Bathing suits are replaced with jeans, sun tan lotion is tossed aside until next year, and the kids are back in school. While many residents love this time of year with less people and beautiful sunsets, many moms and dads struggle with trying to get everything done in the day.
While working and managing households, many parents are juggling getting multiple children to after school activities - football, cheer leading, and band practice- and maintaining order in their households. Many moms get up at the crack of dawn to make breakfast, fix lunches, clean their house, then drive their children to their friend’s houses, only to start it all over again the next day.
The first week of October is recognized as “Get Organized Week.” I wanted to offer a few suggestions to help families get organized and save some time.
One of the best ways to keep the whole family on the same page is to use a family calendar. All holidays, activities, and occasions are written on the calendar which should be placed in a central location, such as the refrigerator. Any activities that the children have must be written on the calendar with the time and place. Try different color pens for each family member as it will be easier for the little ones to see who is doing what. Allowing the children to write their activities on the calendar gives them responsibility as well as a sense of commitment to the family. Better yet, if a child asks, “Mom, can I do activity X on Y date?” You can say, “Check the calendar, and if nothing is scheduled, yes, you can.” Conditioning children to see that time is valuable and we need to share time with the whole family will help children understand (at any early age) time management is critical.
Time and date.com has free calendars that you can print out and modify to fit your needs.