Jennifer Roskamp is a mother of eight, so she knows a thing or two about chaos, especially when the school year rolls around. Roskamp home schools all of her kids, so in between teaching, taking care of the kids, and managing the Intentional Mom blog, she's always looking for ways to simplify life and save a few bucks.
During the week, life gets too chaotic with school activities, assignments, and other responsibilities. The Intentional Mom says that the best time to prepare for a busy school week is on the weekend, when there's no school and parents' schedules are most open.
Here's a couple of tasks parents can do ahead of time to make the school week less chaotic for everyone:
- Meal plan for all three meals on the weekend.
- Meal prep on the weekend, do not go through the drive-thru.
- Choose outfits for young kids on the weekend, that way there's no morning stress during the school week.
- Creat and stock lunch making bins. Young kids can even make their own lunches and snacks just by grabbing already prepared food from the bin.
- Create a backpack station and system for before and after school. Kids unpack their bag right away, pack everything they need in it the night before, then place it in the proper storage area.
- Put gas in the car over the weekend, that way there's no stress to get it during the hectic week.
A checklist of these items can be found here, so parents won't forget what they need to get done before the week starts.
For more helpful tips on meal prep, life hacks, and saving money, go to theintentionalmom.com.
