By: Elizabeth Webb
We’re a few days into the new school year, and I’m all about making the days more manageable. Summers at our house are a time for freedom. The only schedules we keep are baseball, softball, and gymnastics. We have a loose bedtime since we all like to be outside until darkness forces us in. We begin our normal evening routine the week before school starts and get the kids to bed at a decent time, but there’s an adjustment period for us all. Over the years, we’ve developed a few habits that make our school mornings a bit easier. These aren’t things that require a lot of time, and mamas are busy enough without adding more things to our to-do list!
Simple steps to make your mornings smoother.
1. Lay Clothes out.
We lay out clothes the night before, me included. I can spend 30 minutes deciding what to wear if it’s not already picked out. Sometimes, if what my kids have picked out is comfortable enough, I let them sleep in the next day’s outfit. My daughter especially struggles with getting up and around in the morning, so if she can already be dressed when she wakes up, it’s a huge help. We also try to fix her hair the night before or at least have a game plan for how she will wear it in the morning.
2. Prepare and pack lunches the night before.
I do this before cleaning up supper, which eliminates another round of cleaning. My oldest loves school lunches and thinks they’re a culinary delight, and there are very few lunch days he won’t eat. My middle son eats a few days a week, but my daughter only eats on chicken nugget day. To make the mornings easier, we look at the menu the night before and decide who needs a packed lunch. Fortunately, we don’t have any restrictions in our school on what children can bring for lunch, so we pack a lot of PB&J’s. We do the same with breakfast and decide what they’ll eat in the morning if they don’t want school breakfast.
3. Meal prep.
I keep it simple and don’t have time to make a week’s worth of meals.
- I like to make pancakes. My kids love the mini ones, but the frozen ones from the store can get expensive, and they don’t keep them full long enough. Sometimes, I use a store-bought pancake mix, but if I’m out, I make my own. I add two scoops of vanilla protein powder to the mix which helps keep my kids full a little longer. These can also be eaten on the go.
- We make and freeze PB&Js. My kids like UnCrustables, but I don’t like the price. I use one of these to make our own. I flash freeze these and then stick them back in the bread sack and in the freezer they go. We put them in the lunch boxes the night before, and they’re thawed and ready to eat by lunchtime the next day.
- I make a rough menu of what we’ll have for supper throughout the week. I try to plan meals around what I have that needs to be used first, such as produce. I buy what I can frozen or canned, so we have less waste. You can find more helpful tips for meal planning here. Sometimes I like to make extra of whatever we’re having and freeze it for an easy meal another time.
4. Organize backpacks and homework.
Fortunately, my kids rarely have homework, but when they do, they work on it while I’m fixing supper. This ensures that it is done before bath and bedtime and gives them time right after school to decompress and the rest of the evening to relax. It goes in their backpack as soon as it’s done, and papers sent home from school are looked over. They always put their backpacks in the same place every evening, so it’s not a hunt for them the next morning.
The start of school can be hard on kiddos as they reacclimate to the rigor of the school year and the emotions that come with it. Following these steps has allowed me to be more present and focused on them in the mornings and combat the chaos and stress of returning to school.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Elizabeth Webb is a Registered Nurse turned high school English teacher who loves to encourage other women to embrace the path they’ve been called to. She enjoys spending time with her family, chasing her kids to sporting events, being outdoors, and anything creative. She lives on a farm in the Midwest with her husband, three children, and dogs.
