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Can you hear it? Wait – listen closely …. its the faint call of teacher’s voices, school bells and zipping up of overstuffed backpacks in the oh so near future!!
In segment 3 of our series of back to school tips we look at setting routines and the giant benefits you and your kids can derive from routine. Routine doesn’t mean rigid or tedious – the opposite in fact is true. When there are easy to follow, intuitive and helpful actions there’s less stress and uncertainty – life actually gets easier, we find more time, we feel more accomplished, we don’t loose track of things and appointments…. it’s all good!
Check out a few routines we suggest and see how they might work for your family:
Regular sleep – The more consistent we are with sleep schedules the better. Sleep is crucial to good brain function, minimizing mood swings and keepingkids healthy. Article about Sleep If your kiddo doesn’t tend to sleep well, consider creating more of a “sleep sanctuary” with books but no TV or devices, some soft background music or a white noise machine, even essential oils diffused gently have been proven in many studies to assist with calming us down making sleep easier. Check out (restful essential oil)
Selecting Clothes for the Week – Who needs tantrums and high stakes negotiations in the morning with an hard-nosed 2nd grader? Not you! Consider allowing for choices to be made on Sunday, for the entire week, with each day’s outfit all together and ready to go. This organizer is available on Amazon (weekly clothes organizer)
Weekly Reminder Boards – Here’s an easy way to make sure everyone leaves in the morning with exactly everything they need for the day. Have one for each child with what they have to bring to school each day of the week. Eliminate those last minute scrambles or even frantic texts/calls saying “Mom, I forgot my soccer cleats, can you bring them now pleeeeeaaaasssseeeee”? Here’s a cute inexpensive one about the right size Dry Erase Board
Packing Lunch – First I want to say that let’s stay off Pinterest and toss the notion that each lunch needs to be a creative work of art. It’s lunch. Let’s just drop the artificial bar of perfection and simply ensure that our little ones head out each day with a healthy lunch that is easy to prepare and pack. Having a general plan of what lunches will be for the week will help make it easier. If you know for instance you’ll be having chili Tuesday night, guess what’s for lunch on Wednesday?? CHILI!! Yay!! Running out of ideas? 100 Lunch Ideas
Stay tuned for 1 more segment with additional parent’s tips for mastering Back to School!
For more information on Simplify with Eileen, and how I can help you to simplify your life, check out www.simplifywitheileen or reach out to me at 781.589.5444. XO
“Living The Simplified Life”