Summer is slipping away and soon we will be making lunches and packing backpacks! The transition from summer to fall is not always easy, but with a little planning and organization, you can make your transition stress-free!
Here are some tips to make the transition as easy as possible.
Define your morning and evening routines
Nothing is more stressful than hearing the honk of the school bus in the morning, and rushing around trying to get your child out the door!
The key to a stress-free morning is to understand and implement a morning and evening routine.
The evening routine prepares you for the next day. By making lunches, picking out clothes, pre-packing your backpack, etc. All these things can be done in the evening, leaving the morning open for just the basic care of eating a healthy breakfast, getting dressed, brushing teeth and hair, and getting out the door on time! I suggest practicing your routines before school starts! This will allow your children to get used to their bedtimes, wake-up times, and really understand what is expected from them.
Family Meeting
A big part of being organized is about planning and being prepared, the best way to do so with a family is to communicate! In our home, we will have a back-to-school family meeting about a week or two prior to school starting. This allows us as a family to talk about the new schedule and changes to our routines. We will go over the morning and evening routines, how and when you will be getting to school, if applicable we will talk about after-school activities or daycare issues. This is a great time to talk about allowances and chores during the school year, as oftentimes these may look different than in the summer. It’s a time for the family to ask questions and clarify all expectations. Don’t assume your kids already know.
One Calendar
Child A needs to be at soccer practice by 5 p.m., Child B needs to be at piano lessons by 3 p.m. and this is only on Monday and Friday, Tuesday-Thursday is an entirely different schedule. There is no doubt about it, our schedules get busy and it’s hard to keep everything straight!
To lower your stress level, I highly recommended you keep ONE calendar for all events.
By keeping one calendar you can easily see if you are getting overbooked. There are so many great options available; you just have to find a calendar that works with your lifestyle. I personally use iCalendar, which syncs with my iPhone, iPad, and computer. I can color code each member of the family and color code what is for work and what is for personal or home.
Define a Landing Area
Nothing’s worse on a Monday morning than trying to get out the door and you can’t find your left shoe, your backpack is missing, and you are not sure where your hat is!
Solution: Define one landing area for all of these items and eliminate the chaos and the stress!
Designate a convenient and easy spot for your kids to drop off their backpack, place their shoes, coats, mitten, hats, etc. This is the spot they drop it off every single time! And don’t forget to empty the lunch bag and pull the homework out! I want to emphasize easy and convenient, if this is not how you would describe your system, you may want to rethink it! For kids to maintain the system, it has to be easy and convenient.
Review Process
Every organizing system must be reviewed! What works in September may change and not work in December, due to different activities and needs during any particular season. If you sense your system is breaking down, for example, mornings now have become stressful, re-evaluate your challenges and make the necessary changes to make it work again. Organization needs to be updated and maintained. The only way to really do this is to be aware of works and what doesn’t and be open to trying new ideas! Best of luck and have a great school year!
Happy organizing!
