Organization Efforts!

One thing that helps my family with cooking is to do set aside one day a month to do freezer cooking. We make larger meals, separate them out, freeze them and then in the morning I just pull it out to let it thaw. (If it needs to be thawed.)

I also make, at the least, a weekly menu. This helps when I have no idea what we're having for dinner. Just look at the menu, grab the bag/tin and throw it in the oven (or the ingredients and cook if it's not frozen.)

Hope that helps! Good luck!

As Jennifer H. mentioned, making freezer meals is a HUGE help. I travel 2-3 days per week for my job, and having meals pre-made in the freezer is the only thing that keeps DH sane most nights! If you're unsure of where to start with that, look up Dream Dinners, Super Suppers, Dinner My Way. These are all companies that have franchises and there may be one near you.

In terms of after-school activities, during the school year I limit my kids to one thing they really love. One daughter loves ballet, the other one rides horses. They asked if they could take piano, and I told them we'd try it during the summer, but if they didn't love it enough to give up ballet and horses, then we were going to drop it in the fall. It's just a sad fact of life that with both parents working/traveling, there is no reasonable way for us to get them to all of the practices, events, rehearsals, etc if they are involved in more than one activities.

If you are thinking about going back to school, you may want to think about hiring a mother's helper. Maybe a local college girl? If she has her own car, she can pick up the kids from school, help them with their homework, get them to sports, dance, etc, bring them home, and maybe even get them into the bath, thaw out dinner for you, whatever you need to have happen so you can get home from work, get yourself to school, have time for studying. Given your and your husband's schedules, I think you're going to need an extra set of hands (and wheels) to get everyone where they need to go!

Good luck with everything! I can feel for you. I'm on day 3 of a road trip now, and I'm pretty sure I will come home to chaos tomorrow. Sigh.

The best thing to do is go to the dollar tree and get the charts that they have there and try to get up on a schedule with the charts.I had 5 children in shotokan karate at one time I was going because of their belt colors I was spending 6 days a week at the studio.at all different times afterschool.It will work for you just hang in there.

Take a break from studies for 1-2 weeks now and declutter your house. Toys, old books, paper, clothes, etc. OUT! Keep your life and space REALLY simple by getting organized. For whatever is left over, it MUST have a space. If there is no space for it, it must also go. Get cute organizing tools, like clear bins or something to contain hobby items, etc. that can fit neatly into closets or under beds with space left over. Next, get cute baskets that will help with a quick tidy that can fit neatly into corners. Cancel daily subscriptions and have a storage bin for newspapers; a box for junk mail and a separate folder for bills that need immediate attention. Next, create a schedule of activities your family LOVES and count the cost. Is this a need or maybe something that can be pursued in cycles--like 8 weeks of tennis, 8 weeks of ballet, 8 weeks of soccer? Is there something all 3 can do, like karate or soccer or gymnastics or swimming? Plan for no activities close to holidays if you observe them. You'll need their help getting ready for them. Next, find locations close to home with no more frequency than once per week, if possible. If not possible, partner with another busy parent in those clubs who you can trust to share some of the workload. Someone you know and knows you. Maybe that person can chaperone one month, you the next. Next, cook meals in advance and freeze them. Maybe on either Saturday night or Sunday night. Get to know your crockpot (which I only use when I know I'm home but unable to monitor diligently), and have a pre-planned menu. Keep Lysol wipes in bathrooms for another quick tidy-up. If you can afford quarterly maid service, get it for that deeper clean, and weekly yard service, if Dad can't do that consistently. Have kids draw/outline a reward chart and go to Dollar Store to get stickers. Make sure 3-yr-old is potty trained before you start any activity with older kids. Put kids to bed at 8 and use 8:30-10:30 as your study time. Plan for 10:30 as your time with spouse and get to bed no later than 11 unless you have to write a paper or study for test. Pray. Rest. Take care of yourself. If you have relatives in the area, and you all are close, maybe they can help with some babysitting so you can spend some time with your spouse.

Nothing beats the good old-fashioned calendar on the refridgerator. Or by the back door, just in some central location. I color-code my kids, that way, I can just glance and if I see yellow, then I know my son has something going on, pink is the daughter and blue is my husband! (I get green!!) This way, EVERYONE knows what is going on. My family has come to rely on this. I hear about it if the calendar is late! :)

I also keep a magnet list pad on the fridge. If I need something, it gets written down immediately. If the kids/husband need something, they write it down.

Also, there are some great cookbooks at the library or on-line where you cook for a day and eat for a month. This is time well spent. I'm also working on my Master's and had to be on campus several evening during the week. I could pull out a meal, it was thawed by the time my husband got home and he had dinner for the family with minimal effort. Highly recommend taking the time to look into this.

Cleaning is also scheduled as best I can. I try to do laundry on Sat or Sun so we are ready to go for the week and my husband simply has to help with the rest or the house gets trashed!

Like you, once I have the degree, I hope things will slow down. Until then, I need the lists and charts! You may be able to find some templates on line that you can fill in. Try googling meal planner, etc. and see what comes up. I just find that keeping it simple helps!

Good luck!

I suggest a consultation with a "home organizer" I don't remember their official title but I've seen them work on one of the sites on TV and read about them in women's magazines. They listen to your activities and needs and help you organize your house so that it will work more efficiently. You can pay for a consultation which I think would be less than $100-200 or for their help in getting the job done.

I also suggest finding a preteen or teen to help with the kids and house; babysit, do dishes, do whatever they can do. Perhaps find 2 or 3 preteens or teens. My daughter and her friend babysat full days during the summer they were 12. The parents who hired them said that is the best age for babysitting because they're old enough to be responsible and young enough to not be boy crazy and into their own thing. The parents always hired 2 at a time, saying that the kids do not get overwhelmed and there is always one to make a better decision when one is needed. The children's parents and I were available by phone. The parents were a police officer and a ER nurse. I was apprehensive at first but they won me over to allowing my daughter to do this. The summer went well.

flylady.net has some great ideas and tools...