school daze

Do not be a victim to the morning madness of frantically running around looking for clean underwear, homework, permission slips, milk money and keys. Get organized now before school starts. Get a plan of action. Start thinking about where the kids are going to dump their stuff when they come home. Designate a basket or even a colored dishpan for each member.

All their stuff should go in there as soon as they get home. No need to go running around the house the next morning looking for things. Check out this website for the most adorable baskets and storage solutions!

Another great tip, is you may want to set the breakfast table the night before. This will be one less thing to worry about.
 Have a meal plan. With sport schedules and dance recitals, it’s easier to have a meal plan for the week. When you’re making your meal plan, check the calendar, see what the week looks like, and plan from that. You may want to check out MY FAV RECIPE SITE and get some simple meals for those busy days and nights of practice and games.


Also, start thinking about bedtime now! You do not want to wait till the night before school to implement the new bedtime. About a week or two before school starts, begin sending the kids to bed a little earlier each night. Wake them up a little earlier each day also. Get their internal clocks ready for school hours. This includes meals.
If your kids are used to eating lunch at noon and a snack at two, that might not be possible during school. Hold the kids off snacks until the time they would arrive home from school. This way they will get used to the “feeding schedule” and their tummies will not be growling during science class.
 Don’t forget that breakfast on school days should be healthy and well balanced. Research has shown that kids who don’t eat breakfast are less able to learn at school, get less iron (an important nutrient) in their diets, and are more likely to have a higher BMI (body mass index), which is a sign they may be overweight.
On the other hand, kids who eat breakfast do better in school, are more likely to participate in physical activities, and tend to eat healthier overall. So this school year don’t let your children run out the door on an empty stomach. Fuel up with a healthy breakfast!
Be excited about the new school year. Your children will follow your lead. So lead by example. Start pumping them up and getting them excited about the new things they will learn, the new friends they will make, the new sports they may try, etc. Get their attitude positive for learning and having fun in school. The lazy days of summer are nearing an end and the frantic daze of school is heading our way.

getting ready for school

Summer is speeding by us. Before you know it, you will be putting the little ones on the bus for school. Are you ready? Have you been school shopping? Do the kids have enough socks, underwear and clothes? Are their drawers and closets all neat and ready for the new school year? No? Uh oh…time to get busy!

 You want your children to be well organized and prepared for school. Living in chaos is no way to start the school year. So grab your children, head into their rooms and start getting it together.

Start by getting rid of clothes that do not fit them. Then get rid of the clothes that they just do not wear anymore for whatever reason.
 Get in and organize the drawers. This will make it easy for them to get dressed in the mornings. Be sure to get into the habit of picking out clothes the night before.
 Clean out the closets.
 Organize the shoes, hang the pants, hang the shirts. Get rid of things that do not need to be in there.
Do they have a desk in their room?
Is this where homework and studying is done?
 Clean it out; set it up so it’s ready for a new school year. New pencils, new calendar, erasers, pencil sharpener, paper. Have the tools your kids need to succeed!!

It’s so much nicer to wake up and to live in a bedroom that is neat, clean and organized. What a way to start the day!!
 Waking up and stepping over clothes, toys, and papers is sure to put kids in the wrong state of mind to start their day. Let’s help our children to be organized, and teach them the skills by starting with the area that they live in and that they call their own.
So the challenge is to not only get your kids rooms ready for school, but to involve them in the process. To teach them to care for their things and to remember the value and the hardwork that went into buying these things. We want them to respect their belongings. So get in there and get it done , school is approaching fast.

Get A Schedule, Get Rid Of Stress!

With the busy holiday season we can get a lot of stress. You can relieve some of this stress by knowing what your routine is. When your home is clean, you are automatically going to feel less stress. Remember that your family feeds off your stress level too. So create a calm and peaceful environment for them. Lead by example for your children!

Make a schedule and stick to it.
There should be a time for everything and everything will be done in it’s time.
Your children have due dates on homework and your husband has deadlines that he has to meet. Well as housewives, we too have deadlines and due dates. We have projects that need completing and jobs that need to be completed. Begin by looking what we do as a job and your attitude will automatically change.


When we were out in the workforce and held paying jobs, we had responsibilities. We were responsible to complete our work in a timely manner. We took a lunch hour and maybe two ten minute breaks in an eight-hour day.

As housewives, we have more control of our time, but we can sometimes be too lax in our scheduling. It is very easy to sit around in our pj’s and play on the computer in the mornings, and then before you know it its noon. The breakfast dishes are still in the sink, the beds are still unmade, and there is nothing out for dinner. Stress starts to creep in. Now were behind on our job. We must be extremely disciplined with ourselves. We are the managers of our homes. We should be managing it just as we would any business. A home that is maintained on schedules and routines will run smoothly. Find a routine that will suit your needs. We are all in different phases of our lives. Some have infants, some have school age children and some are empty nesters.

