Happy May Friends! It’s that time of year again, School is winding down and days are getting much longer, which means us Moms are running around like chickens without heads trying to juggle all the school events, and normal life. I’m sure everyone gets tired of hearing me talk about using a planner for this busy time. It’s the only way I can keep up with everything. If you can be honest with yourself about how long things takes, you can really plan and do it all. Maybe not everything but you can get really close.
There is only so much takeout a family can handle. Meal prepping is a great alternative. Crockpot and freezer meals are life savers, just require a little forethought. A quick google and you’ll have the shopping list and a plan, and you could have a weeks’ worth of meals in an afternoon. That’s the power of planning!
Schedule it! We get business cards, event flyers all with information we need to be on time. If you don’t have it in your planner or calendar you risk forgetting. Take the 5 min and write it all down or put it in your calendar. We have a mobile calendar where anyone in our family can add an appointment or event from their phone and it is on the family calendar. My oldest is driving now, and doing their own thing, as teens do. This calendar lets us see what they have planned and they can see our plans before they make plans. They still ask but this lets them see before hand we are busy, probably going to say no. This probably saves us from lots of teen angst.
Keeping everyone healthy and hydrated, everyone carries a Stanley or water bottle now days. The kids will use the same one for a few days then we run them through the dishwasher, sometimes they get a funky smell. I do think you should either switch daily or wash them daily but life gets busy and that doesn’t always happen. It’s important to take apart the lids, remove the seals. I like to soak in bleach or vinegar works well too. That smell can be the bacteria growing on the seals. Sometimes the metal is what has the funky smell, I like to give them a good scrub with dawn. This is where baby bottle brushing are making a great comeback. Then if they still smell, a splash of bleach and fill with hot-hot water. I usually let it soak a few hours then put it in the dishwasher for sanitizing wash. That seams to do the trick for us.
This tip is an older one but it is still relevant. I like to pack up everything the kids need the night before, sports bags, back packs, lunches whatever we need the next day. My family are not morning people, so grabbing and going is perfect for us. I even put sports bags in the car the night before so I don’t even have to think about it, it’s already there waiting for them when I pick them up. Now that they are older, I am having them pack the bags themselves. If there is something specific they keep forgetting or that they need. I will give it a once over. Part of my job as a mother is to prepare them to be adults and being on their own. If I never let them try or do for themselves, they will never learn. Yes, I can do it faster but it’s more important that they learn how to do for themselves. I know for me, letting my kids take more responsibility is a struggle. I want them to be kind, responsible adults so trying to give both myself and them grace while they learn is my focus. Ain’t no hood like Motherhood, Happy Mother’s Day Friends.
Join me for June when we will be hitting the lake! We will talk about how to keep everything clean and organized when enjoying a lake day or camping for the weekend.
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