Member Questions

Re: kids' lunches - I totally agree with MaryP. I did this with my son, and he made his own lunches from third grade through high school. I'm trying to convince my husband to work himself out of this job for the two mornings a week he takes his kids to school - his daughter (13) says she makes her own school lunches on the mornings they leave from their mom's house anyway, so she'd be fine with it. My stepson (8) is a morning daydreamer/dawdler, though, and his dad worries about them being out on time.

As for my own routines, on Sundays I make my lunches for work and get my office outfits ready for the entire week. It helps a LOT.

We have a school night routine that starts Sunday evening. It includes the kids making sure their backpacks are ready to go, lunches (if they want them from home) are packed, they pick their clothes for the next day, and take their showers, brush teeth, etc. I don't do anything that prepares us for the entire week. Just one morning at a time.

What I should be doing is sleeping, but since that doesn't seem to be in the cards, I'm answering this question! I think, because I homeschooled my kids till they were about ten or so, I never got into the habit of preparing them for their school day. They've always gotten themselves out of bed, dressed, and made their own lunches. (Since they were ten; before that there was no morning deadline.) So that makes things easier. My husband does the meal planning.

Tip: if you give kids a format for their lunches (you must include two fruit or vegetables, one or two grain, one protein - something like that), they can be preparing their own lunches by the time they're seven or so. (If that's years away for you, bear it in mind, and get them to help with the lunch prep, so they know how to organize a healthy lunch by the time they are seven or so!) Work yourself out of that job!

I make sure we have groceries for the week along with clean clothes, and try to have an idea of what I will cook each night. I also make lunch for my son every evening, get his backpack ready for school in the morning, and lay out his clothes.