Back To School Tips

In our neck of the desert school has started up. In some ways that means my house stays cleaner and my dishwasher runs a little less frequently. But it also means I have to get creative about scheduling, keeping our home maintained with some semblance of order and planning meals. Here are some things that help keep our family of 7 organized and running smoothly:

1. Everyone has their own laundry basket. This is ESSENTIAL as all 4 of us ladies in the house wear the same size clothes! It's great for sharing clothes but difficult to sort what items belong to whom if we launder them altogether. The 2 younger gentlemen in the house wear close to the same size and share a room. Each having their own laundry basket is game changing! I wash & dry laundry for everyone but each family member is responsible for folding and putting away their own laundry. We utilize our electric services provider's time-of-use energy saving plan which saves on our electric bill when we have set times to use our large appliances. If you're looking to save a few $$$, you may want to see if your energy provider offers something similar.

2. I menu plan. We have a large chalkboard in our dining room with the days of the week on the left and columns for breakfast, lunch & dinner. I started being more consistent with this at the beginning of this year. Each Sunday night I gather input on favorite meals from each family member and make up a menu plan from those suggestions. I create variety in our menu by having a different type of cuisine each night. i.e One night is Italian, another is Mexican food, another Asian cuisine, or Mediterranean or just plain old American food. My kids always end one meal by asking what will be offered at the next meal. Having the board and even asking them to take a photo of it to reference whenever they are curious saves a lot of repetition on my part! Oh! And to help clear out the fridge for the next week, Saturday lunches are often a "Must Go" lunch. That means whatever you can find that we had in a previous meal is up for grabs and "must go" before the next week. If you want your favorite meal from the week a second time, you may want to hurry to the kitchen when it's time for lunch!

   
   

3. Family Calendar on our phones & on the wall. We have a family calendar on our i-phones that anyone can add to. It allows us to keep up with who will be home for dinner each evening and keeps us all in the loop. I transfer the calendar to a chalkboard in our kitchen/dining area each month and add special days, and everyone's special events on it. This way even away from our phones we can see at a glance what we have going on throughout the month. Some days get pretty full while others are empty, allowing us to be spontaneous if we want to do a family night or to spend more quality time with one child if all the other siblings are out for the evening.

4. Load the dishwasher after every meal and run it at the end of the day. In the morning while the kids are outside doing morning chores (feeding the animals, and then getting ready for school) I empty the dishes and prepare breakfast for the family. During the summer I usually have to run it mid-day after lunch, but during the school year, once in the evening is usually enough to keep our kitchen tidy and ready to prepare meals or to just sit at the counter an chat.

These are a few of the things that I feel really help keep our family running smoothly. When my kids were little, I reminded them that keeping their personal items out of the main living areas was a matter of respect for the rest of the family. Can you imagine if all 7 of us left our shoes and bags in the doorway?! Sure 1 pair of shoes isn't going to create complete chaos, but shouldn't everyone have the same rights? If that's true, then 7 pairs add up quite quickly and becomes kinda rude. Everything has a place ( or at least we aim for that goal) and it really does help things go more smoothly. Let me know which tip is your favorite or feel free to share things that make your home your favorite place to be! I look forward to hearing from you!