A mother often wears many hats, taxi driver, cook, housekeeper, bread winner, shoulder to cry and more. So how do you juggle all mom? The following are six secrets of organized moms to help make things easier:
1. Routines. Organized moms serve dinner at the same time each night, have strict bedtime schedules, have after-school routines with homework and socializing. If you want to be an organized mom, you must have a routine that you stick to. This could mean getting your child up at the same time every day and waiting for him to get dressed and make the bed before going in for breakfast. You may have a few different routines, such as your morning routine, your evening and after school routine, and your weekend routine. A routine helps you, the mother, keep things in order and helps your children know what to expect and what is expected of them.
2. Meal plans. Organized moms don’t spend any more time at the grocery store or in front of the refrigerator trying to figure out what to make that night. Organized moms take a few minutes once a week to create a meal plan for the week. Monday: soup, Tuesday: chicken, Wednesday: pizza, Thursday: burgers, the list goes on. The idea is that if you know what you are going to do you can be prepared throughout the day. For example, if you are roasting a chicken for dinner, you will need to remove it from the freezer in the morning so that it can be defrosted at dinner time.
3. Rules. Organized moms have rules or guidelines for their families. They can be simple like dinner at 5:30. Or they can be more complex like, no friends, TV, or snacks until you finish your homework. A mother cannot keep the whole family organized without some participation, so rules and guidelines are helpful. Make them clear and enforce them.
4. Free time. An organized mom doesn’t get too stressed or overwhelmed because she knows when to say no, when to de-stress, and when to take a break. She knows that when she starts to lose her cool, letting Dad take the kids to McDonald’s instead of cooking a good meal is sometimes better, even if it’s not the healthiest option. The organized mom knows when she needs a break and finds out how to do it.
5. Organized home. The organized mom has an organized home. Create a place for everything so that school mornings aren’t rushed through looking for working shoes, backpacks, pens, etc. Instead, everything has a place, and the kids know where things are going, and they contribute by making sure to put their backpack on the hook, in the cubicle, or in any case, the night before.
6. Backup plans. Organized moms always plan ahead and prepare for the worst. They carry a spare outfit, some cash, and phone numbers for friends and family, just in case. They take things easy. So, for example, if her tire gets flat while driving and it’s her rideshare day, the organized mom has the numbers of the other rideshare moms handy and knows which ones can normally swap days. So, have a backup plan.