Start at Home || Back to School Rhythms and Routines

I had the best intentions of starting our school year off with a bang, but real life took hold Tuesday night in the form of a wicked sore throat for me and a little virus called croup for Mila.  I had my first day of classes on Tuesday and by the time I had been up in front of students all day long, my throat felt like a piece of shredded meat.  I picked the kids up, the last ones picked up of the day, and told them we were going to play a little game of charades the rest of the night because I was done talking.  They got a kick out of it and enjoyed their first McDonald's happy meals in quite some time.  Wednesday, Mila woke up with a low grade fever and a cough that sounded like the dog across the street.  Beau stayed home in the morning and I came home for the afternoon.  With appointments he couldn't get out of, I brought both kids with me to Cruz's backpack night, helped him label his markers and glue sticks while holding a sick little girl.  Thankfully, Cruz has stayed healthy and enjoyed a great first day of school yesterday, but Mila had to miss her first day of 3-year old preschool.  She was okay with it, and has enjoyed ample TV time and snacks on the couch while we've juggled work and other back-to-school things this week.  The bright side has been lots of unexpected snuggles and a lingering slowness that has kept us in check as we head into a busier season of all things school.  

Other than our unexpected August sick days, I have spent a lot of time in my journal this month reflecting on the back-to-school rhythms and routines that will help us stay happy, healthy, and connected on the home front.  Some of the rhythms that became part of our summer were good for all of us, and I've been thinking of ways to continue them on into the school year, just adapted to a busier schedule and two working parents again.  I really do love when the seasons change and we get a chance to reevaluate how we're doing around here.  I always nest a bunch in August, too, as the days start to get a little shorter and signs of fall call us home.

Today, I'm sharing ten back-to-school routines I started here this week.  We're only two days in, but so far they are proving successful in making our little pupils a little more independent and me a little more sane. :)

1. Morning/Evening Job Charts || We started morning jobs this summer while at home and had success, especially with Cruz, BUT Mila needed a little more encouragement and direction.  So thanks to this wonderful site on Etsy, I was able to customize both morning and nightly job charts with the sweetest clip-art to correspond with each job so Mila could work through it independently.  I laminated them and have dry erase markers that can be erased each week.  And, their completed jobs earn them commission on the weekend.  We're starting with a dime per job, which would equal five bucks a week if fully completed!

    
2. Days of the Week Clothes Organizers || Because picking out our clothes in the morning tends to become an issue with Mila more often than not, I wanted a system that would organize a week's worth of clothes for the kids opposed to picking them out in the morning or laying them out every night.  I made an open spot in their closet and love these plastic closet organizers from The Container Store.  And...they help me stay focused on laundry to ensure the kids have what they need for the week ahead.  Now I need to do this with my own wardrobe!

  
3. Magnetic Cups for Bedtime || It never fails, the kids always ask for water at the most inconvenient times!  This summer, I swear Cruz would come in the house and ask for a glass of water ten seconds before Mila was about asleep for her nap.  Every day!  So rather than completely reorganizing cupboards in order to put their cups where they can reach them, I found these magnetic cups on Amazon and ordered them immediately.  The kids love the independence and I love saying, "Go get your own!" ;)

4. Quiet time after school || This is a routine we started last school year and it's such a nice way to transition from the work/school day to our night at home.  I restock their baskets with new materials and supplies every month or so and get to open my book, too.  Yesterday, we all took our reading material to the front porch together after school.  Taking 20-30 minutes to pause and be still before dinner, homework, and play is good for all of us and I love the quiet atmosphere that follows after we've all just chilled a little!

   
5. Family pickup and chore sticks after supper || One of the best additions to our summertime routine was that of daily chores for the kids.  I wanted to keep this part of our routine during the school year, but had a hard time envisioning how this was going to work in our already full mornings. Then, sitting around the fire with Kate in Decorah, she encouraged me to think about doing some of this at night instead.  Now, every night after dinner, we clean up the table and then do a big family pickup.  When/if the house is generally in good shape, then the kids draw a chore stick.  Last night, while I was cleaning counter tops, Cruz was vacuuming under the couch cushions and Mila was sorting a load of laundry!  What I love most about this is the feeling of a picked up house after the kids go to bed.  Priceless!

6. Online grocery orders || A goal for me this school year is to keep our Sundays as duty-free as possible.  I want Sundays reserved for family - for lazy afternoons, for walks at Hartman and warm soups for supper.  But in order for this to happen, some of the usual Sunday tasks have to get redistributed.  Typically, Sunday is our grocery day, but I'm going to try and take care of on Fridays instead.  I keep a running list of things we're out of during the week, sit down at some point to do a meal plan for the following week, and use Hy-Vee Aisles Online to order our groceries and have them delivered sometime Saturday morning.  This alone has freed up our Sundays dramatically and I like having the groceries here and put away Saturday morning in case I want to do a little food prep for the week. 

7. Dinnertime talk || I'm committed to making family dinners a priority, utilizing more slow cooker recipes and easy, wholesome meals that don't take a lot of time in the kitchen during the school year.  One of our favorite dinnertime rituals is to go around and share our favorite and least favorite thing that happened that day.  It creates some great opportunities to have real conversation and keep us connected. 

8. Lemon in my (hot) water || I turned on the tea kettle as soon as I was home Tuesday when my throat was so sore.  I didn't feel like tea, so I squeezed a lemon in a mug of steamy water and it immediately soothed my throat and everything else in my life!  Since then, I've had a cup of hot water with lemon in the morning and before bed every day since.  It's one of my favorite simple pleasures right now! 

9. One load a day || One load of laundry, start to finish, every day of the week. 

10. Get up before the rest of the house || For time in my Bible, in my journal, in prayer.  Hands down the best way to ensure a centered day.   

Happy first week of school!  Blessings to you and yours as you head into a new season.