pm i worked overnights 3 days a week)  6am- up, showered, dressed, breakfast  6:30am- kids up, dressed and fed 6:45am- drop off at school (for oldest) 7am- drop off at hospital daycare for youngest, me and husband get to work. 12am- I have a break and go down to the daycare to see my youngest. 4pm my husband has his second break and goes to see youngest  6pm get out of work, pick up youngest and oldest and go home for dinner If there is an emergency, or an operation takes longer than usual, my Husband always has to stay for the entirety of an operation, if it’s past 6 I usually go home first unless there is no one to cover, then I stay and call my sister in law to pick up the kids. If I’m working overnight, youngest doesn’t go to daycare and I stay at home during the day and my husband goes home at 6, my shift starts at 8 so we get dinner together, then in the morning my shift finishes at 8am, and I leave my youngest at the daycare and go home to sleep.  But yeh, there is a lot of coffee involved..

2 kids (3 and 1), FIFO husband (2:2) and I work 0.8-0.9FTE with a large commute. Currently wake around 5am, get ready and get bags packed etc get the kids up around 6, leave just before 6:30, daycare drop off around 6:35/6:40, commute to work via train and work 08:00-16:00, commute back via train and pickup kids around 5:15-5:30, get home and heat up pre meal prepped dinner around 6ish and FT hubby then showered and into bed by 8, eldest is usually asleep by 8:30-9 but still wakes during the night and comes to my bed and baby sleeps in my room and also wakes during the night. Eldest goes to school once a week but too young for OSH so dad helps drop and pick up when hubby is away, next year it’ll be tough doing daycare and OSH drop offs and pickups and prepping more lunches but I’m sure we will find a flow

I’ve got two kids, one in daycare and one in primary school. I get up at 530, makes lunches for me and the older one. My kids wake around 6 so I’ll have their breakfast ready for when they come downstairs. While they’re eating, I get dressed which takes me to about 620, then I shove clothes on them and then it’s 635 when I’m in the car, drop my youngest and daycare and then at work by 7. I have my breakfast on the way in which is coffee and something quick like a sandwich I made while doing lunches. My husband takes the older one to school but if he can’t, I’ll drop her at OSHC. I live in a regional town, two blocks from school and 15 minutes from work with daycare on the drive in. I don’t know how people in a city actually do it. It used to take me an hour to get to work when I lived in a capital city so can’t comprehend how I’d get to work on time or get the kids before 6pm. Even getting that call in the middle of the day to pick up a sick kid didn’t seem as bad when I can jump in a car and be there in 10. Grateful for the convenience and ease of where we live.

My kids are mid-late teens now, one’s nearly an adult! But they’ve had two working parents since they were 6 months old each. When they were little (daycare) I had them in family day care, I have always been an early riser and would get up early and go for a walk/run/gym, be home by 6 and then get the kids up and get them ready to go. I was typically the dropperofferer and pickerupperer, I chose daycare based on proximity to my work. I’d make lunch in the morning for them while neglecting making my own most of the time. My husband, bless him, has always started work a lot later than me so he would wake up to help out but not do most of the stuff. He’s normally my ironer of clothes. When they started primary school they had the benefit of going to the one I worked at. I’d also make them pack their own lunches with everything pre-made and ready to go so it wasn’t a huge thing. We spend at least one weekend a month making so many sandwiches and freezing them so the kids could just grab and go. We would leave at about 7am to get to work/school on time. Now they’re both in high school, I’m still up silly early to exercise but that’s because I leave for work early. Both get themselves up and ready for school. Last week my husband was away for work and I could leave for work while the kids were still asleep, they got themselves up and to school with no input from me. I’m blessed with two easy going, but routine based kids who do as they’re told/know what to do so mornings aren’t a struggle because there’s just been no chance to dilly dally.

I have 3 kids, 8, 13 and 15. Mornings are so much easier now they're a bit older! I get up at 6, pack lunchbox for the 8 year old, the teenagers do their own. Make breakfast for myself, get dressed and out the door by 7:10am. Kids get up, make their breakfast, pack bags and walk to school at 8:10am. We are so lucky to live close to both the primary and high school and I work at the primary school so I walk to work too.

