Hope all of you had an amazing summer break. Ours was a good relaxed one. We toured around India, Singapore and Srilanka. Now we are back to school and also to our routine. My son started Kindergarten (Yay!!) and our schedule has changed completely. I am trying all the things I can to transition smoothly into the new schedule where we have to be out of house by 7 AM, but there are always bad days. One thing I have learnt is that no matter what we the “MOMS” have to get out of bed early so we can make sure some things are in control.We have to be very disciplined on how we spend our time at work and also at home. This is how kids teach us to be more disciplined I guess.
There are some hacks that I follow that makes things a little easier. I would like to share those with you all:
1)Get the dress ready : By Sunday I make sure both my kids have their dresses picked for the whole week. My son usually follows whatever he picks for a particular day. My daughter gets to choose one among the five dresses she had picked . This saves a lot of time in the morning. The whole drama of “I wont wear this” came to an end after this.
2)Meal plan: This is very important. I plan the whole weeks meal ahead. This helps in grocery shopping and also in execution. One of my friend had shared her meal plan for a week mealplan. Once you have a plan it is very easy to just go by it. You dont have to waste time in thinking what to make that day . The other advantage is that your spouse will also be in sync and they can help you better. This is a meal plan template, you can download this and make your own mealplan_template.
3)Teach kids to pack and unpack their lunch box: Packing and unpacking lunch boxes is a must. This way they know what they are taking to school and also unpacking is a great help.If I am lucky they would scrub their boxes as well. Some days I would just forget to unpack a lunch box and when I find that out in the morning, I get worked up easily since every minute counts in the morning rush.
4) Let them have their own bath once in while: I let my son have his bath once in a while so he gets to play in the water after his bath.This gives you some extra time in the evening.
5) Get help in pick up or drop off: This is something I am still working on. I have some wonderful neighbors who are willing to work with me on pick up and drop off. This saves time and also money on gas.
I am still working on how to get into a homework routine. Home works are something that we do only during weekends. We have to read 20 minutes everyday after school. I am still struggling to fit in that time into our schedule.Do share some other things you do to help with morning rush.
When my son was young I thought things would get better when he turns five.I think I was absolutely wrong. Every stage of parenting has its own challenges and we keep learning something new every day, don’t we???
Very interesting