If I didn’t get writing accomplished during the summer I told myself it was because the kids were home. But school has started, the kids are out of the house, and I’m still a manic, disorganized mess. I broke it down and found solutions for the crazy. (Note: Crazy is a noun when referring to myself and an adjective when referring to my lifestyle.)
3 kids, 3 schools
Is it any wonder I feel overwhelmed? One in high school, one in middle school, and my youngest is in elementary school. Oh my! I might as well start chanting lines from the “Wizard of Oz.” Attempting to get everyone where they needed (preferably with breakfast in their stomach and shoes on their feet) was a daily challenge.
Meet my two new best friends: granola bars and the oven timer. We save time in the morning by planning for tomorrow. When the kids come home from school, they immediately pack up their snack for the next day. We also compile non-perishables for the next day’s sack lunch. It may sound minor, but every chore done ahead of time, saves time in the morning. We also set the oven timer as soon as we awake. It’s a constant reminder of time ticking down, but it doesn’t nag! Now we know when to get a move on and jump in the car.
Get on ‘lil doggy
I used to take one child to one school, come home, get the next, go to that school, come back for the last one and so on. Oh, and the dogs wanted a walk too. That was crazy.
The solution: The boys get in the car together. Even though my younger one has to ride along with his brother before being dropped at his own school, the time to chat helps him relax before his day. I come home only once to hustle my daughter to school and I bring the dogs along. She gets a kick out of it and they like the ride. After she jumps out, the dogs and I take our walk around the school neighborhood rather than our home. Two car trips instead of four…mission accomplished.
What’s cookin’ good lookin’?
Figuring out what to make for dinner would take as much time as making the darn thing. I turned to my Facebook friends and asked for 20 meal ideas — basically four weeks of weekday dinners. With a menu already compiled, now I take one weekend afternoon to plan the ingredients needed for that week’s meals. I’ve cut down weekday grocery shopping and discovered the added bonus of saving money since there’s less impulse buying.
But my surefire way to banish the crazy has been in keeping a schedule. After dropping off the kids, I either do yoga if I need to find a creative flow or jump into my writing. When the kids do their homework, that’s when I cook dinner. When the kids take their down time, that’s when I spend a few more minutes with my writing until it’s bed time, story time, and then husband and me time!
My day is filled with crazy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Do you have any time-saving solutions? I’d love to hear them.
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