Life can be hectic and chaotic in general, but add kids into the mix and it seems to double responsibilities and obligations.
If you have children, it’s even more important to simplify your life, not only for your sanity but also to be a good role model for them.
Teach them early on that no matter what society says, they can choose to live a peaceful, simpler life.
Extracurricular Activities
Have each child choose one extracurricular activity—some parents are run ragged by getting their kids to all their various activities.
This is certainly the case when there are several children in the family.
Decide now that each child can choose only one extracurricular activity per year or season, depending on how much you feel you can handle.
They may grumble in the beginning, but they too will enjoy a less stressful schedule.
Getting Out The Door
Create an out-the-door basket—set up an area right beside the door that you go out of in the mornings and designate a basket for each child (and adult).
Before bed, each person is responsible for gathering up everything they need to take with them the next day and putting it in their basket.
This makes mornings go much smoother!
Lunch Menus
Create a weekly lunch menu—before you go shopping for the week, sit everyone down and come up with one lunch menu for everyone for the week, with very little variation.
In other words, no one is allowed stuff that no one else likes. They can have that at home during the week.
For example, buy turkey and ham and the kind of cheese everyone agrees on. Buy one or two types of fruit and vegetables only.
Purchase one type of bread that everyone likes, even if it’s not their favorite.
Then on Sunday late afternoon, gather everyone in an assembly line and together, make all the lunches for the week at once.
Since there’s very little variation, this will make it go quickly and be one less thing you have to do each morning during the week.
Back to School Lunch Making Hacks
Today I’m collaborating with Cass from Clutterbug and today we’re sharing some of our school lunch hacks.
School Lunch Ideas for KIDS
Today I’m sharing a week’s worth of school lunch ideas. I try to make lunch healthy(ish) and fun for my kids without driving myself crazy or taking all day to make their lunch.
BEST Kid Snacks & Lunch system! Ideas, hacks, tips…
The other day on Instagram I showed you our snack drawer for our kids. It basically broke the internet! So as promised, here’s a video all about how we do kids snacks, lunch, and even mealtimes.
Screen Time
How do you manage screen time? Our Simple System
Managing screen time can be a real struggle for parents! Today we’ll talk about how we manage screen time at our house with out apps or charts!
This video tutorial will teach you how to limit screen time on the iPhone.
Screen Time is a new iOS 12 feature that allows you to track iPhone usage and app usage, then set a screen time limit with a passcode.
Restrictions on the iPhone parental controls are great but Screen Time enhances this with options for setting time limits on apps, password protecting apps and even scheduling time kids can use the iPhone apps.
You can set parental controls on apps like YouTube, Instagram or Snapchat.
Stuffed Animals
STUFFED ANIMAL STORAGE HACKS!
In today’s video we are tackling a subject that many of us struggle with…STUFFED ANIMALS! They’re cute, they’re fuzzy and they take up A LOT of room!
If your family is like ours, you have way to many stuffed toys and they are taking up lots of room.
Today I am sharing some stuffed animal storage hacks to help you organize, display and rotate those fuzzy friends and gain back control of your house!
Toys in Bedrooms? Stuffed Animals?
Organizing Stuffed Animals: Yes, we too believe they multiply in our children’s sleep!
A simple way to pare them down plus conversation about whether or not kids should have toys in their bedroom?
And what to do when kids are having a REALLY hard time letting go of toys!!
Slow It Down
Move more slowly—no matter what you do. Build in more time between activities so you aren’t rushing through eating dinner, for example, so you can get homework and dishes out of the way.
Set rules for no running in the house, no dashing out the door without sitting down to breakfast.
Start savoring your time with your family—it’s one of the best things you can do for all of you.
