Back to School Routine

It's that time of year again....back to school. As for what my back to school routine is....um, sit in the corner and cry!! I was lucky enough to stay home with all my kids last year while I had baby Sylvie at home, so back to school this year is going to be a major transition for our family. This time of year is always super stressful for mamas, and that is why I find it's best to get back into the routine as quickly as possible. And our routine this year is looking a little crazy. This year I'll have two kids in school plus one little toddler all with totally different schedules to keep track of. I know you know what I'm talking about! There's paperwork: the kind that piles up in a corner in my kitchen and the kind that I find crumpled deep in backpacks throughout the year. There's school lunches. I try to be pretty regimented about using a system to keep lunches organized, but now that my older two are bigger they want to have lunch at school sometimes, only on specific days. So now I'm tracking the lunch menu calendar like it's my job, and making sure our lunch cards have enough money on them to get the walking tacos on Friday. There are field trips and performances. There are fundraisers and carnivals. There are drops-offs and pick-ups and after school activities. There are so many things to remember, but do you want to know what ultimately stresses me out?! It's the horrible mom guilt that for some reason gives me the idea that I'm not going to be capable of handling it all. It is the idea that the other kids get to have moms that are so much better at this that me. 

I was never a very organized person growing up, but becoming a mother has forced me into making better effort at being coordinated. And even with all my planning I still feel like I'm constantly forgetting things. Or else I'll remember them in the middle of the night. And no matter what I do, or create, or volunteer for, some mythical other mom out there has done it better.  And it doesn't help when your kid comes home saying something like "Mom can you make me an organic dolphin for lunch that is blowing grape bubbles with an origami seagull napkin that has a funny riddle on it like Johnny's mom does?" 

I can't even try to keep up, and the stress of trying is making me anxious for the first day of 2nd and 5th grade at a school that I don't even attend!

So that is why I've decided to stop caring. Done. I'm totally over the idea of crushing it as super mom. During back to school time or any other part of the school year for that matter. There are some parts I do really well. My after school routine is pretty great. And my cold lunches hit all the main food groups. My kids are well groomed and (mostly) well mannered. But most importantly they are good people. They are kind. They have big hearts and are the kinds of kids who befriend other kids in need and reach out to the loners. Sure they're crazy, dramatic gremlins at home sometimes, but whatever. And even more importantly I love them a whole heck of a lot. And sometimes I do let them have cheeseballs. And sometimes I give in and let them have thirty minutes of extra screen time. And sometimes I don't volunteer for the class party and I often forget the sunscreen, but we are still doing pretty good. And pretty good is way better than faked Pinterest perfect. 

So today I'm going to share with you my pretty good back to school secret weapon: a Backpack Landing Pad. I'm sure there are far more sophisticated ways of organizing, but my kids are visual people so I threw up a couple of hooks in our main living area along with our family calendar, a weekly chore chart, and a chalkboard for day-to-day messages. Boom. Simple.

The big kids know to hang their backpacks up as soon as they get home from school and it's nice for me to know where to find them to go through paperwork and homework. 

I am ALL about after school chore charts. I have one for each kid (minus the baby obvi) and for some reason having a chart they can mark off as they go through gets my kids motivated to actually do their chores.

Once again, an in your face visual. I like having a big calendar on the wall to track all of our after school activities. Plus, it makes my argument way more validating when my husband finds out about something in the calendar, and then tries to tell me I never told him about it. It's on the wall.

This cute little chalkboard is just a fun additive. I like to change it up all the time. Sometimes I like to put bible verses up, other times I like to write in little reminders, and like you see here, sometimes I like to get extra cleaning out of my children in return for screen time. It's all in how you play your cards mamas!

So there you have it. It's super simple and it works really well for us.