For most mums, I  think the school run can be an extremely hectic and stressful process. Getting everybody up, cleaned, fed and safely off to school takes a lot of organisation, time management, patience and energy. 

The Mail Online stated, “Three out of four mothers find school run more stressful than going to work”

If you’ve read my blogs in the past, being a diabetes sufferer and maintaining a level of control takes a lot of juggling. I guess it can become an additional challenge in the morning, especially if sugar levels decide to do the complete opposite to what you need them to do. 

Diabetes aside, the morning school routine can be extremely overwhelming. From the squabbles over breakfast (I want toast not cereal), to what seems like a simple task of just getting dressed, the constant talking and questioning over school bags being packed or not forgetting an essential item for the day. Tantrums (“He’s got more cereal than I have”) etc. It can make the calmest of persons lose their calm  quickly, particularly on mornings when you’ve nearly reached the schools and have to turn the entire car around because of a forgotten library book or PE kit (that needs to be in that day).

The morning routine is hectic and can be very stressful  but there are a few things I’ve come up with to try and keep my calm and maintain a level of order in the mornings.

-Get up early and be organised – So, my day usually starts at 6am.  My alarm goes off to the sounds of ‘TVXQ -catch me’ and I roll straight out of bed and check my sugar level.

On a good diabetes night( no lows, no high blood glucose levels) you can still wake up feeling pretty beat.

On a bad diabetes kind of night, the morning task of getting myself and the two munchkins ready can sometimes be extremely exhausting.

-Manage your sugar levels – If I have a good sugar level then I give myself 30 minutes to get showered, out of the bathroom and quickly put on the ensemble I set out the night before. If i’m having a bad diabetes kind of morning then I usually give myself a little more time to get my sugar level sorted.

Nevertheless, no matter the sugar level, I still have to be mum and keep things going. Twenty two years of living with this condition has allowed me to develop a better understanding of the high and low symptoms I can experience daily. Being able to recognise these symptoms quickly has also allowed me to address any changes in my levels quickly whilst still being able to  continue on with the morning routine.

–Teach your kids to be responsible for some of their morning routine – brush their teeth, get themselves dressed, undressed, whatever is age appropriate.

Once I’ve sorted myself out, I quickly rush to the peanut boy’s (my son) room for 6:30 – 6.40am and get his morning regime underway. He takes himself to the bathroom, brushes his teeth etc

Boss baby(my daughter) can be a real misery in the mornings. No good morning, no cuddles, nothing. I don’t even dare suggest taking her to the bathroom to get her ready or heavens forbid put on her school uniform. She’s like day and night when it comes to the morning routine. Pffff you get the picture when it comes to this one. I usually have to give boss baby some time to get use to the idea that she needs to get up.

Meanwhile, every morning without fail, once peanut boy enters the bathroom everything falls silent. I can never hear any movement coming from the bathroom. I usually have to either call out to him or physically take myself to the bathroom to see what he’s up to. 90% of the time he’s either stood in the middle of the bathroom in a trance or he’s half asleep on the toilet.

Come on kid let’s get things moving! 

Once we’re done in the bathroom, peanutboy heads straight to his room to get ready.
I have to then coax boss baby into getting ready whilst also reminding the peanutboy to get himself ready and also how much time we have left until we go downstairs . 

-Keep your eyes on the time –  time can just get away from you on school run mornings so be sure to watch that clock

Once everybody is dressed we head downstairs for breakfast. We tend to talk about breakfast options before we reach downstairs and then that makes my life a little easier as I can just prepare what everyone wants. 

”Come on guys eat up quickly, we have to leave just before 8am”.

-Retest your BG level – With all the moving around I do in the morning, I know that sometimes my BG level can change drastically from the earlier check in the morning. So, once everyone is sorted I usually do another blood glucose test and finally have my breakfast. 

-Make sure your pump is ok (if your a pump wearer like me) On some mornings I’ve had to face things like this – A low battery and no insulin being delivered.

I’ve also had to deal with 

•  Occlusions in the tubing (when insulin is stuck in the tubing)
• Changing my pump insert because there is no insulin left in the syringe
• Irritated pump sites
• Or just other crazy alarms, the list is endless.

Whatever the alarm, the crisis must be averted and quickly so I can get back on track, get coats and shoes on, collect bags and finally get everybody loaded into the car.

Regardless of all the crazy events the morning has to offer, I, unbelievably love taking my kids to school. It’s important to me and them and most of all I have to remember that they won’t be this age forever. They’ll get bigger and probably won’t even want me to tag along in the morning. So remember to enjoy the crazy times and try your best to have fun. These moments are so precious.

Amina xxx