Finding a routine as a family of five…

Finding a routine as a family of five…

This summer has been lovely, but it has also been hectic. With the run up to the end of term, and the exhaustion that brought, to going on holiday and lots of social events going on, we lost any kind of routine we had in place during the last 6 weeks. Ell has also had a lot going on with football too, pre-season friendlies, training and the start of the league – each week not being the same as the one previous. Thats not to say I haven’t enjoyed just running with it for the last  weeks – the lack of pressure to get out of the door in the mornings has been very welcome.

We’ve got out of sync with planning and preparing meals, doing the weekly food shop, the washing (mainly because the kids spent most of the summer in their underwear!) and the housework. The toy cupboard is threatening collapse if the door is opened as everything is stacked so precariously. To top it all off, I have been feeling under the weather for the last week or so (mainly from tiredness catching up on me).

So yesterday, Izzie started back to school, and Ollie started at his new preschool. For some reason I hadn’t given ‘the daily routine’  much thought – I mean obviously all the uniforms were labeled, packed lunches/meal choices ready, shoes bought etc but I figured we would just naturally fall back into what we had before the summer.

WRONG!

For a start, Ollie new preschool starts earlier than his old one and is in a different village. Last year we would drop Izzie at school for 9.45am and wander 5 minutes down the road and hang around for preschool to start at 9.10am. Now Ollie has to be in before 9am, and we have to drive there, so its a big rush to get Izzie into school at 8.40am and then get both boys back in the car, and drive three minutes, find somewhere to park and get them both back out and drop Ollie off. We are in and out of the car so much I feel like I’m doing the bloody hokey-cokey. This was also majorly hindered yesterday by the main road being closed, and having to divert all around the tiny (often single track) back lanes, which added another 15 minutes onto a journey I make there and back three times a day.

First day back, and I was already ‘shouty’ mummy. Add that to two kids who were exhausted from being thrown back to school and preschool, by the time Ell got home yesterday evening, I think the only person not in tears was the dog.
This morning, I’ve found myself feeling stressed before we even left the house.
It got me thinking, what can we do to help make weekdays a lot less stressful. I’ve come up with some ideas of things I can do Morning, Lunchtime and Evening and at the weekend to help the days run smoother. I will revisit this in a month to see if it has helped or what I can change. I don’t want to be stressy/shouty/grumpy mummy anymore. Hopefully this will also be helpful to someone else too….

So here goes…

Evenings:
Make lunches for the following day for Ell & Ollie.
Put out clean uniform for Izzie and Ollie and clothes for Mason
Decide what I am wearing the next day.
If my hair needs washing, wash it night (I’m so bad at this, hence why I go through a ton of dry shampoo!)
Make sure bags are packed/restocked and book bag has been checked for homework.
Put a load of washing in the machine with a timer so it has started washing and is ready to put on the line/airer when we come down for breakfast in the morning.
Make sure the dishwasher is loaded and put on and the kitchen surfaces have been cleaned.
Write anything we are short of on the shopping list so I can pop into the shop on the way back from the school run.
Tidy downstairs living area before putting the kids in the bath/bed (and get them to help as its usually their bloody mess!!)

Morning:
Get everyone dressed and hair done before going downstairs.
Hang out washing/put it on the airer.
Empty dishwasher ready to load again.
Put all bags in the car before the kids (means i’m not juggling a toddler and 6 bags whilst trying to lock the dog and make sure the dog doesn’t leg it out the gate).
Make sure everyones coats and shoes are ready to put on when its time to leave.
Get out anything from the freezer needed for tea.

Lunchtime:
Make sure any clean washing from the previous day has been put away before collecting Ollie at 1pm.
Put all dirty lunch dishes and cups into dishwasher.

Afternoon:
Get everyone to put away their bags, shoes and coats as we come in the door from the afternoon school run.
Do any homework before tea!

Weekends:
Make sure Izzie’s lunch choices are in her bookbag.
Complete homework.
Wash school clothes.
Meal plan for the week, and food shop.

Reading this back, it seems like a lot, but I think if I can start implementing all the above ideas, it will help me feel more in control, rather than the crazy, disorganised person I am at the moment. And hopefully there will be less shouting (fingers crossed!). Oh and less ringing Ell at work just to say #fml. Just the housework to do on top and i’m sorted – the joys of being a mum eh?!

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