The Organized Family

Benefits of Creating a Weekly Meal Plan Do you know what was the biggest relief in terms of family management when my Daughter started to attend kindergarten? I had to think significantly less about meal planning... 😅 I love getting things organized but to be honest, meal planning is something I tend to forget about and leave to the last moment. Luckily I met April, who is such an expert in cooking and meal planning and she was happy to write a guest post for The Organized Family with her best hints ! 😊 Hey! I’m April, the owner of Chaos & Wine ! I’m a mom of 4 boys and chaos reigns in my house! Between homeschooling, cleaning, and running all the errands and carpools plus cooking my life is chaos! With a family of 6, all with busy schedules, having a weekly meal plan is key to keeping us not only fed but organized as well! It also keeps the dreaded question, “What’s for dinner, Mom?” to a minimum! Benefits of Creating a Weekly Meal Plan I’ll be honest creating my family’s

How to set up the best routine for the little time we have on weekdays after school?  Well, this is something I assume most families with younger kids are facing quite often... What are the best after-school activities? What after-school routine should you follow to be able to fulfill all required tasks while also finding a way for bonding with your Little Ones? In our busy lives, it's easy to forget that there is a time of day when we can actually have some downtime. Now, I'm not talking about those long, drawn-out family dinners where everyone talks at once and you can't hear your child's voice over the din. I'm talking about a time of day when you can just sit down and be with your children. You know, where they can talk to you with no interruptions and you can listen to them ask all their questions about school, life, and what the best part of the day was. The biggest advantage of having a routine for after school is that you'll never have to think twice

How to reduce screen time? Most parents need to face a debate about screen time at some point...  Even if you are having a no screen time policy at home, your kids might have questions and requests as soon as they meet others who do watch cartoons, or use a tablet on a daily basis.  What is the right amount of screen time you can allow?  One big concern about it is that screen time can take up soooo much time from other fun and useful things! So here we are, all families need to find a great balance regarding screen time that fits the best their lifestyle and circumstances.  This should ensure the healthy development of the kids, and leave time for family bonding and other activities, while also being acceptable to the kids - so no fights all the time. Great challenge, isn't it? Why reducing screen time is important? Screen time is a growing concern for many parents and educators. As a result, there are many resources available to help you reduce your child’s screen time. While i

Benefits of journaling for Moms I used to do journaling as a kid and a teen... definitely enjoyed seeing my thoughts on paper 😀 Now as a Mother I find journaling a great way to have some me-time and recharge my batteries and mental wellness. Journaling also helps your thoughts get organized! I recently came across a few interesting articles about the further benefits of journaling. Based on these inspirations, I put together a Gratitude Journal that I will be able to use on a daily basis - and hopefully, I will also enjoy checking back to it years later 😊 So what are the benefits of journaling? And why (and how 😅) a busy Mom should find some time for it? 😊  Photo: pexels.com Top 8 Benefits of Journaling 1. Gratitude One of the best benefits of journaling for Moms is gratitude.  It happened to me lately, that I was so stressed and worried about a bunch of daily tasks to fulfill... and then spoke to someone with a serious health issue... At that moment I re-evaluated my whole situat

Age-appropriate Chores Little kids are always curious and happy to help with whatever tasks and chores we are doing even from very early ages 😊 For me what was hard to learn is how to let my Little One help me ... at the beginning, this "help" definitely means a huge mess, and sometimes even can raise questions about safety and security. So it is a never-ending but really important learning process for us, to find out with what tasks and how she can support me that leads to either great time spent together or some real help 😅 I collected a few hints that you can start with when developing your own family routine about chores! Get Your Kids Involved In The Meal Prep Process It’s important to get your children involved in the meal prep process so they can learn how to cook - and that the meals are not just "appearing"... If you have young kids, this is especially important because it will help them develop their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination as we

Mom morning routines In most cases, the ones managing the morning routine for the whole family are the Moms . I was absolutely not a morning person before my Daughter was born... Well, then I did not really have the chance to wake up late 😀 It was a bit easier in terms of time management when I was still at home with her and could set up our daily routine according to her development and needs.  The whole thing became tricky when I went back to work, and she started in a nursery school... We had to develop a totally new routine, while everything was new for us! What I did, was ask friends with a bit older kids, who already faced this transition, and tried to follow their advice. Now I collected the best morning routine tips I got, tested, and developed the hard way 😅  Feel free to use these and let me know if you would add anything else! Photo: pexels.com Time Management Luckily I love organizing, and time management is basically organizing our life around the clock 😊 And Moms wil