Killing time in the morning w/o TV

[niq]

V and O wake up around 6:20 whether we want them to or not. Playground supervision for V's school doesn't start until 7:30, and we live very close, so we can't leave until 7:25. Sometimes we manage to get through the morning routine early, leaving some weird chunk of time like 7 minutes -- not enough time for a Daniel Tiger or Paw Patrol segment. If we turn the TV off and the show isn't at a stopping point, O throws a tantrum. Also in general TV just makes the morning harder, transitioning in and out of it is a PITA.

I'd like to set a "no TV on weekday mornings" rule, which V will understand and O will not notice once we've been doing something else for a few days. But if we do that, we're going to have weird blocks of time to fill. Any ideas what to do with them?

[dcn]

We sometimes ride scooters around the block if we have time before school, or they very rarely will draw with chalk on the driveway.

Draw on the easel
Race remote cars
Have a dance party

Can you go early and let them play at the playground for a bit?

[mrsGreeko]

We don’t have this problem as my kids dawdle like it’s their job, but on the weird mornings they are ready early they usually read to themselves or play with the dog, or draw pictures of stuff.

[cabbagecabbage]

We do no tv before school for similar reasons. I play kids podcasts at breakfast a lot. By now my kids know it's futile to ask.

[Susie]

For DD (3), my go-tos are:
- coloring
- Legos (Duplos at this point)
- Play doh if there's a little more time
- whatever her imaginary game du jour is -- like pretending she's a bus driver and a bench is her bus.  
- give the dog a "checkup" with her doctor kit
- "read" her brother a story (i.e. tell him about the pictures)

Etc.

We're weirdos whose kids don't get TV at all, so these come naturally for us.

[magpie]

Oct 16, 2019 16:43:58 GMT -5 Susie said:

We're weirdos whose kids don't get TV at all, so these come naturally for us.

We're also super stingy with TV, so there is no expectation of TV on weekdays. DS (3) will play cars, play "food truck man" in the play kitchen, trains or bunch of random other pretend play with toys kinda stuff. My DD (6) will read, draw or get play with the younger one. DD is more resistant to independently playing, so we made a list of things she can do during free time. If she whines about being bored, I tell her to go choose something from the list (this doesn't always end happily, but alas, what more can I do?!).

[InBetweenDays]

We don't allow tv or screens before school. Our kids are older - 13 year old catches the bus at 8:20am and the 10 year old has playground supervision starting at 8:35am. If they are up early they dawdle a ton, read books, lounge around on the couch with the dog, etc. We've never allowed screens in the morning so it isn't even on their radar.

[minniemouse]

Read a picture book
Color a picture
Make words with cut out letters or letter magnets if you have them
We don’t allow tv in the morning either. Dd2 usually has no extra time, so it’s not an issue. Dd1 doesn’t have to be to school until 8:45 this year..ugh. So late. So we switched her to morning showers and make her practice her trumpet before school to free up time in the evening. That doesn’t help you though, lol.

[VillainV]

If C gets ready with extra time, he gets to play with his toys. Lately he’s wanted to play Connect 4 with us, so we tell him he has to let us get ready so we have time to play with him. Works out great! It only takes maybe 1-2 minutes per game, so we can knock out a few games in 5 minutes.

[swiftlyirun]

My kids turn into monsters if i allow TV in the morning- really any time before afternoon nap.

I try to do something fun to get out of the house (kids are 3 & 1) sometimes that means Target and sometimes the park, but that never starts before 9:30a usually. So I have 2.5 hours to burn in the morning.

My go-to when everything else is burnt out is “breakfast invitations” from Days with Grey (she also has an IG/blog that has lots of ideas). I bought her breakfast invitations cards because i don’t like having to scout the internet for ideas.

[rocklake]

A quick podcast story is helpful to keep kids occupied by the door and ready to go while I finish doing last minute things.

[sent]

If I don't want them to watch TV in the morning, we ask Alexa to play us music. "Alexa, play Disney Junior" and "Alexa, play Pink Fong" are our go-tos.

[namasteak]

Following! We do tv but it has to be PBS kids.

[sillygoosegirl]

I tell DD to go get herself ready to go. Sometimes she gets distracted and plays by herself, sometimes she actually gets ready. Either way, I win. Except when she insists on snuggling, but actually just wants to sit on my bladder when I desperately want to get up and pee.

[jaycee]

I don’t give the kids a set task to do if they have free time in the morning. I figure every minute of their school day is micro managed so if they have extra time in the morning then they just do whatever they want ( draw, talk, go out to the bus stop early). A hard rule is screen time is weekends only.

[isabel]

My kids just spend time in their playroom in the morning. Cars and trains mostly since that's what they do all the time. They can play in there for anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour depending on our morning and what's going on. Can they just go entertain themselves wherever they usually play?

