Like, for real.
No more fucking around.
Rather than trying to go psycho on the whole entire house, I chose to start in the area that would help me the most.
The kitchen. And even more specifically, the fridge and pantry.
I chose just three shelves to take care of: one in the pantry and two in the fridge.
They are now neat, clean, and food choices for the kids are easily accessible.
Today I just picked one shelf in the mudroom refrigerator. I cleared it off and cleaned it.
And that is now the shelf for all the kids’ lunch boxes.
Three of their lunches are already made, and I didn’t have to spend any time trying to find a space to shove a lunch box. The kids know exactly where to put their stuff.
The kids picked out their outfits for every day next week (after we checked the weather first). The places where the kids put their clothes aren’t exactly how I’d like them, but we will get to that.
Backpacks are packed and hanging in the mudroom. That room isn’t organized the way I’d like it to be either, but we will get to that, too.
So we are pretty well set for the morning.
I know there are people who have their kids get dressed first thing before they come out of their rooms.
I don’t do things that way.
There is no way all of my kids could make it through eating without spilling something on themselves.
And tooth brushing is dangerous, too.
So our order of events in the morning is eat, brush teeth, and then get dressed.
Inevitably, tomorrow morning they will all sleep later than they have all summer long.
In the past, I have felt sorry for them, and I let them sleep up until the last possible minute.
Not anymore.
The extra sleep they get doesn’t make up for how rushed and stressed they are trying to adjust to the new schedule and get out the door.
They are all getting up an hour before the bus is scheduled to arrive.
That means I need to do three things myself.
- Make sure my clothes for tomorrow are all set. Workout clothes, and real grown up clothes, because tomorrow morning I need to take Number 6 to his first day of kindergarten, and I need to look presentable.
- Get stuff for breakfast figured out tonight so there’s no rush where that’s concerned.
- Wake up at least an hour and a half before Number 3 has to get up. Number 2 gets on the bus first, but he’s fine. He can take care of himself. But Number 3 is a little stressed about the first day of middle school. He’ll need some reassurance and attention. And before I can give that to him, I need to give that to myself. I need time to ease into the day. I need time to do a quick workout. I want to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee on the back deck and then take a shower before the madness begins.
Make sure you do the same tomorrow! Get your butt out of bed before the kids! If you haven’t been doing this, sure, you’ll be tired, but you won’t be running around like a lunatic. And when you start the day off that way, you don’t mind losing a little bit of sleep.
You got this! I’ll be thinking about your family tomorrow and look forward to an update of how the first day or week went!
This is like watching one of your single party buddies get married and give up cocktails and late nights! We’ve always relied on you to make us feel better about not having our shit together and now you’re going military on us? ? ok deep down I’ve always known my ‘winging it’ style for the mornings and that extra 20 minutes after the alarm is not really the way to start the day….and I get you’ve got a REALLY good reason for needing organisation and calm, so, do you know what? I’m going to join in…mine don’t start till Friday (?) this week so you’re on, I’ve got time to follow your lead. In fact it’s 8am now and the kids are still sleeping so I’m going to drag them out of bed to start adjusting their poor little body clocks back to early nights and early mornings. Good luck with your first day! X
I love the whole idea f eat, brush, dress. it makes perfect sense
That’s my biggest issue: Making myself get up first. I hate waking them (my place is real small) and, hell, I hate waking myself up. But you’re right that the chaos you create when everyone sleeps in is totally not worth those extra minutes of sleep.
You are an inspiration! I thought it was hard with four kids! 7! You’re a rock star!