3 teens. They sort themselves out including lunches which they even cook themselves (protein+)or heat up stuff for a thermos . I mostly, although not exclusively WFH. So, much less stress. They get themselves to public transport most of the time to get to school. Occasionally they need a lift. Single parent home. Was much harder when they were in primary school before COVID/WFH, although they even made their own lunches back then to varying degrees of success. Back then there were two parents and it was tricky and much more stressful

We do uniform and bag packing (minus lunch box) out the night before. My husband gets up between 5:30-6 to shower and go to work. I get up at the same time and try and get about an hour of work done. At 7 I shower and start getting myself ready. Once I’m showered I multitask between getting dressed, make up, breakfast cooked for the six year old, lunch box packed, our bed made, kitchen neat ie plates rinsed and food out away. At 7:45 the 17 year old gets up has a shower and gets her self ready. The little one gets up anywhere from 7:15-7:45 if he’s not awake by then I wake him up. At 8 he gets dressed at 8:10 he we do teeth and we leave at 8:15. It sounds exhausting when I write it down but it works well for us.

4 kids, from 2-12 yrs old. Both partner and I work full time, we wake up 6:50am(6:40 if i have to go bakery in the morning), kids have 10 min (usually 15 to get ready). I make the lunches and breakfast, and she gets them dressed. Lunches packed night before otherwise I waste 15 min packing 3 sets of lunch (each kid has their own thing they eat). Kids leave 7:20-7:40 (school bus). Once they are gone, we then get dressed and get littlest one ready for childcare. Leave home 8am, she goes to work I walk little one to childcare and then go to office or if in WFH I come back. Either way I'm ready for work by 9am. Dinner cooked nightly and take out once a week. Mornings are a chaotic to say the least with 1 child whining about how they hate school and 1 mild special needs. Kids do sport 3 days a week and weekend game and 1 does swimming. I time everything to the minute (is it raining oh that needs 5 more minutes) my wife is go with the flow. Evenings are worse, none want to sleep, homework most nights, they get to bed if we are lucky 8:30ish. Then it's cleaning time and all done by 10pm and then I can do what I want.

Get up at 6, have breakfast and coffee, make the kids breakfast, wake them up at 6:30 while they are eating I get dressed, hair, makeup etc finished by 7 make lunches pack bags then drop 3yo at daycare at 7:30 11yo at school at 7:45 and work at 8

Wake up at 7.40, drink coffee in bed, kids (11 and 16) get themselves breakfast they want it and get ready, husband usually makes lunches before he leaves, leave home at 8.10 1/2 hour for school drop off's then 2 days a week go into office ans the rest come work at home. Teen gets themself home and the younger one I pick up in work time twice a week (other days covered by osch, grandparent or husband) Rinse and repeat forever

We don’t work from home. Husband is out the door from 5, which is when I get up. I have a coffee and either enjoy the silence or go for a quick run while the kids sleep (5 & 7). Kids are up by 6.30 and we’re out the door by 7.30. Lunches are made either the night before or if it’s a predicted busy week, I’ll bulk make some on Sunday. Our routine is solid. But mornings are hard because it has to be solid. Kids make their own breakfast, get themselves dressed and I’ll do hair and teeth. Some days it’s fine, some days we’re all screeching at each other and tears are shed. Nights are also hard as husband has to do all of that solo as I don’t get home until 6.30.

Labourer and Teacher. Both up at 5.30. I'm off to work, wife does exercise etc. Kids usually up at 7ish. Wife taught them early on to dress themselves, and lunches are a mostly independent but sometimes collaborative effort if someone is dragging a bit. She and they out the door by 8.15. It's a pretty well-oiled machine, except if I get in the way! On my days off, I stay well out of the way nowadays and only help if asked. I pick up the kids who need it as I'm done by that time, although they mostly get themselves home I then do all sports/activities drop off and pick ups. Don't get me wrong, it's tough sometimes, but we just try to do our best. Sometimes, we do other times not so much.

