I hope this new school year is off to a wonderful start for you and your kiddos. This time of year is always a balance of excitement and crazy! I’ll admit there have been school years when I was not intentional with staying organized, and that’s a huge no-no, especially if your kid (s) are athletes. This year I vowed to get and stay on track, and a month into first grade/cheer, things are running pretty smoothly.
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I’d love to share what’s been working in case any other momma is trying to avoid running around like a crazy lady all school year.
- Calendar in multiple places – Look up your child’s school/athletic/extracurricular schedule and calendar it as far as possible. I use my google calendar, and on Sundays, I update a dry-erase calendar that I hang up at home. Doing this is super helpful in meal planning, timing, bags that need to be packed, and dates that I’ll be unavailable for other things.
- Air fryers and Crockpots, use them, girl! – For the last few weeks, I’ve been utilizing my air fryer a lot, and dinner prep has been much faster and easier. This is helpful on busier evenings. I can finish homework and get the kiddo off to bed on time.
- It’s ok to say “no, not at this time” – As moms, I know sometimes, we want our kids and ourselves to do all the things all the time. Over the years, I have over-extended myself, and no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t juggle it all. This year I have been a little more intentional about saying “no” or “not right now.” Let me tell you – it has been such a huge weight lifted off my shoulders.
- Carve out a few hours on Sundays to prep for the week – Simple things like ironing a week’s worth of clothes, making a list of what will be packed each day in lunch, or even packing athletic bags for practice.
- Get some sleep! – It’s essential to not only set a bedtime for the kiddos but set one for yourself and stick to it. Proper rest can significantly improve your physical and mental capacity to maintain an organized weekly schedule.
- Select clothes out for the week and put them in an organizer – Being able to just grab an outfit and get dressed will carve off sometime during your morning routine.
- Keep sports equipment in your car in an organizer – I have experienced the frenzy of missing pom poms, mouthpieces, and such. It drives the kids and me crazy every time. Try getting an organizer that fits your vehicle and store things that don’t need to be washed or swapped out. Everything will be in one spot and hopefully, scale back on those stressful moments.
- Keep a small container of school supplies in your car. Let’s face it; kids will lose things often. Keep a little emergency pack for those moments when something gets lost, or you have to do homework on the go.
- Chore Chart – So, I’m. not a crafty mom at all, so this one is definitely one that I’d have to outsource to get made. Having a chore chart can create some order in the school year’s chaos. Need some inspiration? Hop on Pinterest, IG, or even Tik Tok to get some inspo.
- Give yourself some grace, girl! Even with the perfect organizational tools and routines, things may fall through the cracks. There will still be some off days when a kid leaves the house with miss matched shoes, or the dog really may eat some homework.
The key to all of this is learning to have fun with it.
Learn to laugh at those crazy mom moments. I used to get so frustrated when things didn’t go as planned or I fell off the schedule. Now, I remind myself that doing my best is not synonymous with perfection and that perfection isn’t the important thing. Have an awesome school year, mamma!
