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Stress-free weeknights
Filed under: Just For Moms, Just For Dads, Mealtime, Chores
It's 6:00 on a weeknight -- do you know where dinner is? Or where your sixth grader's homework is? How about the clean laundry? Or your sanity?
Weeknights can be a nightmare, especially when the kids are in school, because suddenly there's so much to get done and so little time to do it. And if you're trying to get it all done at the end of a long work day, it can be even harder. So how do you keep your weeknights from becoming one big blur of not getting things done? By using your weekends wisely, of course.
Take a minute to think about what causes you the most stress during the week: the cooking? the laundry? the homework? Use the weekend to get ahead, if it's at all possible. Cook big meals and freeze leftovers, or shop for easy-to-assemble meals that you can pull together in less than 20 minutes. Get all the laundry done and put away, and identify what it is that you're running out of during the week; if everyone is always out of underwear by Wednesday, for example, it might be time to buy everyone some more underwear.
For things that can't be done ahead -- homework, for example -- create a routine and stick to it. Have kids sit at the table and do their work while you assemble dinner. If your kids are at after care or with a sitter after school, start the evening by looking through their homework to make sure it's all done. Create a specific place in your house for kids to drop notes and forms that have to be signed and returned; check this space every day and deal with things as they come in.
Finally, make a commitment to sit with your kids and hear about their day. The laundry can wait, we promise.
Weeknights can be a nightmare, especially when the kids are in school, because suddenly there's so much to get done and so little time to do it. And if you're trying to get it all done at the end of a long work day, it can be even harder. So how do you keep your weeknights from becoming one big blur of not getting things done? By using your weekends wisely, of course.
Take a minute to think about what causes you the most stress during the week: the cooking? the laundry? the homework? Use the weekend to get ahead, if it's at all possible. Cook big meals and freeze leftovers, or shop for easy-to-assemble meals that you can pull together in less than 20 minutes. Get all the laundry done and put away, and identify what it is that you're running out of during the week; if everyone is always out of underwear by Wednesday, for example, it might be time to buy everyone some more underwear.
For things that can't be done ahead -- homework, for example -- create a routine and stick to it. Have kids sit at the table and do their work while you assemble dinner. If your kids are at after care or with a sitter after school, start the evening by looking through their homework to make sure it's all done. Create a specific place in your house for kids to drop notes and forms that have to be signed and returned; check this space every day and deal with things as they come in.
Finally, make a commitment to sit with your kids and hear about their day. The laundry can wait, we promise.
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