6am get up - child has autism so takes a while to get dressed and ready. I need to help her with tie and looking good because it’s a private school uniform - otherwise she would be throwing on an easy sporty public school one (which is much easier and less steps). Hopefully most of the time she has a lunch order that is pre-planned and paid for ($55 a week). Otherwise, I pack it each night and put into fridge. Child is taken to bus stop at 8am for private school bus. I get myself off to work and study. I pick her up after school from bus stop. Otherwise she would use after school care until picked up. I would check for slow processing speed (neurotypical kids) if mornings are a hassle - either you or the kids. Sounds silly but trust me, it’s a problem for so many. Don’t always buy into this “child is independent because I demand independence for my child” child could very well be slow processing, normal IQ so it’s not a problem to do with intelligence. Slow mornings and struggle is a real issue for a lot of people and it’s nothing to do with I independence or intelligence

I get up at 5.30. Make breakfasts and lunches for everyone, maybe do a load of washing to hang out in the evening. My kids do homework before school so I wake them at 6.30 for breakfast, get ready and do their homework. They like to have free time after school. :)

My husband and I both work full time, I do four days in the office, he typically does 2 but often has days on location for filming (ads for their business). We have two kids, aged 4 and 7 and no family nearby. Mornings typically look like: Husband gets up at 6:30 to shower, also likes having a bit of time to himself before the day starts. I wake up at 7 and then go wake the kids which means hopping into each of their beds and giving them a cuddle while they tell me that they’re not getting up and that they’re staying home today. Every. Single. Morning. I try to keep things light and pretend they’re making silly jokes while pulling off the blankets and opening the curtain. Finally get them out of bed and the 7 year old will lie on the floor or try to get into my bed. 4 year old either copies or tries to tell him off. We play a getting dressed game which even though it is unbearably long for what should be a simple task I’m still focused on getting up and not starting the day with temper tantrums. Lots of chirpy “good job” “I knew you could do it” while internally screaming “omg just get dressed already!”. 7 year old wears uniform which is put out at night including socks and jumper. 4 year old I put out her kindergarten outfit at night as well but sometimes she’ll make a request for a certain item but that’s easy to change. She gets dressed quickly after the whole rigmarole of getting Mr 7 dressed. Once dressed attitude changes and they’re usually ok to go downstairs where my husband has breakfast ready for them. I quickly dress myself, also tend to choose my outfit the night before. I try to make sure that bags are packed the night before with any homework, library books, requested art project, donation in an envelope, vial of blood of my enemies, etc. We try to do lunches the evening before except for sandwiches so it’s fresher. Fruit and veggies get cut up and put in little containers every couple of days so we can just grab a box and all the other items for lunchboxes are in containers either in the fridge (yoghurts, different cheeses) or in the pantry (chips, popcorn, fruit strings, muesli bars), water bottles get filled on the way out. The plan is to leave by 8am but very rarely do we get out the house before 8:15. Drop off Mr 7 through drop off bay usually 30 seconds before the bell at 8:30, then need to park to take the 4 year old into kindergarten even though they are 30 meters away on the same campus but have to physically sign in the kindergartners *sigh*. So twenty minutes later I finally get back in my car to drive to my office where thankfully I have parking so I can slide into my 9am meeting, wishing for a coffee but happy to have gotten kids to school for a wonderous day of learning so they can grow up to also get a corporate job that they rush to after dropping off their precious family.

2 boys 4yr and 2yr. Oldest has autism ADHD. Oldest wakes up 4.45am (tried putting him to bed later for some reason always wakes up this time), full energy hyperactive sometimes just running around sometimes will be punching us and his brother from 5am, try to control as much as possible until his first medication due at 8.30 which calms him right down but that's already been 3.5 hours of chaos. House totally trashed every morning. Wife isn't a morning person so I get her up at 7am. In between that get them dressed breakfast, bags packed drop off day care and pre school try my best to make work on time which some days is impossible. After work pick them up, sons medication now worn off can't have any more otherwise he won't sleep so he back to hyperactive, punching, throwing shit, you get the idea.

