Skating before school

[hopskipjump]

If your child skates before school, do you have any tips for making the morning go more smoothly?  For example, do they wear their skating clothing to school or do they change? 

[taka]

I don't have kids but I skate early mornings before work once a week (twice as of next week  ). Things that work for me...

• Organisation - get everything ready the night before. If I'm stressed trying to find things before I leave things aren't always so good on the ice.
• Breakfast 1 - Porridge + dried fruit works for me - fills me up and fuels me enough to skate without sitting heavily in my stomach.
• Breakfast 2 - If I've been working hard I'm absolutely ravenous after skating and can't last till lunchtime without being horribly grumpy. I have something extra like a small sandwich or a banana + nuts on my way to work.
• Clothing - I don't have a chance to shower after skating and before work so a change of clothes makes me feel less grotty.

The kids in at the same time as me before school always get changed into school uniform / school clothing during termtime but most of them skate in chloe noels/ rhinestoned leggings etc that would look a bit unusual at school!

[Clarice]

My daughter always skated before school when she was competing.  She used to change between practice and school, sometimes in the car under a blanket if we were running late. She was also known to sleep in her skating clothes.  Breakfast was usually something portable.

[Sk8tmum]

Second the sleeping in skating clothes. We had it to a science (not for skating, but, for another sport that started hideously early at 6:20 a.m. before school).  Backpack beside bed, ready for school. Grab bag with protein drink, high-fibre muffin, and fruit in fridge.  Child rolls out of bed, brushes teeth, grabs backpack and grabbag from fridge, walks to car, eats breakfast in car.  Does sport. Comes back out changed for school, eats post-workout meal (peanut butter on real whole grain bread, chocolate milk), goes to school.  Carries another snack for midmorning crash from early exercise.

From alarm to car, 10 minutes.

Organization is critical, plus, telling coach that sorry, somedays, it's not happening. If a big test is scheduled for school, we would not take the chance that the tiredness from early morning workout would interfere with the grades.

Showering the night before also was good ... when they were little, however, as adolescence hit with need for hair, makeup, showering before school had to be factored in; we were lucky that a changeroom with shower facilites was available.

Frankly, I wouldn't go back to doing this myself ever. Looking back, it created more trouble than it was worth, and I can certainly see where the pre-school workouts affected school performance (tired bodies in the classroom) and also social life, as they would crash right after school, meaning that extracurriculars or afterschool activities didn't work out. It also created too much stress at home in the a.m. as it was so necessary to have the routine down. We do the afterschool sessions now, and weekends, and avoid mornings (actually nobody around here runs morning skating sessions ... maybe because most of our schools start between 8 and 8:20 a.m.?)

[hopskipjump]

We don't have a choice right now - she just gets out of school too late to get to her lesson for the full time and as the weather gets colder, the rink is more crowded (she was doing it during public ice).  We only have freestyles before and during school. 

It was a rough start today for me.  She was on time for school but I was late for work.  I might have her dad come get her off the ice so I can leave earlier for the office. 

The great part was the ice was almost empty. (silver lining)

We'll see how today goes with her late rehearsal.

[dak_rbb]

My daughter (who is NOT a morning person) actually kind of likes skating in the morning.  Our rink is quiet in the morning--never more than 10 skaters and usually only half that. It's great for moves lessons, working on programs, and double lutzes.  We're lucky in that home, rink, school, and work are all fairly close together, so we can leave the house at 6:00 and she still can get in 1.5 hrs and make it to school (and usually work) on time. 

The toughest part for me was figuring out something she could (and would) eat in the car on the way, but we now have a list of good options.  The current favorites are the frozen breakfast burritos from Trader Joes (thawed in microwave and finished in oven while I get ready) or a few homemade banana chocolate chip muffins (really easy to make, freeze well, and I use 100% whole wheat flour) and some fruit.  Other options include whole wheat pancakes (freeze extra pancakes and heat in toaster), toast, yogurt, hard-boiled eggs, peanut butter sandwich, string cheese.

Also for me, I need to prepare (or at least organize/plan) everything the night before so that the morning is not too hectic and make sure I'm almost ready to go before dragging my daughter out of bed (the alarm won't do it).  I've also learned that cold hands = whiny kid so I buy hand-warmers by the box.  On cold days, I open them when I wake up, tuck them in the skates and they're ready to go when we get to the rink.

We've been doing 2-3 mornings a week since my daughter was 7 (she's now 10) and it works well for us.

[fsk8r]

I skate before work and the only way I can cope is by being organised. All bags are packed the night before. So that's skate bag, lunch bag (with lunch lined up ready in the fridge) and a bag of work clothes. Skating clothes are out and ready so there's no running around the house looking for tops and tights.
I tend to aim to work on dance  / moves before work so don't tend to get too sweaty, so skate with full makeup ready for the office.
Breakfast on skating mornings is muesli or porridge as its fast and gives me enough energy. I have a second breakfast in the lunch bag of banana and cereal bar which is snacked on through the morning.
I change for work at the rink. The majority of the kids change for school at the rink, although there's a couple who change in the car. I know one girl said she'd rather stop skating 2min earlier and change at the rink than do it in the car. If they're efficient it can be done quickly. Generally the parents help with getting the skates off and dried, as the kids are then changing while they're sorting the boots out. I'm not sure it saves that much time, as I can change and dry boots in the same time they take.
Yes, there are issues when they hit teenage years and need to redo their hair and makeup five times, but a bit of cajoling from mom or dad generally speeds them up.