[kershnic]

I tell them to go play. Usually that means they do gymnastics or play some variation of puppy/kitty/baby/baby cheetah, etc. But they choose, I don’t direct it. We do not do screen time on school days. My kids know I would laugh at them if they asked for a show before school. If you make it a new rule they’ll both adjust.

[farmvillelover]

We have a strict no tv/device rule for weekday mornings too. It's building and creativity time. So play dough, magnatiles, legos, etc. I think once you establish a habit, it will get easier.

[pittpurple]

3 days a week we have to be out the door at 745 and 2 days a week not until 830 so we often end up with extra time on those days.
My son's reward for potty training right now is one episode of his current favourite show - it's the only currency that works for him! So assuming a successful morning we have that for 10 minutes and then theoretically 20 minutes to fill. I don't often direct them to anything as I have to work in the mornings and they just mess about with lego or whatever. If I am caught up on work, we read a couple books.

TV in the morning was a hard pass until we hit a major wall in toilet training. I don't love it, but until we have more consistent success we're just rolling with it. We are all off for two weeks in December for Christmas so our goal is to stop this habit over the break while they're too busy to notice!

[woowoo]

Our kid is four months so not speaking from experience, but a friend of mine at work uses Alexa to play games with her kiddos while she gets ready.

www.cnet.com/how-to/amazon-echo-fun-games-you-can-play/

[aspentosh]

I agree with all of the above that if you set that expectation now it'll become much easier in the future. We've never had TV time in the morning so she knows not to ask for it.

I'd probably try and do something fluid rather than expected (ie: play with legos vs go somewhere specific each time) so that way they can entertain themselves as they get used to it. Make a trip outside to a playground a special occasion type thing. I like the idea of legos, magnatiles, play doh, drawing or other simple crafts (DD loves the kwik dry paint pens!), dressup.

[boiler717]

Can you get to the playground early and play with them?
Our routine is get all ready for school, then read books with any extra time. If for some reason we have a lot of extra time we play outside for a bit.

[Mrs.flang]

Oct 16, 2019 23:13:42 GMT -5 farmvillelover said:

We have a strict no tv/device rule for weekday mornings too. It's building and creativity time. So play dough, magnatiles, legos, etc. I think once you establish a habit, it will get easier.

Ditto this.  Our tv is on for the entirety of the time we are home otherwise but getting out the door is already tough enough without other distractions!

This morning DDs had a playdough picnic as I was packing things up.  Usually its puzzles or coloring.  Music and dancing would be a good idea too!

[shauni27]

We are a very limited TV family because of what you said--TV causes S to be a major asshole 99% of the time. He gets an hour on Sunday mornings when I meal-prep if G is working, but that is it. It works well because usually an hour is his max for sitting still so he is over it at that point.

Anyway, we do not personally have this issue because S sleeps in later than that and we leave earlier than you, but I think I would just pull out easy to clean up toys (race cars, etc) or coloring stuff/chalk. Maybe one of our little puzzles (again my kid is only 2...)

Pretty much anything.

It might be weird for a week, but they will get used to it and it will make things so much easier for you!

[beerlover]

I'm following this post. Does anyone else struggle with their kid wanting to watch TV A LOT? My DS (3) doesn't get any TV at daycare, so he's good from wake-up through 5PM, but then when he gets home, that's all he wants to do. I struggle with this because during that time, I need to cook dinner, clean up, etc. so I often let him watch probably 2 hours or so total. Which I am SURE is too much, and I feel guilty about it, but my H works long hours and if I'm alone trying to cook, it's much easier to let him watch TV because he won't bother me then. If it matters, he is also playing with his toys the whole time, he isn't just sitting and staring at it, but I still know it's bad. If its nice out, we try to spend 5pm-6pm outside so that cuts down on it some... but it's going to be getting darker earlier and colder, so that's going to become harder too. Just wondering if anyone else can commiserate with their kid being obsessed with TV. I probably should either cut it out on weeknights altogether or limit it to just while I'm cooking, but I know that is going to be met with a ton of tears and screaming - the kid is rather dramatic. Sigh.

[Mrs.flang]

Oct 17, 2019 8:34:07 GMT -5 beerlover said:

I'm following this post. Does anyone else struggle with their kid wanting to watch TV A LOT? My DS (3) doesn't get any TV at daycare, so he's good from wake-up through 5PM, but then when he gets home, that's all he wants to do. I struggle with this because during that time, I need to cook dinner, clean up, etc. so I often let him watch probably 2 hours or so total. Which I am SURE is too much, and I feel guilty about it, but my H works long hours and if I'm alone trying to cook, it's much easier to let him watch TV because he won't bother me then. If it matters, he is also playing with his toys the whole time, he isn't just sitting and staring at it, but I still know it's bad. If its nice out, we try to spend 5pm-6pm outside so that cuts down on it some... but it's going to be getting darker earlier and colder, so that's going to become harder too. Just wondering if anyone else can commiserate with their kid being obsessed with TV. I probably should either cut it out on weeknights altogether or limit it to just while I'm cooking, but I know that is going to be met with a ton of tears and screaming - the kid is rather dramatic. Sigh.

