Well, it's that time again. The dreaded back to school time. Gosh, where did the summer go? ☀️ Just as we're having fun, it ends too quickly. Now it's back to rushing around and chaotic. However, it doesn't have to be.
Now is a good time to establish a plan to get organized and implement ideas to help those busy days go smoothly.
Here is a list of ideas that have always helped us.
Believe it or not, your successful day starts the night before.
1- Establish a night time routine. This includes prepping things for the next day such as laying out your clothes for that day. This helps so much because everyone is not scrambling around in the morning time trying to figure out what they are going to wear. Of course you need to make sure laundry is caught up. 🙃. You can even designate a little area and plan your outfits for the week and prefold them and put them into little bins or in the closet on hangers. Whatever works for you.
2- fix lunches and snacks the night before and put in the refrigerator. You can go one step further and take a day and premake a load of sandwiches and some snacks and put in ziploc bags in the freezer. By the time it's time for them to eat lunch, they are ready to eat. It also helps keep cold lunches cold. Now if you are taking a hot lunch, you will probably need to prepare it right before you leave and put in a thermos. I've known alot of moms to have stations in a pantry for lunches and snacks. If the children are old enough they can grab things for their lunches and fix their own. Jordan Page from Fun Cheap or Free had an excellent lunch system and organization for her children's lunches and how they are to fix their lunches. You should check her out and if you want creative lunch ideas for kids, check out Jennifer Fudge from Bunches of Lunches. I love all her lunch videos. 😋
You can also take a day and just preprep breakfasts. Like breakfast burritos, egg bites, sausage and biscuits, smoothies, granola with yogurt, or granola bars, fruits. Either you can grab something and sit and eat before you go out the door or you might can grab and go and eat on the way. Some people have time to sit down and eat, some don't. Try to find a creative way to get something in the kids tummy before school. Some kids eat breakfast at school and that's awesome. 👌
3- have the kids take baths or showers at night. When they get up the next morning, all they have to do is wash their face, brush their teeth and fix their hair.
4-establish a good bedtime routine and get them to bed so they can get a good night sleep. Start winding them down early and turn off electronics. Electronics stimulates the brain and it can't relax. You have to literally turn off and unplug before your brain can relax and be prepared for sleep. Sleep is very important for children and brain development so they can learn and function through out their day.
5- Parents, you have to go through those back packs and check all those papers and etc. You might want to do this every night or even when they come home from school. So you can be prepared to assist with homework, get ready to buy or make something for class projects or fund raisers or class parties.
Alot of things can be started as soon as they walk through the door when they get home like #5. 👍
When they get home, at least give them a few minutes down time. They have been at school all day where it has been noisey, they are over stimulated, probably starving , etc. They might just want to chill out, unwind, and have a snack before supper. Give them some time to talk about their day if they want to. Younger kids will be more apt to do this than older kids. As your kids get older, they want more privacy and start clamming up. That is a story all in itself. I cover alot of this on our Parenting Page.
Designate a time for homework. Be available to assist when needed. Maybe have them sit at the island or bar or table of the kitchen while you cook. This way you can make sure they are doing it. Lol.
If your kids have sports or extra curricular activities after school that puts you getting home late, you are really going to have to step up your game and come up with a plan.
Moms, if yall work, you might have to incorporate a plan where the whole family can pitch in and help in the house hold and do chores to make the home function smoothly for everyone. Design some chore charts that are age appropriate for each kid. Everyone in the home is going to be busy everyday. This will help the home survive and still function. Put someone on laundry duty or come up with a system where everyone can help. Someone on dish duty after meals, floor duties like sweeping, mopping, vacuuming. Dusting duty. Holding them accountable for cleaning their rooms. I cover alot of these things on our Homemaking page too. I created chore charts for our kids too when they were little and I had a reward system. You can come up with one too. It doesn't always have to be money. Believe it or not, even toddlers and preschoolers can learn things too. They are so eager to do what everyone else is doing. Not only are you helping your home to run smoother, you are teaching accountability, work ethics, and life skills.
If your a stay at home mom, then these things shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure your available for when they all get home and greet them. Make sure you are rested and on top of your game. Busy nights and days is where meal planning comes in handy. On those busy nights due to extra curricula activities, get those crock pots and instant pots out. Meal prepping and baking ahead meals comes in handy too. Check into batch cooking or freezer cooking. Those dishes can be taken out of the freezer that morning to thaw and when you get home, pop it into the oven and bake or if it is prebaked, then just heat it up and serve it. Bam.
School time doesn't have to be hard. It takes planning and organizing. Come up with and implement your own system that works for you and your family to help the day go smoothly and the home to function.
Here are a few playlists from my YouTube channel where you can find videos to help also:
Make Ahead Breakfast Playlist where you can find all kinds of different breakfasts ideas to make mornings easier. You can make ahead and put them in the freezer or in the refrigerator for easy grab and go like burritos, sandwiches, etc. Or heat up and sit down and enjoy like waffles, pancakes, egg bites, etc. By doing this, you are still eating a nutritious meal to help get the day started without cooking from scratch every single morning. Prepping is easy by dedicating one day to cook or bake up items to have on hand for the week or maybe two.
If you want to send your child to school with healthy lunches but they get tired of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches all the time, this list is full of ideas to make different lunches from the whole food pyramid. This includes ideas for cold or hot lunches.
Instant Pot and Air Fryer Meals
These lists are for those busy nights when you are rushed or busy but still need to feed your family a good home cooked meal but easy.
Buying groceries to prepare nutritious meals for your family can be tricky right now on the finances, but with budgeting and grocery shopping strategies from this list, you will save money on the grocery budget:
Meal Planning and Grocery Shopping Strategies
I hope alot of these tips have helped.
Enjoy the journey.
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