The one thing I've discovered with skating early mornings is that you can't keep your normal bedtime. When I was just doing one morning a week, I could just run tired, but now I'm skating several mornings before work it's a lot easier to just move bedtime earlier. Yes, there might be stuff on TV that's worth watching after 9pm / 9.30pm, but there's no way I'm getting up reguarly at 5am without 8hours sleep. They invented video recorders to solve that problem.

With regards to homework, the kids do need to learn to be efficient in the evening. I doubt I'd have had a problem as a kid, because I used to have a 1hour commute to and from school so was pretty good at just getting home and getting on with it, because I knew I had to be up early the next day.

[Clarice]

\The one thing I've discovered with skating early mornings is that you can't keep your normal bedtime. When I was just doing one morning a week, I could just run tired, but now I'm skating several mornings before work it's a lot easier to just move bedtime earlier. Yes, there might be stuff on TV that's worth watching after 9pm / 9.30pm, but there's no way I'm getting up reguarly at 5am without 8hours sleep. They invented video recorders to solve that problem.

This is true.  When my daughter trained in the mornings (it was every day, from ages 9 to 14, before we switched to afternoons), we both had to go to bed by 9 every night.  I still do mornings, either coaching or working out, so I still go to bed early most of the time.  I'm a musician, so when I have late rehearsals or concerts, like this week, worlds collide and I have to squeeze in naps to keep functioning.  TV?  I just don't watch - there's no time, and besides, if I try I just fall asleep anyway.

[Sk8tmum]

Naps became a necessity ... a 45 minute "crash" after school to keep the energy to go in the evening.

[fsk8r]

Naps became a necessity ... a 45 minute "crash" after school to keep the energy to go in the evening.

Depends when school finishes. In the UK schools can finish anytime from 3pm-4pm. If the child has to catch a bus home they can be not getting home from school until 5pm. There isn't really time then for napping before the evening as it is the evening.

I do find when talking to some of the kids, they use all their spare time to get homework finished. They'll do homework in the lunchhour and if waiting at the rink for either a sibling or their parent to finish or before a session, they'll either be doing homework or learning spelling/ language vocab lists. I've even be known to test them on their vocab as we all rush to change before school / work.

[momosam]

My daughter, 14, has been skating before school for 4 years. We always have lunch packed, skating clothes laid out, school clothes and backpack packed the night before.  She eats breakfast in the car on the way. After skating, she changes to school clothes quickly in the bathroom at the rink.  She eats another small snack on the way to school.  We also keep a small bag in the glove compartment with a brush, makeup etc. so she can make herself presentable for school on the way.  It is VERY hard to get used to at first! Now she loves it!  The ice is a lot less crowded and it leaves them open to be able to do a few after school activities as well. It is also a nice feeling for them to be able to relax and eat dinner and do homework when school is done knowing their skating is done for the day.  

[FigureSpins]

We used to do the early mornings and the kids were good about it, but it's difficult for the first four to six times.  You feel it later in the day, but after a few sessions, it gets easier to stay awake.  ITA about sleeping in the skating clothes, pre-packing everything, and doing a quick-change at the rink.  Our rink has locker rooms with changing areas and showers/bathrooms, so it's easier to change there and if needed, do a quick wash-up.

I used to open english muffins the night before, put them in a plastic baggie, then toast them quickly and smear with peanut butter for a fast breakfast in the car on the way to the rink.  My kids don't like the protein/granola bars; I wish they did.  It would make life easier.

We skate afternoons now because that's when I coach and the kids have to be in school between 7-7:30am.  The first freestyle is at 6, so we could skate and dash, but if there was traffic, they were get a tardy.  Plus, it's harried and rushed; not the way I like to start mornings.  I have to give the kids credit; they rarely gave me a hard time about getting up at 4:30am.

I miss being able to wait for my kids while they do activities.  Right now, I'm always on the ice when they are - I used to have Saturday mornings to wait for them and I'd do my paperwork, clean out my purse, etc., etc.

[hopskipjump]

Thanks for all of the advice.  It was a hectic morning, but your posts made me realize I needed to do more prep.  I will pack the car the night before - I had to run back in for something that morning.  Once we have mornings firmly in place she will be home 90 minutes earlier in the afternoon - she can play piano, do homework or a hobby.  It will minimize the rushing after school. 

She does her homework in large bursts - M/T the majority is finished, W only what HAS to be finished and Thursday when is left from the week.  Mornings will give her schoolwork a more even load (she does do it during class if permitted, in the car etc as well).

Her hair was in a bun for skate, I took it out and re-did it, I think she will be fine in a bun for school - that was time lost too. 

She ate a light breakfast but I didn't think to pack an extra snack for the drive to school - she did have a mid morning snack around 10, maybe that was enough?

She would refuse to sleep in skating clothing - so I won't push that. 

She seemed tired skating but was energized the last half of the session.  She said when she got to school she still had a little time for running club and sprinted 1/4 of a mile before having the bell go off.  Part of our hesitation was that skating interfered with her time in running club so she has been pushing herself to run faster so she doesn't "lose" her ranking (they are ranked by distance, not time).

I will reference this post for help next time too!  Thank you for all the ideas and thoughts!