Ainsley's Bad Morning

Today was one of the worst days I've had with Ainsley. Ainsley, like me, does not DO mornings. She's grouchy, slow, and miserable to be around. Ya, you heard me right, Ainsley is miserable to be around. Sure she has that warm loving smile and contagious laugh, in the evening and at night. But mornings, they can just go away! Normally, her grumpiness only causes us to be a few minutes late. We've never been late enough to warrant a note from me to explain the tardiness. Today (a 2 hour late snow day) she was tantrum city. As soon as I woke up and asked her to get ready for school the screaming started, "I don't want to wear that, I haven't eaten yet, I don't want to wear that, I don't know where that is . . . "

Finally, 5 minutes till the bell rings, we all got in the car. This is after a spanking and a silent tantrum. We drove to the school. Chloe got out. Ainsley just sat there. "Get out Ainsley!" I said. Ainsley did not respond. "What is wrong Ainsley, use words." Ainsley then throws a noisy screaming tantrum about not eating and being hungry. I offered the solution of eating part of her lunch. She did not want to do that so I said, "fine" and then headed home. Then for the next two hours it was a severe screaming/stomping tantrum about wanting to go to school. I went upstairs calmed her down with a cool cloth, asked her to eat her lunch, and then get a big glass of milk. As soon as she was done she came to me and we talked about the grumpy morning issue and she and I decided we needed a plan.

Ainsley's Good Morning Plan

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1. Go to sleep on time! So I get enough sleep.
2. Pick out my clothes and lay them out the night before.
3. Wake up at 7:45 am, so I have enough time to get ready.
4. Eat Breakfast!!! This will help with the grumps.
5. Avoid TV and Kitties, they slow me down.
6. Help Mom make lunch the night before.
7. Put my coat and bag in the same spot every day.

We both signed it and she is very proud of it. She ran it up to her room and put it next to her bed. She asked me to set up an alarm clock to go off at 7:45.

After school lunch was over we happily got bundled up, loaded in the car, and headed out to school. Hopefully this sticks. She is the number 1 reason we're tardy in the morning. (I'm number 2, maybe I need a contract too!)