HOW TO CREATE A BACK TO SCHOOL ROUTINE
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It’s that time of year again…
Time for the kiddos to head back to school.
For some of you, this might be a blessing. You’re used to being able to work at home in silence during the school year, and the fact that the kids (and possibly husband) are home + are also demanding your attention makes it like working 2 jobs at one time. So, having them head back to school means you get your house + time to work back to yourself.
Or, maybe you’re dreading your kids going back to school because it means earlier wake-up times, trying to get yourself + your kids ready, and rushing to get out the door on time + in one piece…
...WITHOUT yelling at your kids or having a mental breakdown.
The struggle is real my friends.
I am personally in both camps. While I made it a point not to wish the summer away, I am looking forward to being able to fully focus on my work without 500 interruptions.
But, mornings are touchy in our house… there was a time when I yelled at my kids every single morning. And I’m pretty sure I’m not exaggerating.
I’d get so frustrated when we were rushing to get out the door or to the bus stop in the morning, and I would ultimately end up screaming at my kids for dragging their feet and putting us so far behind.
Here’s the reality…
It wasn’t their fault.
It wasn’t their fault we were running late. It was MINE. I didn’t take full responsibility for the things that needed to get done before we needed to get out the door. I didn’t take full responsibility for choosing to sit on the garage steps after my run, scrolling through Instagram, instead of heading inside to get in the shower. I didn’t take full responsibility that my kids were still little and couldn’t do everything on their own.
It was MY fault.
And that’s where “perfecting” and streamlining my morning routine came into play. Once I learned a few things about my routine and what would help me get things done + out the door on time - WITHOUT yelling at my kids - everything changed.
However, I want to preface this by saying my morning routine might not work for you. My kids, my life, my schedule DOES NOT look like yours. Seldom do I find a person whose day looks exactly the same or even slightly similar to mine. Never have I found children who act EXACTLY like mine. And I doubt our parenting styles are remotely similar.
While I’m going to share my routine with you (and my plan for after school + my daughter’s morning routine) at the end of this, please know that there is very little chance that taking MY PERSONAL routine will work for you. That doesn’t mean you can’t take aspects of it to fit into yours, but there is very little chance my exact routine will work for you.
With that being said, I want to share with you the 3 things to help you create a routine (morning, evening, etc.) that works for YOU…
Do as much as you can ahead of time (i.e. the night before or before the kids get home).
I get it… the last thing you want to do before heading off to bed is pack lunches. It’s annoying + time consuming, and does anyone really enjoy packing lunches for their kids?!
But, if you are able to get things done (like packing lunches) the night before can help you save your time and energy in the morning.
For me, I’ve had to add these things into my routines + habits. For packing lunches, I do it right after dinner. After I put the dishes away, I get out the things I need to make their lunches BEFORE I wipe down the counters + table. I pack their lunches, stick them in the fridge, and then they’re ready to go in the morning.
Sure, it doesn’t take me more than 5-10 minutes to actually pack their lunches, but when I wait to do it the morning of, well, that’s when I end up yelling at my kids.
Other ideas to prepare ahead of time:
Setting out the kids clothes the night before
Putting out a “snack tray” so they can choose a snack for school or when they get home
Packing up their backpacks the night before
Getting dinner prepped before they come home
Whatever can save you an extra step when you typically are strapped for time, do it ahead of time!
Delegate as much as you can.
I’ve gotta admit, I’ve raised some pretty co-dependent children. We do a little too much for them, and we know that we do. But, it’s been SUPER helpful having a now 4th grader where all I have to do is tell her it’s time to get ready, and she does it ALL herself. Get dressed, brush her teeth, do her hair, put on her shoes, etc.
A now 1st grader is a little harder. He’s not quite as independent as she is, and I have to help him a lot in the morning. But, I also know that if I take 5 seconds to put toothpaste on his toothbrush, he can go do that and take care of business while I get their lunches in their bags.
Shoot, you could even take this as far as having your kids pack their lunches themselves, but I’ll leave that to all the Pinterest Moms out there to help you out.
I also have had to face reality and realize I have a partner for a reason. We share a lot of parenting duties, but sometimes I need to be willing to ask him for help. Rarely does he scoff or gets mad at me for asking (actually, he NEVER has), so I am trying to get better at asking for help when I can.
Ask yourself how you want your routine to “feel” like.
OK, that sounds a bit too much like the coaching training I’m going through doing the talking, but knowing how I wanted my routine to feel like was a BIG deal for me. The one thing I didn’t want in the morning was to feel rushed, but I also knew that when I came home from dropping them off at the bus stop that I wanted to be able to get right to work.
Because of that, I knew that I needed to allow plenty of time to get my workout in, get ready in the morning, and do all the necessary things to get the kids ready for school.
My workout takes approximately 60-90 minutes every day, and taking a shower and getting full hair + makeup ready (because that makes me feel my very BEST every day) takes about the same amount of time, I knew that I needed to have a good 3-hour “on-ramp” before having to get the kids ready for school.
Now, please note, my kids’ school starts at 9AM, so a 5AM wakeup time doesn’t seem too bad to me. The bus comes around 8:30, which means by 8AM, I am personally ready for the day, and then I have 30 minutes to make sure the kids are dressed, fed, teeth cleaned, bags packed, etc. before we need to head to the bus stop.
If your kids’ day starts earlier than that, then you probably need to rethink how your morning needs to look if you take just as long as I do to have “me time.” (And I value that “me time” SO much in the morning!) Maybe for you, you’d rather wait until after the kids are at school before you go work out. GREAT! Then, what do YOU want your morning to look like BEFORE having to get the kids ready for school? If you want to sit + drink coffee in peace and quiet, what time would you need to wake up? Do you want some time to work before getting the kids ready, how much time do you need?
Afternoons + evenings should be looked at the same way. I haven’t really had a structured after school routine with the kids yet, but as our daughter is getting more + more homework, I know that setting those boundaries of when she can have free time to play and when we need to sit down and get to work is going to be important. I want them to feel rested + get a mental break from school, but I also don’t want it to be 7PM before we are sitting down to do homework.
And honestly, I don’t want to zone out on my phone when they get home, which I tend to do because I personally need a mental break from the day too. By adding some structure to our afternoon routine, I’m hoping we can get a mental break AND stay on top of schoolwork and anything else that comes up before bedtime.
Without further adieu, here are our morning + after school routines…
MOM’S MORNING ROUTINE
5AM - alarm + read the bible
5:10 - get ready for workout
5:15 - workout
6:30 - shower
7:15 - make sure kids are awake (see daughter’s morning routine)
7:30 - get kids breakfast, kiss husband goodbye
8AM - get backpacks ready, make sure 1st grader is getting ready
8:15 - last minute check of everything
8:25 - head to bus stop
8:30 - put away dishes
8:35 - make smoothie
8:40 - journal or devotional
9AM - start work for the day
DAUGHTER’S MORNING ROUTINE
7:15 - wake up
7:20 - get dressed
7:30 - make bed
7:35 - breakfast + TV
8AM - brush teeth, brush hair, put on shoes
8:15 - make sure backpack is ready to go
8:25 - head to bus stop
AFTERSCHOOL // EVENING ROUTINE
4:15 - get off bus
4:20 - unpack backpacks, clean out lunch box
4:30 - snack + TV
5PM - play outside or with friends
6PM - dinner
6:30 - homework + practice piano
7PM - baths or showers
7:45 - brush teeth
7:50 - say prayers as a family
8PM - silent reading in rooms
8:30 - lights out
If you’re still struggling with how to master your morning routine and actually make it PRODUCTIVE, check out this post on how to make your morning routine work for you!
