Pinpoint that stressful time of the day that just seems insane and figure out how to make it less intense. This usually involves finding the calmest part of the day to implement some prep work into.
For me, the crazy time is easy to identify. It’s 3:05pm, the time when my oldest gets off the bus wanting a snack and needing to do homework, I need to prep dinner, my younger two need to be woken up if they have been napping so they will actually go to sleep tonight, and I usually realize I forgot to make an important phone call that needs to be done in business hours-before 5! Plus my daughter needs to be taken to the potty and my baby will probably poop his diaper during this time of day. The house is slightly messy since our morning pick up and the kids all want to do crafts on the dining table meaning it needs to be cleared and washed once they are through, before dinner can be set.
How can I make this time of day less INSANE you ask? Well the most obvious one is get all phone calls out of the way before my oldest gets home. The next is to prep dinner as much as I can early in the day so I can focus more on talking to him about school and helping/reminding him to do homework. Another thing I can do is make snacks before he gets home so I can just set the plate on the table instead of listening to whining while I attempt to get snacks for everyone and do everything at once. Another thing I can TRY is setting a specific time (4:45) as clean up time with a show as reward so they have a regular expectation on the schedule with an incentive of the show. The show may be a welcome time to finish up dinner and attend to diapers or potty trips before I have the kids help set the table for dinner.
So…when do I have time to prep dinner and make the afternoon snack? My baby’s nap is used for reading with my girls, preschool, a board game, and then my workout. There never seems to be a good time for phone calls so those are usually during show time with pbs kids. Dinner and snacks may be prepped during their outside play time with popsicles or during their morning snack when they are all seated eating.
I could also make a goal not to shop online or look at emails, do finances, etc unless dinner is prepped and snacks are ready for after school. Those are things I enjoy doing so I will be more likely to get dinner and snacks and phone calls done more quickly if I set my phone in my top dresser drawer until my list of must-dos is complete!
What time of day is most hectic for you? Mornings trying to get kids off to school? Afternoons of errands with the kids? We want to hear how you regulate the crazy time of your day!