More wisdom from Marie Ricks...

School is starting soon, and I don't know how to juggle school/homework/piano/friends/chores effectively. My kids go to a different school than the one in the neighborhood. They get up at about 6:45 a.m. to be to school by 8 a.m. and then they don't get home until about 3:30 in the afternoon. They have enough time in the morning to make their beds and clear their dishes, and then I don't want to make them do chores as soon as they get home from school because I feel like they have been working hard at school all day. I also don't want to wake them up earlier because they are small and really do need the sleep.

Also, I need help getting ready for the next morning, backpacks, shoes, clothes, lunches, show and tell, shower/bath, etc..It just seems like there is not enough time to do all of these things and prepare dinner, and eat dinner, spend time with dad... How can I balance all of these things through out the coming school year?

Let’s tackle each need separately. I agree with your chore load and scheduling for your children’s mornings. However, when are you going to have them do chores at night? What chores will they do? It is important for all children to have both morning (in this case they make their beds and clear their dishes) and evening chores. Will they do these evening chores before they can eat dinner? Or, will they help with the dinner dishes? Or, do you have other needs in the home where they can help? Just remember, everyone needs to help consistently in some small way. This is part of building a work ethic in children. (Yes, I know they will complain for almost the whole twenty years they will live in your house as children and then spend the rest of their life thanking you for having had to do chores while they were growing up.)

Now to school morning routines. You will need three elements: Make it easier to get dress, help them be independent in the kitchen, and keep their school items all in one place. I have written an article about this on my new web page. See new.houseoforder.com/2010/02/better-school-morning-routines/.

Finally, my best advice about dinner is to prepare it as much as possible before lunch. It will make all the difference in your mood and capacities as the day wears on. Many mothers who have tried this new routine have been grateful for the improvement.

Take care now, Sister M



Address your questions to HYPERLINK "mailto:marie@houseoforder.com" marie@houseoforder.com.