Three Systems To Smooth the Transition Back to School

Guest post from Mystie Winckler

Three Systems To Smooth the Transition Back to School

1. Create a Launchpad

A launchpad is a shelf or set of drawers or cubbie or other space designated to hold things that will be needed to head out the door. This is where your purse and keys would live, along with anything else you need to take with you like a diaper bag, bag of books to return to the library, or a box of reusable grocery bags.

I use the top shelf in my coat closet as my launchpad, but if you park in your garage, you might even consider using your trunk. My friend keeps her purse in her car. She never forgets it at home that way!

2. Establish a Laundry Routine

Whether you dedicate an entire day to the laundry chore or establish a daily rhythm of one or two loads, have a plan so that you don’t have to scramble for clean clothes. If you do laundry weekly, make sure everyone in the family has enough socks and underwear and outfits to make it the entire week, plus an extra one or two in case of emergency. If you do laundry daily, make sure you rotate the loads so that everything except the underwear are clean and available.

The most important part of the laundry routine is making it a habit and a regular pattern so that it’s not always nagging you in the back of your mind. If you have a plan and handling the never-ending stream of laundry is part of your weekly or daily rhythm, then your mind will be clearer and you will be less stressed.

3. Make a Meal Plan

There’s nothing more disheartening than to get to 4 or 5 in the evening and realize you have no idea what is for dinner. Or, perhaps even worse, the kids wake up in the morning and you realize you have no idea what is for breakfast before school! A meal plan should include all three meals and not just dinner. And, eating the same thing for breakfast every day so you don’t have to think about it *is* a plan!

If you need help coming up with simple, flexible meals, check out Simplified Dinners. It is my own whole-foods (but not health-food-store-strange) approach that I created so I didn’t have to spend brain cells on making grocery shopping lists and dinner menus.

 

What do you to ease back into the school routine? Any tips you can share?