Getting your well-oiled school-routine machine back into working order is not easy.
During the summer months, kids get used to waking up later, everybody gets used to more varied schedules (with lots of time for physical activities) and there’s no homework to contend with, freeing you all up to do more things.
Spare yourself and your family the summer-ending shock with these simple ideas that prepare you to go back to school.
Calendar habits
Set up a family-communication station complete with a family appointment book such as a letter-sized planner with plenty of space to write down everything from football games to company meetings and dinner plans.
The entire family should know what’s going on at work, at school, after school and socially so no one gets double-booked or overwhelmed.
If you use a digital calendar, update it every morning so nothing gets lost in the shuffle.
With the various activities your kids will be involved in this fall, the sooner you organize who is picking them up when and where, the better.
As soon as you get the calendars from their school, sit down and put them in your digital calendar.
At the same time, update your contact lists and address books with their new teachers, coaches and carpool buddies. That way, you’ll have important information available if you need it in a pinch.
Chore delegation
You should not be taking care of the home on your own. Organize a chore chart with appropriate chores for each child, depending on age.
Ask nicely for help, but set up the expectations and rules before the busy days of school start.
For example, try the two-minute commercial-break chore. Have your kids take out the trash or put the silverware away during the commercial breaks of their favorite after-school TV shows.
Most of the chores you give them don’t take more than 10 or 15 minutes anyway, but they won’t feel like they are missing out on anything if they do them during commercials.
Here’s another way to stay on track during the new school year:
Get rid of that nasty paper pile on the counter with individual boxes or color-coded magazine boxes for each child.
In each box, have folders for items that need to be read or signed by Mom and Dad, an “In” folder and an “Out” folder.
After you sign the papers and your kids do their homework, it goes into the “Out” folder and then into the backpack.
Anything that is included in newsletters, like the school festival or field trips, is immediately written in the family appointment book.
The writers are co-founders of Buttoned Up, a company dedicated to helping stressed women get organized. Send ideas and questions to yourlife2getbuttonedup.com.
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