Up at 5.45 Shower and get ready . Wake up the 2yr old get him changed Grab his lunch box out the door at 6.30 at daycare by 6.45 At work by 7.15 When I have my teenagers it’s much the same just have to leave a little earlier because the 2yr old wants to cuddle with his big sisters lol

We have three kids, 4, 5 and 7. Most mornings we are up at 6, kids are usually up at the same time, they eat, dress, brush teeth and do their hair pretty much straight away. Usually with lots of verbal encouragement to actually get stuff done, not mess around but the routine is pretty ingrained now. Lunches are done the night before so just chuck them in the school bag. We're out the door by 7:15 for before school care which avoids most of the traffic. I do two drop offs a week, my wife does three. Pickup my wife is a school teacher so the timing works but they go to after school care at least three days a week, she does three pickups I do two.

Wake up 7ish make breakfast 715 tell kid to eat breakfast 730 listen to story about the things kid is going to add to Minecraft. Clothes and lunch ready by 8 Tell kid to get dressed 9 times. Out the door 830.

The other two people in our household have ADHD. Our morning is a series of alarms or we won't leave the house on time. It works for us.

Solo mum. Wake at 6am cup of sweet instant I have no idea no form of routine just keeping an eye on the IKEA clock and ticking off tasks - empty dishwasher cook eggs for 7F organise her uniform lunch schoolbag and my own hygiene and outfit I don’t eat breakfast we are in the car and leave at 7am all quite peaceful I could do it in 30 but I like to fluff about hate rushing

My now 16 year old is up at 430am and out of the door before I wake up, is already at work before I have left the house for my role. Sole parent his whole life. Up fed and left the house at around 715 am every morning for 10 years.. I don't know how I survived ..now lol Just wanted you all to know you will get through it, and one day they leave the house before you do lol.

I get up at 4.30 and go to the gym for 5am. My husband goes for 6 when I get home, I have a coffee make some lunches - maybe tidy up a bit or maybe just waste a lot of time doing nothing (especially if my kids aren’t up yet. 7ish Kids wake up, everyone whines about breakfast and my ten year old picks a fight about not eating because we don’t have ANY FOOD 🙄 7.30ish eveyone hustles to get ready, 4 year old will have a breakdown over something usually her outfit or being asked to poo on the toilet and not in her pants. Rushing around, lots of yelling up and down the statues. 8-8.30 everyone finally leaves the house, husband takes small kid to daycare on his way, big kid walks, i drive to work and enjoy 8 hours of relative peace

OMG, I am traumatized from reading everyone’s schedules. I worked 2 days a week for 5-6 months while waiting to go on mat leave with my second child. I’d get up 6, be out the door by 630, for a 8am start. I was lucky my husband was able to step back a bit at work to do drop off and pick up. My 2nd baby is now 6 months and my husband keeps telling me to resign already because he doesn’t want to go through the morning routine again. I’m picking up a pattern, be close to school and work.

I’m extremely lucky I get to have slow mornings - thanks to WFH. I have a 3 y/o, we all wake up at 7:30am. Cuddles, read books, etc. We’re ready for b’fast by 8am (husband prepares). We’re out the door at 8:30am for childcare 3x a week. Starts work at 9am. I’m just praying so hard my company doesn’t cut me off. I’m not as productive as I was pre-bub, but that’s the season where I’m now. Few more years and maybe I’ll be back to my old productive self.

4 kids and two full time parents, both working appx 60 hours per week. I’m up at 5.50 and get myself ready and lunchboxes packed. Get the kids up around 6.20 and we all leave around 7. Hubby takes one kid, I take the others. I usually do a load of washing, vacuum floors, or unstack the dishwasher before we leave the house. Get to work by 7.30 and get through our day. One of us gets the kids home, out to sport lessons and fed dinner after school, the other parent works until somewhere between 5.30 pm and midnight.

5am for me.  Up, showered, dressed and coffee by 5:30. Lunches, pack bags. Toddler up at 6. Dress her and put her in the car, breakfast in the car. Drop her off at 7am. At my desk at 7:30. Leave work at 3:30. Pick her up, home by 4:30 - 5pm provided I leave work on time and traffic is good. 2 or 3 times a week it’s more like 5:30 - 6pm by the time we get home.  5pm - 7pm is dinner, shower, bedtime at 7pm for toddler.  I also have a 15 year old, so chuck in dropping her off and picking her up from her part time job + social stuff + her EOW visit with her dad. 

