Coping with Back to School Chaos
This is one of my favorite times of year! I love the Fall, the crisp air, leaves turning and even though my children are grown, I love getting new school/office supplies each fall. Also, fall is a time when we can renew our commitments- back to the schedule of exercise, work, organization that tends to slip away over the easy going summer days.
Do you find it easier to get back into a groove when your kiddoes are in school again?
What is one thing you are most excited about getting back on the schedule? Me? Early morning time on my terrace… coffee, bible, notepad to get centered for the day, then review my calendar and get an early start writing, blogging, recording training videos before my client appointment begin. Late summer nights resulted in sleeping in far too often and I have missed this focused time that energized me. How about you?
Back to school can also be a time of chaos as the adjustment from summer fun to school schedules is usually grueling the first few weeks.
Cranky tired kids, harried moms and the avalanche of papers that come with back to school all combine for some tense moments! Can you relate?
Two Simple tips that helped me cope with back to school chaos:
- I had a vertical file organizer and a different colored coded folder for each kid. ( I also had all their activities on my calendar in the color assigned to each kid as well, so one glance and I had an idea who needed to be where and at what time – so this is actually 3 tips.)
Everything related to each kid went into their folder, so I could find it at a moment’s notice I also had a red mom folder at the front- for my kids to put anything thing they needed me to look at/sign/etc and each night I would review them/sign them and lay them out on the counter for the kids to put in their backpacks in the am. This resulted in far less lost papers, tears and chaos in the morning.
- I had a designated place on the on the counter with a sticky note pad and pen. If one of my kids needed any supplies/ paper/ sports equipment etc, they wrote it on the paper with the day they needed it. Then when I ran my errand, I just scooped up all the notes and I had a list of what I needed to get for them. How many mornings have you heard “Did you get my ____? Remember I told you when we were in the car on the way to practice that I needed it today!” “Do we have any colored paper/ card stock, markers for my project?” or my favorite: “Oh I forgot to tell you, I needed x, y , z …today!!”
With all the information and needs our kids have it is easy for these things to get lost in the chaos and conversations that happen each evening. In all fairness with my own ADHD issues, there were many times I would forget what they had said and this system helped all of us remember. If it was written down, then I had a visual reminder of what I needed to get for them. This simple system this helped me make sure that I knew what they needed rather than them telling me during a car ride, dinner or when my mind was on 10 other things.
These three easy to implement- simple tips helped us have calmer mornings, less frustration getting off to school and more enjoyable relationships!
Do you have any great tips for making the transition back to school easier? Share them here so we all benefit!