Even being a professional organiser I often find it difficult at the start of a new year or school term to settle into not only the routines of school but after school activities as well.
Keeping kids active with extra activities is great but advance planning and thought needs to be given to this particularly if you have several kids involved in different activities.
This year I am faced with a larger dilemma than I have had for some years now with the announcement my two boys will be having soccer training on separate nights twice a week. Therefore we will have soccer Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights with games on Sundays. Somewhere amongst this I have to fit in swimming for my youngest and the other battle is fitting in cricket training and games, as the season is not yet over.
Do you face similar issues with your family this year? If so what have you done about it?
My suggestion, as I do at the start of the year or term, is try and spend a few quiet moments nutting it out on paper. Following that I usually try and work out what will work best for the whole family before discussing it with each member. It has to work for all of us and it is important for everyone to be involved in the final plan (naturally for younger children this is unnecessary). Involving everyone means they too have the opportunity to learn valuable skills in time management.
Once a decision has been made I usually put all the entries into my personal calendar and on the family calendar on the wall for all to see. It is a good idea to put the family calendar in a central location as it will assist the whole family with time management and ensure no one double books activities.
Select a calendar format that works for your family – it could be a paper calendar with large squares or spaces for each family member. You could even colour code entries. White board calendars work very well too as they can be revised easily. For older children, electronic calendars are a great idea as they can be easily synchronized between all family members.
Now I am off to put all of the above into practice to solve my own dilemma!
{photo credit: Oude School via photopin cc}