Yes, we are big TV watchers so its usually on a lot when we're home.  During the week, I usually put on the news for background noise while I get dinner ready and the kids play.  So while its on, she's not really actively watching it so it doesn't feel the same to me as putting on cartoons or PBS.  I'm not sure if that has the same effect, lol!  But maybe you could use that technique to transition out of kid shows if it bothers you that she's getting too much.

Weekends are a different story - we put on news in the am, and then she usually asks to watch a movie around her typical nap time, so that is when she sits and vegs out.  We also sometimes have kid shows on at other times of the day where she's not actively paying attention.

[boiler717]

Oct 17, 2019 8:34:07 GMT -5 beerlover said:

I'm following this post. Does anyone else struggle with their kid wanting to watch TV A LOT? My DS (3) doesn't get any TV at daycare, so he's good from wake-up through 5PM, but then when he gets home, that's all he wants to do. I struggle with this because during that time, I need to cook dinner, clean up, etc. so I often let him watch probably 2 hours or so total. Which I am SURE is too much, and I feel guilty about it, but my H works long hours and if I'm alone trying to cook, it's much easier to let him watch TV because he won't bother me then. If it matters, he is also playing with his toys the whole time, he isn't just sitting and staring at it, but I still know it's bad. If its nice out, we try to spend 5pm-6pm outside so that cuts down on it some... but it's going to be getting darker earlier and colder, so that's going to become harder too. Just wondering if anyone else can commiserate with their kid being obsessed with TV. I probably should either cut it out on weeknights altogether or limit it to just while I'm cooking, but I know that is going to be met with a ton of tears and screaming - the kid is rather dramatic. Sigh.

We basically have to go no TV with my son. We’ve tried one show a week, one show a day, TV when he asks etc. They all lead to him asking for TV 24/7 and being a shit when it’s turned off. If just do no screens he’s much better behaved and it’s not a battle. The first week is tough but then he stops asking.

[beerlover]

boiler717, this is exactly what I'm dealing with. He asks for it 24/7 and then cries/gets angry when its time to go to the table for dinner, or up to bed, or whatever. I think cold turkey on weekdays might be the way to go. Weekends are a little easier because we usually do some activities outside of the house, plus nap, etc. I'm hoping it might lead to better behavior. He does seem awfully moody in the evenings sometimes, but I don't know if that's more related to having to keep it together all day at daycare.

[macmars45]

Oct 17, 2019 8:34:07 GMT -5 beerlover said:

I'm following this post. Does anyone else struggle with their kid wanting to watch TV A LOT? My DS (3) doesn't get any TV at daycare, so he's good from wake-up through 5PM, but then when he gets home, that's all he wants to do. I struggle with this because during that time, I need to cook dinner, clean up, etc. so I often let him watch probably 2 hours or so total. Which I am SURE is too much, and I feel guilty about it, but my H works long hours and if I'm alone trying to cook, it's much easier to let him watch TV because he won't bother me then. If it matters, he is also playing with his toys the whole time, he isn't just sitting and staring at it, but I still know it's bad. If its nice out, we try to spend 5pm-6pm outside so that cuts down on it some... but it's going to be getting darker earlier and colder, so that's going to become harder too. Just wondering if anyone else can commiserate with their kid being obsessed with TV. I probably should either cut it out on weeknights altogether or limit it to just while I'm cooking, but I know that is going to be met with a ton of tears and screaming - the kid is rather dramatic. Sigh.

Yes, my 3.5 yr old DS asks a lot. He usually get 30-45 minutes after lunch and 30 minutes while I make dinner. Lately he starts asking to watch a show immediately after breakfast. It's a hard no until after lunch unless he is sick. He's been sick a lot lately so there's been a lot more tv than usual. The first few days after he's better there are lots of tears and tantrums about the lack of tv and then he'll still ask a lot but is ok with a no and just goes to play.

[beerlover]

Mrs.flang, he gets really pissed off when we try to watch any of "our" tv shows, lol. But maybe if we cut his TV out for awhile, he wouldn't care as much when we put the news on for us or whatever.
The bigger problem is that we have a tiny square shaped living room with the TV as the focal point, and most of his toys are in here, with some more upstairs in my office. So it's natural that he sees the big TV in the room and wants it on. We used to tell him the TV wasn't working when he was younger, and he believed us, but that doesn't work anymore.