Being a mom of younger children going to school or crèche means
that, like it or not, besides your normal day job and seeing to your home, you
also have an additional PA role.
Let’s face it, smaller children would leave their own heads
behind if it was not screwed on so it is up to the parents (read in, the mom)
to make sure that the right books are packed, that clothes for various extra
activities are packed and that nobody forgets bakersman, an outfit for some or
other fantasy dress up day (and there is always a dress up day) or show and
tell.
I sort of have a system in place. I know that on Monday’s,
Noodle needs to take an object starting with a certain letter and that Squish
needs a book on Tuesdays. However, try as you may, surprises will always be
sprung on you. Take last week for example. We thought we had spring day sorted-
a plant for Squish to plant (as requested by his teachers) and lovely spring
day outfits packed out the night before. Spring day arrived and I was super
pleased with myself as it was seven a.m. and both kids were dressed and having
breakfast- perhaps we would make it on time for a change! No such luck. Halfway
through breakfast, Noodle pipes up “Don’t forget that we have a picnic today
and we need to take picnic blankets and snacks for the entire class”. This was
the first I was hearing of any picnic so had to spring into emergency action.
Then late last night, when Noodle was sound asleep, her
class Watsapp group came to life, mommies scrambling to find out what was
required for today’s homework. Now, Noodle did not mention anything about
homework yesterday (it is very rare that they have homework per se). Which
meant that this morning, during breakfast, she was scrambling to put something
together.
As my children get older, I do expect them to take more
responsibility for remembering their own stuff but for now, they are just too
young.
So here are my ideas for keeping on top of being a super
mom:
- Keep a monthly calendar on the fridge with everyone’s weekly schedules and what has to be packed for each day.
- Pack lunches the night before and refrigerate.
- Have an emergency stationary stash. Ensure that at all times, you have a supply of coloured cardboard, markers and glitter glue. Keep this in one place, together with scissors, glue and tape.
- ALWAYS have an emergency stash of quick baking ingredients, for example a cupcake mix. Oh and keep an eggless recipe on hand because chances are that when a mommy emergency crops up, it will be 10 p.m. and you will be out of eggs.
- If your child has to take a set amount of money each week for bakersman or some similar activity, have a stack of coins stashed in a convenient place, already sorted into piles of the right amount so that you are not scrambling to find the exact amount of change during morning rush hour.
- If you need to send nappies and spare clothes to nursery school, pack five piles with the right number of each item into individual Ziplock bags over the weekend and then just pop one bag into the bag each day.
Now for me to practice what I
preach! What are your top super mommy time-saving tips?
