The summer has come to a staggering halt. The season becomes busy with morning schedules, sports events, and overall exhaustion.
1. Plan Out Your Calendar
For some people this is obvious, but syncing your calendar with your entire family is the first step. I love using a paper calendar but for the sake of everyone in the family knowing what and where it’s just good to be on one page. We like to use our google calendar, it’s easy for everyone in our fam. We color-code everyone’s schedules so it’s easy to read and understand at a glance. Here’s a peek at our week.
I highly recommend google calendar. Once you learn your way around it, you will see how productive it can be for a busy family. If you’d like to learn more about how to use it, check out this article. We have a skylight frame that we display on our kitchen counter so every day the kids and I can see at a glance what we have to look forward to and be prepared for. Skylight frame syncs with any calendar app and are fun to send photos to and display in your home. Leave a comment or message me for $20 off a skylight frame, I’m happy to send you a link.
2. Plan your meals
The weeks that I am on top of this are so much more seamless and stress-free than on weeks that it slips past my Sunday ritual. There are so many ways to make this painless, here are some of my favorites.
Shay’s Meal Planner& Pioneer Woman’s Easy Recipe Book are two of my go-to’s for planning meals.
Passionate Penny Pincher has my absolute FAVORITE meal planner though; she makes it super easy to plan out your meals weeks ahead of time and they are always so easy and super delicious! The best part is that the grocery list is included! Ahh! We are currently in the middle of the summer recipes box that includes yummy salads, easy casseroles and
A dry erase planner or chalkboard is always nice to keep in the kitchen so everyone knows what to expect each night.
3. Set Expectations
Now that routine has been set for your morning time, think about setting a routine for the afternoon so your kids know what is expected. It’s always nice to know what you’re doing when you get home, my kids don’t complain anymore on the way home from school that they are starving because they know the first thing they can do is have a snack. I like to say one fruit and one item from the pantry, so if it’s a bag of pretzels and a small apple I know they will be sustained until dinner. Here’s a look at our afternoons (if we don’t have an activity right after school.)
4. Create a Space for Papers & Schoolwork
Every home should have a command center. Some place where your kids can empty their folders, show you their work from the week and basically just “dump” all the papers. We have two wire baskets that are near the backpack spot, so it makes it simple.
Don’t forget to set up a memory box for each child to collect their memorable work, report cards, and yearbooks during their elementary years.
5. Have a homework station
This one may seem obvious, but how irritating is it when you can’t find a yellow highlighter or a ruler for that homework that they’re trying to finish up?! I like to keep a small caddy near the kitchen (or dining room) area which is where we mostly have homework time. If it’s a sports night I keep a clipboard and a pencil pouch with random supplies that stay in the car for when we’re on the go. I also like to keep a few books in the seat pockets for those times that they need to read for 20-30 mins and we won’t be home until late. This link has a ton of items and ideas for a convenient and cute homework caddy if you’re interested.
Now tell me, what are your secret hacks for making the back-to-school season a little more bearable?
[…] Almost every day after school the kids want to come home (have a snack) and then immediatly asked for free draw time. These homework essentials have come in handy for those times. Thankfully they don’t have a ton of homework… (yet), but I love that everything they need is all in one place. For more mom hacks, check out this post. […]