I am so excited for today’s post – today is the first Let’s Look prompt where we link up with Shay from Mix and Match Mama blog and Erica from A Little Bit of Everything blog. I’m super excited about all the topics this year – they are just so creative and fun! So kind of them to do these link up parties!
Today’s topic is, scheduling/organizing a busy family. I’m laughing because I realize how boring this one might be as I just wrote about limiting what my kiddos are involved in. We still do SOME things and seem to be running around in some sense, so I’ll share some of the things I do to try and make things run smoother.
When it comes to scheduling – it is extremely helpful I am a SAHM. We have flexibility here so my duties include getting people where they need to be if it just so happens before work is over or right after school. Andrew is very helpful when he can and I appreciate that so much!
PLANNER AND WEEK REVIEW
At the beginning of the week I like to review my planner and see what we have going on and make any notes on things that need to be done. I will ALWAYS ask Andrew what he has going on for the week because his schedule can get crazy and overnight trips can pop up quick! Getting everything marked down Sunday helps us get ready for the week ahead!
One problem with me, I’m an excellent short term planner – give me a date 2 months prior to the event, we might have a problem. It gets lost in the shuffle…One of these days I’ll be better at that, but it’s true – I’ve had times where I was so organized and ready to go for the week to find we had totally forgotten about it days before the event was set to take place…
SCHOOL ORGANIZATION & SCHEDULE
So let’s chat school. I ended up creating a gmail account for Andrew and I that only receives school messages. This is the email they have on file and it is super helpful because my other emails get BLASTED with junk mail and promotions and I don’t want to misplace any important emails!
Our school sends out a weekly newsletter, WHICH I LOVE! This helps me stay on track with all the things happening at school as a whole. Each teacher also sends out a weekly newsletter, so I will check those and mark down anything necessary in my planner to stay organized.
As far as school pick up goes, whenever Audrey and JP are at school together, I will pick up from school (JP is only part time, but full days). When JP is home with me, we have Audrey take the bus home so I don’t have to pack the boys up and often times, pick up falls right during nap. Scheduling Audrey to take the bus on those days has been a huge help for me personally.
I appreciate a school activity that is either completed right after school lets out or later in the evening so we can get situated. For example, Girl Scouts meetings are right after school, which us parents love and appreciate.
CONSOLIDATION OF ACTIVITIES
Speaking of activities = let’s chat about them! I make an extremely conscience effort to plan things either together or if I’m able pick days spread apart so we don’t have back to back chaotic afternoons/evenings.
Here’s an example of my scheduling (because of my kiddos ages, I’m able to get away with this stuff!):
- I signed both Audrey and JP to do t-ball together with their cousins. They all were on the same team. It was perfect!
- Swim lessons are done in the winter, my kiddos are busy playing outside all summer long.
- Soccer practice fell on the same night as well. JP had practice first, then Audrey’s followed. Games were Friday evenings in the fall which I LOVED! Give me a weeknight game over weekend games. I like our weekends clear!
- As I mentioned, I like our weekends clear, so I will try to avoid things that chew up too much weekend free time. We like to relax and reset! I’m sure things will change soon, but I’m indulging in this while I can!
NOW, if I can’t get scheduling to work, I will try and pick days and times that space out our events. Giving us some breather room in the week to settle. I don’t like having something every single day if it’s unncessary!
Monthly Cleaning Schedule
I’ve shared this schedule LOTS of times and I’m telling you it’s my saving grace! Even if I fall off the rails, I can easily get back on track! This checklist narrows my daily cleaning focus and allows me to stay super organized in my cleaning.
And there you have it – nothing earth shattering. It involves a planner, communication, a separate email account for school stuff and limited activities for the time being! Praying that you have an excellent Wednesday!
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I really like the idea of a separate school email! Luckily since my son is in high school ALL the communication from the school comes to both my husband and myself but Alec gets his own too so w have 3 of us keeping an eye on everything. Plus he usually knows about anything that involves him waay ahead of time and he’s great about remembering to tell me as soon as he finds out (he’s even texted me from school during homeroom announcements a few times).
What a fantastic idea to create an email account just for school. I never ever thought of that. Although my kids are a whole lot older so email communication wasn’t such a big ‘thing’ when they first started school. My younger son just finished high school and towards the last two years, I did get a ton of emails. I always found it harder to keep track of these than the usual paper notes that I was used to.