7 Ways to Make Your Family Routine Better

It is still summer, but you are already feeling the stress of back to school? No need. Follow our 7-simple back to school tips for families to get the new year off on the right track. Enjoy the rest of your summer, relax and know you will be ready when the time comes to conquer another busy school year with the whole family.

1 Get your child ready

Talk about what the next year might bring, strike up a conversation, and read books that address some of the fears and anxieties they may be experiencing. Role-playing is an excellent way to ease into new experiences. Talk about your families back to school traditions and perhaps remind them that fall is around the corner – along with-it Halloween and apple pie. Whatever gives your child the opportunity to look forward to the new year ahead. Let them pick out a few of their school supplies – like a snazzy new folder or new lunch bag. It will help give them some control and help them feel included in the process.

Another great way is to create or print out routine cards that indicate the things they will need to do (i.e. take a bath, brush teeth, and put on your shoes) and the activities they may have during school (i.e. gym class, Spanish or computers). If you practice with them before school starts, it will help them to visualize what they can expect.

2 Relax the Schedule in the Beginning

While you may want to just dive right into a new schedule, switching from summer to back to school is a huge transition. Depending on how you spent the summer, try to ease into a new schedule. Slowly change bedtimes by 10 minutes at night and 10 minutes earlier in the morning. Parents will probably need to readjust their schedules too, as fun as all the summer binge-watching was!

3 Meal Plan Family Dinners

When back to school comes, we tend to switch from lighter summer eating to heavier foods. While these are great in moderation, try to remember the summer salads you enjoyed. Ditto for the popsicles – summer is made for ice -cream, try replacing it with frozen yogurt or an apple instead. Fall is an excellent time to incorporate harvest foods like apples, pears, pumpkin, beets, Brussels sprouts, cranberries, and sweet potatoes into your family dinners. Lastly, try to sit down together for a meal at least 3-5 times per week to talk about your day. Studies show that kids benefit from eating as a family⁽¹⁾:

• Kids learn more rare words during dinnertime conversation – 1,000 words on average
• Teens are twice as likely to get A’s when eating dinner with their family at least 5 times per week
• More likely to eat more vegetables and fruit
• Less likely to be obese
• More likely to eat healthier as adults
• Studies also show that the kids that have regular family dinners are less likely to smoke, binge drink, use drugs or experience problems at school
• Lower rates of depression and suicidal thoughts

Another tip: Embrace freezer cooking – back to school is a busy time of the year – make things easy by cooking an extra meal or two on the weekends and freezing them. Other great time savers include one-pan cooking, crock-pot or instant pot and Meatless Mondays. Take the pressure off yourself as parents to provide home-cooked, healthy meals without the fuss. Looking for healthy recipes the whole family will love, check out Food Network’s Family friendly weeknight dinners recipe list.

4 Be Organized

Set up a command center – this can be as simple as a family calendar on the wall and a wall pocket for important school papers. A dry erase board for family tasks can also be useful. If your kids have lots of activities, you can also color-code everyone, so it is easy at a glance. Having an online family calendar linked to your smartphone with reminders and events can also keep everyone on the same page. When information comes in – due dates, field trips, parent meetings, and parent volunteer obligations – put it on the calendar right away.

Other ways to stay organized include

• When school supplies are on super discount the beginning of the year, pick up a few extras. You will be grateful when your kid tells you they need a new glue stick or notebook the morning before school starts. Another genius lifehack? Homework caddies – keep supplies they need for homework on hand and easy to access.
• Organize your car. Store some juice boxes, granola bars, a first aid kit (for those scraped knees at soccer practice) and baby wipes.
• Plan a daily routine for your kids. Bedtime routine, morning routine. Make sure they have their clothes for the next day ready to go. Assign a place that backpacks and lunchboxes always go.
• Try a bullet journal notebook to keep all the last-minute tasks you think of when you are on the go, it is easy to set-up and as simple as using a regular spiral notebook.
• Try an online family organizer such as Cozi or a visual board organizer like Trello These apps can easily be shared between members of your family including the kids and work on most smartphones.
• Organize your fridge so that your kids can pack their own lunches by setting up lunch stations that you can stock weekly or biweekly.

5 Make lunches and snacks while you prep dinner

You are already making food, you are already running around helping with homework or taking care of that email for work. Crank up the music and don’t forget your own healthy lunches for the next workday. The sooner you get it over with, the more time you can relax that night and dare we say get an extra 10 minutes sleep in the morning?

Don’t stop at lunch – throw in a load of wash, put on a timer for 15 minutes and get your kids to help you do a “racing clean up” around the house, or just sit down and catch up on your kids day.

6 Date Night

With the hustle and bustle of the new school year, you may be so focused on the kids that you forget about each other. Make sure you schedule a date night a couple of times a month. Go to the movies or snuggle up on the couch for one. Go to dinner or bowling or your backyard for a glass of wine. Just make it a priority.

7 Create a bucket list for fall

Back to school can’t be all work and no play. Enjoy time as a family. Plan the next season together. Make memories and relax together. Everyone needs downtime. While homework may suddenly be monopolizing family time, take a break and look forward to days that feel more like the summer did. Except with pumpkin spice and spooky movies marathons.

This is a great way to encourage your kids to be unplugged, explore new interests and expand on lessons they are learning in school. Here are 101 things to do in the fall with your kids.

Kids are a lot of work and keep parents very busy all year round, but back to school can be stressful. Take the stress level down and make it a healthier and happier transition by revamping your family routine.