Back To School Tips (When You have Lots of Littles)
To say that school day mornings in our house are busy is an understatement! This is our first year of “real” school that starts on the earlier side AND I’m still learning how to juggle four children so it’s a double whammy. Did I mention we moved into a new house a few weeks before school started?
It’s been a transition for sure, but overall we’re thriving.
I LOVE efficiency and am pretty determined to streamline processes wherever possible to make everyone’s life a little less frustrating. As I prepared for the new school year knowing that things were going to be super busy I got to work planning our morning routine and systems in our house so that I don’t lose my mind!
Just in case you are struggling with this area I’m sharing a little bit of what’s working:
- The Drop Zone. I ordered this from Amazon right after we moved into our home. Each boy has a cubby for backpacks, another for outside play shoes and one more for anything miscellaneous. The backpacks never come in the house (neither do the play shoes). It makes loading them up in the morning so much easier!
- All School Papers go to the Paper Organizer. Each boy has a slot for papers that need returned to school, signed or reviewed. Once we are finished with the paper it goes in the backpack immediately.
- Lunches and snacks are prepared the night before. I have one child with a food allergy, another who I pack for most days, and two snacks to pack daily, plus supplies for the baby. ALL of that is prepared and laid out the night before. Anything that’s not perishable goes in the backpack.
- Clothes are chosen and laid out. My oldest son wears a uniform now (praise the Lord). Everyone else chooses clothes including socks and underwear the night before. Therefore, I don’t have to intervene during get dressed time in the morning.
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Breakfast is chosen (by mom) and prepared the night before. I prepare lots of Momsanity Mom Fuel recipes or steel cut oats in my Instant Pot the night before. On mornings we are having Mom Fuel smoothies, I’ll just mentally plan for the fruit and veggies I’ll use.
- My kids pick up before bedtime. If they leave it out, it’s gone. I know I’m so mean, but I cannot live in a house where there is kid junk everywhere. It helps us stay focused in the morning as well.
- Last, but certainly not least, I prepare the coffee!
- I wake my children up with minimal buffer time before it’s time to leave school. I find that the more time they have to play in the mornings, the more likely we are to be late.
So now our mornings are seamless and perfect right? HAHA. You know better than that. That said, I definitely rest easier and stress WAY less with our system in place and overall it’s working beautifully!