When summer is almost over and you feel that first brisk morning, you automatically become one of two people: those who are already sad that splash pad days are drawing to a close and those already purchasing pumpkin spice everything and wondering if it’s too early to put hay bails on their porches.
Regardless of which category you fall into, as kids head back to school, our schedules for everyday activities change. This time of year is one of my favorites, but it takes some getting used to, as it seems like one day you’re at the pool and BAM! the next day you’re wearing a scarf and your kiddos are wearing all of the layers.
This shift applies to mamas across the board, from first graders to high schoolers, and even those of us with young toddlers. As summer ends and fall emerges, we are all getting in a new routine of school schedules, after school practices, and new toddler classes at the Y. In an effort to try to streamline the transition for everyone involved, there are a few simple ways to simplify your life so you can focus on your family:
Limit YOUR Social Media Time
More often then not we read articles that talk about limiting your children’s screen time, and while I’m a big proponent for that, I think it’s equally as important to do it for ourselves, also. The average person checks Facebook 14 times a day. FOURTEEN! In lieu of deleting your social media accounts, give yourself a certain number of times you’re allowed to look at your Facebook or Instagram account per day, and then hold yourself accountable.
I know I’m not the only one who hops onto Pinterest for one quick search and 30 minutes later I’m feeling like I need a new wardrobe and a new paint color for my whole house-am I right? Instead of aimlessly scrolling whenever you have a free second, you’ll be surprised at how much extra time you have.
Change Your Laundry Frequency
This sounds simple, but this one was seriously a life changer for me! My husband can attest that for whatever reason, laundry used to stress me out to the max. Something about losing motivation halfway through a load and then it would sit in the dryer for days until I found it (only by doing another load). Long story short, I was subconsciously letting laundry ruin my life by feeling like it was always nagging at the back of my mind.
Recently I started doing all of our laundry on Sundays. Every piece of dirty laundry in our house gets washed, dried, folded and put away on Sundays and the other 6 days of the week I don’t let myself think about it. Now of course, if we have a big blowout or something gross happens, I will throw a load in, but knowing when my laundry is going to get done and having that plan in place lets me not think about it for the rest of the week. It’s no longer constantly lingering in the back of my mind. As fall rolls around, I know that on Sundays we will likely be home catching up before the week and watching football, so it seemed like a day I could stick with.
Say “No” Once in a While
We live in a world of “yes.” Yes to brunch, yes to the neighborhood BBQ, and on and on it goes. Now don’t get me wrong, I love both brunch and BBQs, and am 9 times out of 10 a big fan of “yes,” but I think it’s important to remind mamas that it’s okay to say no once in a while!
If saying yes is going to mean you sit in traffic getting across town after back to back kid activities on a Saturday morning, don’t do it! Your friends will still think you are fabulous if you had a mom day from hell and just want to binge on Netflix after bedtime instead of going out for margaritas… and if they don’t, then it may be time for new friends… (call me).
Especially as mamas, we want to make everyone happy and do all the things for all the people we love… All. Of. The. Time. And no matter how much we try to be superwoman, even superwoman get tired and I bet she says no to plans once in a while.
So as days get shorter and your husband starts talking about fantasy football more and more, give the simplicity a try! You may be surprised how only logging into Facebook once a day or skipping drinks with the girls will give you an extra minute (or 30) for yourself to enjoy your pumpkin latte in mama peace.
I see you fall!