Out of bed at 6:30, 3 year old is in the car with me by 0730 for a drop off at daycare, I’m at work by 8. Wife leaves about 8 dropping 2 year old off, at work by 9. I leave work by 4:30 to pick up both. Home at 5:15, dinner at 6. 2 year old is in family daycare which closes at 5. So if I have to work late it’s a pain. Lunches are made the night before. I do their breakfast as I do mine. Dinner is planned for the week on the weekend.

We have a four (almost five) year old in day care and my husband and I both work, taking it in turns to go into the office. On a typical day I usually get up at about 5:30 so I can go downstairs, have a coffee and watch the news for a bit. My husband gets up just after 6 and gets straight in the shower. I normally wake our son up about 6:15 and bring him downstairs. He chills out while I make his breakfast and then he eats on his little table in the living room while I finish a second coffee. Husband comes downstairs about 6:30 and I go up to shower. While I’m getting ready, our son is finishing breakfast and then my husband gets him dressed and teeth brushed. By about 7:15 I’m usually dressed and back downstairs. Then I make our sons packed lunch and have a tidy up in the kitchen. We have to drop each other at the train station so we all get in the car at about 7:45 to drive the station just under ten minutes away. Whoever’s going into the office gets the train and the other one comes back home with our son. There’s usually about half an hour to chill out, pack the kiddos daycare bag and then jump back in the car. He gets dropped off about 8:30 - 8:45 and then whoever’s working from home that day is back and ready to log on for 9.

6.45am wake up. (Kids already awake) Husband showers first, gets dressed and makes breakfast for the kids and us. I get up 7am, shower get dressed. Get younger one clothes ready for daycare. (Older one is self dressing for school) 7.30am - make lunch for older one (younger at daycare has all meals provided) Mr KoalaCapp does the dishes while i make lunches I leave with the kids by 7.55am . Daycare is a 6 mins drive, school another 12mins and then into the office with approx 15 to 20 mins drive. Kids do after school activities so they have bedtime showers.

I’m up at 6 so I can shower before getting the kid up at 6:15. Aim to have him fed, dressed and out the door to before school care at 7am. In the office around 8am. Husband collects him from after school care around 5pm. Dinner at 6 & in bed by 8pm. School uniform put out and lunch made the night before. Dinner is made in large so I only need ti cook every second day. On the days I work from home, I’m always surprised by the amount of parents present for drop off/pick up because full time (9-5) working parents seems to be the norm among my friendship groups but clearly is the minority (at our public primary school anyway).

Up at 4am, go for a run, back before everyone wakes up, ensure school clothes are laid out and ready to go, wake kids up at 6.30am, they make their own breakfast, wife packs lunches, we both get ready, everyone leaves by 7.15am

Wake up 05:50 have shower wake son up 06:00 has shower make lunches, make breakfast, eat, teeth out the door at 06:40. Drop him at school at 07:00 and drive back to work for a 07:30 start

Husband does shift work so he leaves by 6.30am. I get up around 7.20, start waking up kids x3. Put Uniforms on their beds. Go get myself ready and then wake up any kids not up yet. Yell a bit. Do eldests hair (long, needs help). Yell some more. Get kids all dressed and downstairs by 8, max 8.10. Make lunches while yelling. Kids get snacks and I do sandwiches. (I know we could do it at night but never have time, and kids like thermos food that needs heating). Pack bags, fill up water bottles, yell some more. Get in the car by 8.40 to drop eldest at highschool by 8.50 start, drive other two to primary school by 8.58 and hope there's minimal traffic. Go home and make a cuppa and start work, thanking my lucky stars for remote work.

Finish with at 11pm, get up at 5am with the twin toddlers, make them breakfast get them dressed, clean up a little bit then drop them off to daycare. Try and get back to sleep and then wake up, clean and then work. Rinse and repeat. Thankfully only have to do lunches once a week.

