How To Not Be A Crazy Mom for Back to School
This post is brought to you by Follett for the #Fallbacktoschool campaign. All words and opinions are my own.
We have been in school for a couple weeks now. I can honestly say, this has been the hardest year for me so far to get in the routine and grove of cleaning. In past years, I prepared plans and tasks that I needed to get done. This year it was like I needed a couple weeks to recover from summer.
Maybe I am getting older or fatter, or both… lol! But summer kicked my booty in a good and bad way! I had so much more fun with my kids than I did in the past, but I was totally not prepared for back to school or getting myself back on track.
It has taken me weeks to get my laundry done all in 1 day and to feel like I have some sort of a routine. Because it took me so long, I wanted to share with you what is working for me and what as not worked so you can make your transition easier.
First I will start with what has not worked for me that worked before.
- Taking whole days off of blogging to do housework – I never have enough time to get myself in a better place with my house work. I used to take Monday and Thursday off of being online. I would use that time to get everything done. Drs appointments, shopping, cleaning, organizing. It worked well for us. But this year we have added a TON of after school activities. So I have had to shift my work time and my time offline a bit.
- Laundry every day – This works for some people. I changed to this type of a laundry schedule when My husband started law school. Laundry every day was a sanity type of move for me. It was the only way we had clean clothes. It does not work anymore to do this.
- Not having a planner or calendar – I used to remember everything. Again, I am getting older, and my kids are getting older I just can’t keep up!
Here is what is working for me.
- Doing laundry two a week. – I have switched to doing laundry two times a week. going back to laundry all on one day has helped me so much! I love getting it done and moving on to my week and not worrying about it until laundry day again.
- Using a planner – I am a paper and pencil girl, but I am in NO way a natural organizer. I actually struggle a lot and with each kid it has gotten harder and harder for me to find my organizing and cleaning out groove. I think living in a small house contributes to the craziness as well. Having a planner has helped me to get an idea of what I am getting done, how much time I really have, and I am getting a more realistic expectation of myself. These have helped me to better be able to know how much I can get done in a day.
- Doing as much work as I can between 8:30 am and 2:30 pm – this includes blog work, cleaning, organizing and shopping. I try to get as much of it done during those hours, so we have our evenings free to drive and attend the many events my kids have going on.
- Setting rules for technology for our children – While I am a tech person, and I think it is crucial to have exposure to technology and to learn through technology, we also have rules for that tech use. I have kids who are a bit obsessed with some technology, and if I didn’t limit their time and use of it, they would play it all day! So we have set up very clear rules as to when it is ok to use the technology and when it is not ok. The rules help me not waste time arguing with the kids.
I have heard my kids from time to time bring up the fact that they NEED to get on the computer so they can practice for school. While I agree somewhat with that, I don’t think it needs to be a lot at home. They get lots of opportunities at school to be on the computer and don’t need as much time at home. Others may not agree with that, and that is ok. But here is what a lot of parents across the country say.
Follett.com
What do you do to make the back to school transition easier on you?
This post was brought to you by Follett for the #Fallbacktoschool campaign. All words and opinions are my own.