You have to have your morning routine. Making breakfasts, beds, cleaning up, getting dressed, and general daily tasks must be completed every day. Discipline yourself to get things done before you take your break. Doing things in the same order, every day and they will become habit.

Have your children on a very specific and disciplined routine. For my boys they get up at the same time every day. They make their beds, get dressed and then come downstairs for breakfast. They then go and brush their teeth, get their backpacks and are ready to go to school. There is never a change in this routine. They know what is expected of them in the mornings and they do it out of habit. When they come home from school, they put their backpacks away, sit down, have a snack, and talk about their day. Then they get their homework done. After homework, they have one or two small chores. They have free time when everything else is completed. They know what their routine is. There are no surprises.

Here are some tips to get you into good habits and routines

Make a list of what needs to be done everyday in each room

Make a schedule of what time each chore should be done. Give yourself a deadline for vacuuming the living room, or a “due date” to go grocery shopping. Make it the same for every day and every week.

Try to schedule doctor, hair or dentist appointments always on the same day. I always try to schedule appointments on Tuesdays.

Keep calendars for every member of your house. Both boys have their own calendar as do myself and husband. I also have a master calendar that I can put all appointments on. However, with individual calendars we can do a quick glance to see what is coming up for the week. The boys put due dates for projects on theirs, sports practice, birthday parties, and dr. appointments. This is something that is personal to everyone and you need to find what works for you and your family.

Create a chore list for each member of your household, and specify when you expect each of those chores to be done.

Do not procrastinate. It is essential to get things done when needed. If you put things off, you will get behind and you will become stressed. You will not be prepared for the curve balls that life throws us. Remember its easier to keep up than to catch up! Also remember that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure!

SAMPLE SCHEDULE
MON
Daily routine (wipe up bathrooms, make bed, straighten out house, load/unload dishwasher, laundry)
Clean our the refrigerator
Go grocery shopping
Do any vacuuming that may need done or mopping
Dinner
TUES
Daily routine
Go to any appt. scheduled
Project day. This is the day I will do out of the ordinary cleaning. Such as clean a cupboard, closet, or work out in the garden
Dinner
WED
Daily routine
Strip beds, and big clean the upstairs (bedrooms and bathrooms)
Dinner
THURS
Daily routine
Big clean the downstairs
Order out
FRI
Daily routine
Free day…I have it done for the weekend.
Dinner
SAT/SUN
Daily routines
Cooking, relaxing, reading, going out, boy’s games, family time etc.

This is every day every week, there is no change. I always know what I am doing and I am less stressed because of it. Remember, after doing something for 28 days in a row, it will become a habit.
Another good habit to get into is a night time routine. Have the kids pick out their clothes for the next day, have their back packs ready to go, any permission slips signed, lunch money ready, etc. Be sure they have a set bedtime and stick to it. Obviously there may be certain occasions where they stay up a bit late, but in general try and keep it the same each night.

Messy Mom Matilda! What is her problem??

Yesterday we saw an example of a crazy, disorganized, Mom..we'll call her Messy Matilda. So what is her problem? Mostly she has no plan. When we plan things we know what to expect. There are no surprises..ok, sometimes there are surprises but were prepared and we can handle it. We aren't throwing a problem on top of other problems.
Matilda's first mistake was that she went to bed too late and when setting the alarm wasn't paying attention. She set it for pm instead of am. I don't know about anyone else, but I always double and triple check my alarm when setting it!
When Matilda finally woke up and jumped out of bed she tripped over a laundry basket. Well if Matilda had folded that laundry and put it away, she wouldn't have fallen. Screaming at her kids was another big problem. While Messy Matilda was the one at fault, she was screaming at the kids. Not fair to them at all.
Breakfast was of course the next disaster. Here, Matilda needs a menu plan. When you plan your meals on a Sunday and then make your shopping list from that meal plan, your not going to run out of things, buy things you don't need, and in the end you actually save money!
When Matildas daughter showed up with one sock and no panties, we obviously see that Matilda has no laundry schedule or routine. We must do laundry everyday. Who wants to deal with a mountain of laundry?? Not me, and certainly and obviously not Messy Matilda. She became overwhelmed when looking at the laundry and just gave up. When we do at least one load a day, we stay on top of it. I go so far as doing smaller loads. Less water, less drying time and so much easier and faster to fold and put away! Try it for a week..do small loads and see how easy laundry is to really do..I mean seriously the washing machine and dryer do all the work!!
Having to face dirty dinner dishes from the night before is the absolute worst way to start a day. Yuck! Waking up to a nice clean kitchen is what you should strive for. You'll be ready to start your day and even have motivation to make the kids a hot breakfast!!
I have already posted a sample schedule. I can't stress enough the importance of getting on a schedule and daily routine!
So lets do this! Get your notebook out..prepare your week. What day you want to clean what room, go shopping, etc. Don't be a Messy Matilda!!