My friend looking at all the papers tacked to my bulletin board said: “Your bulletin board is making me stressed out!’
Me: “Right!?”
My friend: “How do you keep track of everything you have going on?”
Me: [silence and a blank stare]
I had this conversation with one of the women in my Book Club. As we sat at my kitchen table eating dinner while discussing the selected book, the conversation drifted to school, schedules, and stress. We are a group who have met monthly since our kids were in kindergarten. We have congratulated each other on triumphs and commiserated when things weren’t going so well. Often we chat about the book for a short time, then spend the majority of the Book Club talking about our kids.
A constant conversation topic in my Book Club is schedules, and more specifically keeping up with all of the many and varied activities that our children do. We all have at least one child. Our children are involved in everything from soccer to drama to music to church activities. Most of our kids are involved in not one, but a couple of activities. It’s a lot to keep track of. See that green sports chair in the photo above? That chair has been taken to soccer, basketball, lacrosse, and volleyball games.
Since our children don’t drive and more often than not don’t keep track of every facet of the family schedule, except what pertains directly to them and even then they may forget their own sports practice unless reminded, it falls to the moms to keep track of the family schedule. Our group is only women…I know that dads have a handle on the family schedule, too.
When my children were little, the family calendar was used only to keep track of “Yellow Day at Preschool” or a doctor appointment or two. We had days where we had absolutely no plans other than to wake up, eat, play with toys, play outside, etc. How I miss those days of freedom from appointments and practices. 🙁
Over the years as piano lessons and sports practices were added to the family calendar, I had to stop buying the wall calendar with only one tiny square for each day. We ran out of room! As our family grew from one child, to two children, and finally to three children, and of course two adults, I found that a larger “Mom Schedule Calendar” was the only way I could keep track of piano lessons, soccer games, after school art classes, and music lessons.
For the last few years, the family schedule has become more complicated as I have three children at three different schools. To keep track, I add all school functions to the mom schedule calendar, regularly look for conflicts, and then solve transportation issues. As much as I fret and worry over the minute details of our schedule, I miss stuff. I once forgot to pick up my daughter from school until she called to ask me where I was. #schedulingfail
Some days managing my family’s schedule seems like a full-time job. Other days I handle what I see on the calendar with ease. This kid needs to go to soccer practice. Got this. The other kid needs to get a ride home from school. I’m on it. Through the flux and chaos of our family, there is one constant…if a kid is signed up for an activity, a kid will be taken to that activity, except in cases of bad weather or sickness.
One tip for keeping up with the weeknight chaos is to keep dinner simple. I’m not a gourmet, cook-from-scratch cook. I rely on a few dinner options that are easy to make and the kids will eat. A couple of handy additions to my dinner menu are from Tyson:
- Mini Chicken Sandwiches with Cheese
- Egg Bacon and Cheese Breakfast Bread Bowls (we often have “breakfast for dinner”
- Chicken Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Mini Bread Bowls
- Chicken Bacon Club Mini Bread Bowls
- Chicken Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Mini Bread Bowls
- Chicken Breast Strips
- Chicken Breast Filets
From soccer practice to PTA meetings, feeding an active and busy family can be hard. Tyson® Mini Bread Bowls help you get a little goodness on the go.
Reply below to let me know what activities keep you and your family eating on the go and you could win $500 cash from Tyson Foods!
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Tyson. The opinions and text are all mine. Official Sweepstakes Rules.
