I know it is still a while before schol starts but I wanted your opinion on something, I was watching Supernanny and on it there was a mom who had been fighting with her 4 year old every morning to get up and get dressed for school, Supernanny told her that she dos'nt need to struggle with her, if the daughter would'nt get up and get dressed to pack her cloths in her back pack and send her to school in her pj's, for the last few years I have had that same problem with my now 8 year old daughter and I anticipate this comming up school year will be no different, I have tried having her pick out her cloths the night before but she changes her mind in the morning and still fights with me, I usualy end up dressing her and I am getting tired of it, I would like to try sending her to school weather she is in her day cloths or not and see if she learns but I am afraid of getting in trouble with the school and the social worker for not having her dressed, what do you think, should I try it or not.

Talk to all of the staff involed and let them know your delemma I am sure they will be more than willing to help in this situation.Try calling about a week before school starts and make an appointment with the principal let them know.Then you can feel good about your choice and follow through with it.

Gail's right. The school should be more than willing to help you. They helped me alot when my daughter had anxiety about going to school. The school nurse, her teacher, the social workers, they all got involved and helped me out alot. They told me this. "Bottom line is, she HAS to go to school". "It's a law". They even told me that they've gone out to cars and carried kids kicking and screaming into the building. If they're aware of your dilemma, they may have some ideas for you. If you must bring her in her pajamas, just pack a bag with her clothes, keep it in the car, and give it to them at the school, so she will have an outfit to change into.

Ok I have this exact problem too, Ashlee is 8 1/2 and thinks that she runs the house and I will do what she tells me well lets just say I pick out her clothes and she will wear what I have chosen or else she will be sent out the door in her undies LOL I will not stand for it when she tells me that she is grown enough to dress herself and yet she balks and complains about every outfit in the room. I don't care if her friends will make fun of her as she says. I tell her daily that she is going to school to learn and not socialize and that it doesn't matter what her friends say to her. If all else fails I call Grandpa David oh boy does that work one call to Grandpa David and she is ready and dressed in under 5 minutes. All he has to do is tell her get dressed NOW and she does it lol wish it was that easy for me She just has this thing were she will listen to Grandpa because he is older and knows it all and I don't know anything as she puts it. Another thing is she is afraid of hurting Grandpas feelings and making him sad so she does what he says to make him happy


Kim

I will talk to the principal before school and see what he thinks, the situation is a bit different this year cause she is going to a different school that is about 1 1/2 miles away and I don't drive, the last few years she went to a school that was only about 5 blocks away so if she missed the bus I could walk her in, I won't be able to do that this year so she will have to take the bus.

Is your daughter simply "not a morning person?" If you don't think that's the case, I think it may be necessary to dig deeper and see if there is a root cause for her "not" getting ready for school.

As far as sending her in her pj's. I see where that may work. But the thought of her starting a new school, having to get used to riding the bus, and having kids make fun of her as the "pj kid" worries me. Her self esteem and confidence needs to be very high for this adjustment period.

Definitely talk to the school and get their opinion. Have you searched the internet for suggestions? I'm guessing many parents have these problems. If I come across anything, I'll let you know.

"Why some children refuse to go to school."

http://www.mindpub.com/art264.htm

"Some children refuse to go to school because they are overly anxious. Some may have specific fears or concerns regarding teachers, peers, or some other aspects of the school setting. Others may consciously or unconsciously worry, not about the school as such, but about being away from home. Some overanxious children are afraid to sleep on their own, insist on having lights on in their room at night, and have nightmares about their safety or the safety of their parents."

(Sorry I didn't find this before Pook!)

I don't think she is afraid to go to school, once she is up she is fine and happy to go to school, the problem is getting her to wake up and stay awake and get ready.

Is she getting enough sleep at night? If she goes to bed too late that could be a part of the problem. And drinking any kind of caffeine too late at night could maybe disturb her sleep....My kids are pretty good at getting up. My 9 year old son could go to sleep at 1 in the morning and still be up at the crack of dawn!
My problem is with my 6 year old girl. We always fight about the outfits she wears.She hates what I pick out...even if its something we bought together. She is sooo picky...and she has cute and stylish clothes. But if she dont like her outfit she throws a fit ans says Im making her "ugly"! She even tries to sneak out dirty clothes she likes and change then tell me they are clean! We have been late on many occasions due to this. But I tell the school-in front of her-that we are late because of this so she sees how ridiculous it is and that Im not taking the blame for being late because of her actions!
Does it help? Not really but I havent thought of anything better yet. And she is only 6! Too young to be a drama queen!

Tucson superwoman you have just described my problem with cassie to a tea, I could'nt figure out how to word it, Cassie has certain cloths she likes and wants to wear them weather they are dirty or not, or even if she has out grown them, I put the girls in their rooms at 8:00pm (on school nights), they don't fall asleep until about 9-10 though.

It's good to know we are not alone with this problem isn't it?