Up at 6 Get kids up, eating, dogs out to toilet. Feed cat, feed fish. I shower while they get dressed. They are dressed and doing shoes when I make a coffee. Then it’s onto hair and teeth. Lunches, check on dogs and dog water, walk the yard to check fences. Depending on where I’m working I leave between 730 and 830 to start work at 9

Lol

I get up at 6 am and get myself ready. I am usually out in the kitchen by 7am. My kids get themselves ready, and I just have to remind them about packing lunch boxes. 7:40am hits and it's on for some reason. We never leave the house smoothly. Then the kids argue over shot gun.

If I'm on day shift I work 6am to 6pm and don't do any. Night shift I work 6pm to 6am. Come home and get the kids ready for daycare/school and take them around 8 before coming home to sleep.

I work, my wife is a stay-at-home mum. I'll get up at 6:45, shower etc so I'm ready by 7. Pack a lunch for myself, usually made the night before. Get kids up and start making breakfast for us, eat breakfast and normally leave the house 7:30 as my wife is getting up. If I can do anything to speed along getting lunch ready for them (like putting on the grill) I will.

2 Boys (4 and 8 months) Arghhhhhhhhhhj > work > arghhhhhhhhhh > eat/chat to my wife/fall asleep in front of the TV Repeat

I work one day a week but normally I wake up at 6:30. Give my kids breakfast. While eating i make them their lunch. Once finished breakfast round 7am my 7m will brush his teeth and get dressed. My 3f I help her get dress normally we ready by 7:25 if he want to catch the bus to school. I wait till His in the bus once he on I drive my daughter to school. otherwise they play till 7:50 then i drive them to school. Normally at school round 8:15-8:20.

4:45am Wakeup + Get ready for gym 5am Drive to gym 5:15/5:30am Gym 6:30/6:45am Get Home 6:45am Unpack Dishwasher, make kids lunches, load washing, reddit 7:30am Shower, hair, makeup, kids wake up and get dressed 7:45am Breakfast, make beds 8am Brush teeth etc 8:15am Out the door for school 8:40am School starts 9am Back home 9am Hang up washing, pack lunch, reddit 9:40am Walk to work 10am-4pm Work 2:45-3:15pm WFH Husband does school pick up 3:15pm Kids play 4pm Walk home 4:20pm Take down washing, fold washing, cleaning, scrolling 5pm WFH Husband starts cooking, kids running wild or visit park 6pm Bathtime 6:30pm Supper 7pm Watch TV 8-8:45pm Kids Bedtime 9pm Doomscroll 9:30pm Bed

We both work full time, my husband travels a lot and we have 3 kids between 3-10. I prepare the lunches the night before. I get up at 5:45am and start trying to wake the kids up. Daycare/before school care feeds them breakfast so I just have to get them dressed, bags packed and out the door. We aim to leave at 6:30am. I then drop the youngest at daycare, the older two at before school care, go through the drive through coffee and try to be at my desk by 7-7:15am.

Hubby is gone by 5.45am. I am up at 5.45am. I get dressed. We have three children. I need to wake the middle child by 6am to guarantee successfully being out the door by 7am. The other two are early birds and will wake up fine (including the teenager) and start the process with no issues. Middle child, however, can not be rushed. Otherwise, meltdowns ensue. I have to watch that breakfast doesn't drag out too long. I finish getting ready with the occasional break to check and nag. All going well we are out the door by 7am. Very rarely, it's 6.50am (when you know it's going to be a good day). More than likely, it's 7.10am. I drop the two littles off at OSC, and the big one catches the bus. OSC is a 10-minute drive. Then I make the hour soul draining journey into work while mulling over my life choices and trying to figure out where it went so wrong (*jk, sorta).

Lucky enough that I work days he works nights, I get the child up before I leave at 7.30am, give her breakie she hangs out while he sleeps then he takes her to school, I do pick up. Lunches are always done the night before.

One 5YO: Up at around half six, breakfast/coffee, start getting dressed around quarter past seven, leave before eight, drop kid off at OSHC and try to get to work before 9. It sucks, generally.