Annabel had a lovely orientation day — she was slightly nervous but appeared more excited. I attended the last Zoom orientation session so have a bit of an idea what the year has in store for all 3 kids.
We had a family meeting last night about the morning routine.
We asked the kids what time they thought they should wake up in order to leave the house by 7:30.
G: Uhhhh . . . 5:30?
C: 6:50?
A: 6:30
We settled on 6:40, since their clothes are laid out and getting ready doesn’t take too much time for them (and sometimes too much extra time backfires).
Then we asked about bedtime, and what seemed reasonable to allow for this 6:40 wakeup. (The summer wakeup time has been more like 7:00 – 7:15, though some days at least one kid is up earlier)
G: 5:30? (her stock answer apparently)
C: 8:30
A: 9:00
We then told them 8:00 for G (upstairs at 7:30, bed at 8), 8:30 for A&C (upstairs at 8, reading until 8:30). THEN we proceeded to miss this deadline entirely on day 1, but I think G was at least in bed by 8:30 and the other two shortly afterwards.
This morning I hope things go smoothly! Their clothing bins (downstairs) and now reorganized to include uniforms in one bin for each kid, and I think actually setting out the entire day’s outfit the night before does pay off (and our nanny had the idea of doing this!). I took breakfast “orders” last night though only one kid committed.
AND, Josh’s case was cancelled (#covid) so he is driving the kids. The best part about this one-drop-off scenario is that most days, Josh or I can take them. This leaves our nanny’s schedule more flexible so she can help with nights the kids have activities.
I also decided to play with a new daily layout to celebrate the season. Shown below is a kitlife undated daily that I purchased for review (okay, and to play with).
Kitlife planners are known for their low price points and wellness focus. I have to say, for $25 I was impressed (currently on sale for $20). The rings are not quite as heavy duty as say EC, but the paper is decent and the layout is incredibly functional for me.
Okay off to get a jump on my workout so I can help the morning go smoothly (I will likely get ready after everyone else leaves, since I don’t need to be at work until the luxurious hour of 8:30).
7 Comments
I’ve started reading Smart but Scattered too! Hope to learn some actionable ideas from it.
Oooooohhhh…. 8:30 is positively decadent!
Sarah, I’ve so enjoyed your perspective on these rough times and it truly makes me feel less alone.
OMDG—what happened to your blog?? I miss your sane perspective!
Good luck to all of your kids!! I hope they have a great year. Love the input from the 3 year old on time. 6:40am wake-ups sound glorious to me as my kids are early risers and are up between 5:30-6am no matter what is going on. They’re in bed by 7/7:30 so I guess we made trade offs there.
Too funny about G’s stock answer of 5:30. I dont’ think our 3.5yo has ANY concept of time of day. Ha. It is a pretty nebulous concept, though. He has an ok to wake clock so the only way he really believes it’s bedtime is if the clock’s eyes are closed! Anyways, your conversation about when to get up/go to bed was very in sync w/ the Lazy Genius’s podcast this week about getting out the door! We have a pretty tight schedule. The 3.5yo needs to be up by 6:20 to get out the door by around 7. The baby is easier since I just have to feed him so he can get up as late as 6:40 but I rarely have to wake him up. It’s much less stressful to get everyone out the door w/ me WFH since I am not getting myself ready! My husband does drop off/pick up 3-4 times/week since he goes into the office that often so I get it pretty easy!
Hope they all have a wonderful school year!!
Hi Sarah – I was just listening to the recent BOBW podcast episode about the 10 work tips. I appreciated some of your amendment’s to Laura’s suggestions – it’s helpful to hear how someone may incorporate ideas differently. You mentioned needing to schedule in your Friday week planning session, I am curious what time do you try to do that? Morning or afternoon? I also work in a place where any white space is available to be claimed for a meeting so I am going to try blocking out a planning session.
So exciting to do a single drop-off pick up. We will be in the same boat as you next month with my younger one starting Junior Kindergarten (4 years old) and my older one being in Grade 3. Though, covid is really taking some of that excitement away 🙁 I just signed my kids up for the before and after care in the school which will be amazing for us but I am feeling weird about it – i know we need it and it’s open and they are taking reasonable protocols (and following all school and child care guidelines) but i feel this omnipresent parent shaming for taking childcare out of the house (any ‘risk’ is ‘risking my kids’! it feels kind of like pregnancy and all the ‘rules’ that everyone has an opinion on). I need to let it go and be confident in our decision. My little one is so psyched to go with the big kids to school. It’s very sweet!