How can I get my 11 yr old son to get ready for school without lollygagging?.?

Question

He goes to bed by 8:30 pm, and I make him get his clothes out the night before. He doesn't watch tv during the week. He still takes him time getting dressed, forgets to brush or wash his face. While I am getting dressed, he will play with the dog or rabbit, or find other stuff to do. I even threaten him sometimes. We usually end up running out of the house with minutes to spare and barely making it to his school on time. Its the same thing with his homework almost every day. I have to constantly tell him to hurry up, or tell him to get back to his work. Or tell him to stop changing the subject if we are talking about homework. Any serious suggestions will help. Thanks.

Answer 1

My kids were like that and I changed a few things.... The first thing I changed was that I made my kids go to bed at 8 and then it was still happening and I changed it again to 7:30 and they hated going too bed that early but it worked cause now we are back to 8-8:30 bedtimes and they don't play around in the morning any more...

For the next question homework I did the whole hurry up thing but then I told my boys that they would have to go to bed earlier sothey could get up ealier to work on it more in the morning...

These are what I did with mine and thy did work for me and I hope and pray they work for you!

Answer 2

My son is in kindergarten and he takes shower before bed. Then when I get him up he takes a quick shower to wake him up and he brushes his teeth. I dress him, give him something small and to go for breakfast (he eats lunch really early so no big breakfast) and we are out the door. It all takes about 15 minutes. If he were older and I was less involved in getting him dressed and whatnot I am not sure what i would to do get him to hurry. You dont want to rush him as that is a bad way to start the day.

First you can start by taking away the things that are distracting him in the morning. Ground him from playing with the animals for a week as punishment for doing so when he should be getting ready for school. Stick to it. You may also want to be done with getting yourself ready when he is up and getting dressed. This way he cant go off and do something else. No one wants to be treated like a baby so maybe you can tell him since he cant seem to get himself ready you'll do it for him. He'll hate that. I mean sit him up in bed, walk him to the bathroom, wash his face for him, brush his teeth for him, dress him, etc. He will be so mad that I doubt he'll hesitate to get it done on time the next day.

I agree also that you both need to get up a little earlier.

Answer 3

Tons of kids do the same thing. My daughter used to do the same thing and often would miss the bus. I used grounding or taking away privileges to set her straight about being on time. I set a specific time for her to be ready to go or there would be consequences. I did the same thing with homework, it had to be done before dinner.

What time does he have to get up in the morning? 8:30 seems a little early for bed for a kid his age. My 8 year old goes to bed at 9 and my 12 year old 9:30-10 and they both get up at 6:45.

Answer 4

First, you need to find out how he's doing in school. Is he coping well with the work and not having any problems with other pupils and/or teachers?

If everything is fine, he probably is just being a typical boy (my mum was still dragging my brother out of his bed in his final year of school). Just once, give him a warning but then see what he does if you just leave him be. A boy of his age might not like getting into trouble for turning up late to school and maybe the sharp shock of a telling off from the teacher is what he needs to realise that he can't hang about in the morning. Also, maybe he needs to get up half-an-hour earlier until he learns to manage his time better.

Answer 5

I think this is a typical kid thing. My boys do the same thing. I constantly tell them to finish getting ready for school, finish your cereal, brush your teeth, get your shoes on, etc etc. It's because they don't really want to get ready. They're not lazy, nor do they have ADHD, they would rather stall and do other things than do what they're supposed to. Now if we were on our way to Chuck E. Cheese they'd be ready faster than I could blink.

I've done some creative things in the past to get them ready on time, I'll have a "race" with them to see who can get dressed faster, I've promised some mano y mano Mario Kart sessions after school, I've promised trips to the park after school, as well as weekend "trips" if they get ready on time all week. The "trips" usually consist of going fishing at the lake, or making a trip to a park that's not so close to the house, having a picnic, or doing arts and crafts for the weekend. Those don't cost me a dime, well, except for bait, and it's fun family time. Hope some of those help!

Answer 6

I have a 10 y.o. soon to be 11. He was like this at the beginning of the school year. My husband made him sit down and write out his morning routine on a piece of paper. When he gets done with everything he can play his video games or read a book or whatever he wants until his grandmother takes him to school. My son loves to play and read so this was an incentive to get him moving in the morning. Now he gets ready and has his chores done in a half hour, so he has more time to play.

Answer 7

SEEM LIKE YOUR CHILD IS RUNNING THE SHOW. As a kid I usually did things on purpose to make my mom miserable.He is 11 going to bed at 8:30 its punishment and school startes at maybe 7 or 7:something.I had to go to bed at 9:30 and when i went to my room a laid awake for atleast 2 hours doing nothing and still awaken with plenty of energy because i was a kid(children have plenty of energy).No tv during the weekday is punishment as a child.Going outside to play with the same kids and the same games will only lead to trying to play house.(you know what playing house is)and they want a new game.(SOLUTION)loosen up, let him stay up a hour late and wacth tv with you.Before he get to wacth tv make him show you his homework or no tv.

if you decide to take my advise don't let him know you got advise from someone.make it seem like you came up with the idea and want a change and to make him happy so you can work things out for the greater good. If he think that someone gave you advise he will push away from you (emotionally) thinking that you needed some one help, and in a way, he will feel like a problem.

as far as running late, you should set a time.
tell him what time he is waking up and what time your out the door. If he is ready or not, put him in the car and go.Eventually, he will get tired of showing up at school half dressed and will meet your expectations.But grab his things so he can get dressed at school.

Answer 8

I'm proud to say I fixed this problem with my kids by using a daily chore chart. Each completed chore earned a sticker. A completed chart earned a reward at the end of the week. We were able to leave for school on time within 45 minutes of waking up,including breakfast and with completed homework from the previous evening in the backpacks. Kids thrive on positive reinforcement.

Answer 9

My son is 10 and kind of does the same. He used to be really bad a year ago and was diagnosed with ADD, which he takes medication for now. He's been better since starting the meds, so I know it's not my imagination.

It sounds like your son just suffers from pure "kid". He just wants to play, mommy and doesn't really want to be bothered with school or work. Just keep being strong and show him you won't be pushed around. Make sure he knows you're the boss and you won't tolerate any foolishness. And don't just threaten, carry out your threat. If he knows you won't carry out what you say, he'll keep taking advantage of you.

Good luck, I'll be thinking of you :)

Answer 10

I have a professional lollygagger, too. Get him up nice and early every day and eliminate all distractions(no tv, no radio, no computer). Have a list of what he needs to do posted somewhere he can see it. Stay with your son and if he starts to play with the dog, ask him to check his list.

Some kids really do just move at a snail's pace. Rushing him, i suspect, would only make it worse. Even so, if you let him know how he's running on time, that might help. ie: "ten minutes till you have to leave".

Hope this helps.