12 Sep The Children Are Back In School – 7 Ideas For Using Your Time Well
Summer is gone – that went fast, did it not? And the kids are back in school, finally into a regular routine that dictates how a lot of their days are spent.
Between time in the classrooms, time spent at after-school activities and time en route, the children are gone for a substantial part of the day now.
This is your opportunity to make the most of your hours without them, and get to tasks you had to postpone or abandon altogether when they were at home all day, or you were supervising them when the whole family went on vacation. Now is your chance to get things done!
While taking an occasional yoga or dance class is fine, assuming your employer approves, of course, it’s important that you take care of all your duties at home, first. School days present you with a window of time that enables you to get at chores too long ignored, like the ones we’ve listed here:
1. Cleaning cupboards, high shelves, the fridge and other areas
When the kids are home, all your attention is focused on them. So taking all the good china and silver out of the china cabinet, cleaning and dusting it is not something you likely had time to do. Now, you can devote several hours to this, and get the “good” tableware and silver ready for party season — Halloween, Christmas and New Year’s Eve. It’s never too early to have these items at the ready, for a dinner party or other social event your employer needs help with. And take time to wipe out the fridge. You don’t need to defrost it and spend a whole day at it, but ensure it’s clean and tidy, and that you can access products you use each day.
2. Straightening up clothes closets
School is in, so you’ve no doubt prepared school uniforms and other clothes. But have you cleaned, pressed and packed away all the summer clothing? Not quite yet? Take the time to handle all this and store these items wherever they are meant to go, but set aside those ones you think should be donated or thrown away, because they’re almost too small or completely worn out. Ask your employers if you can do this without them perusing your choices — it’s probably fine, but best to ask.
3. Update your contact list
This is a quick one, but vital. Your kids will make new friends, have new teachers and tutors and coaches, so make sure you’ve got the details in your phone. Your employer is relying on you for this kind of information.
4. Organize and plan school lunches
If you make the noontime meals for the children to take to school, planning, organizing and shopping for them well in advance will save you time and a lot of trouble. Remember: children’s tastes change almost overnight. What they ate last year is not guaranteed to win their favor this year. Ask, listen and then plan. You don’t want to hear stories of a formerly-favored sandwich ending up in the garbage this fall because egg salad is no longer a hit.
5. Clean and organize their rooms
When the children are at school is the perfect time to get in their room, pull out the dirty laundry, clean up their toys and put items back on shelves. Making the bed may be something your employer wants them to learn how to do, but in the meantime, tidying up their room will be greatly appreciated and it helps you out, too. When they are scrambling to find a preferred sweater and you recall hanging it up in their closet, a small crisis gets averted — always a good thing!
6. Clean up the basement
If this chore falls within your purview, seize a day and get going on it. When no one else is home is the ideal time to do this task, which we admit can be time-consuming and messy. However, make sure you’ve allotted enough time to complete it; you may not find a whole afternoon open on your schedule for a while!
7. Plan and make meals
Shop for meals you can pull from the freezer, like chili and pasta sauce, and spend a day preparing them. These freeze well and are great in a pinch, and many children count them among their favorite foods. There is sure to come a day when you need to make a meal in a hurry, and something that you’ve prepared ahead and frozen is just the ticket when you’re in a hurry. Shop online for ingredients if for any reason you can leave the house, like your expecting a delivery.
Of course there are plenty of other things to take care of in a busy household with several people. And each child in the home — perhaps two, or even three — adds to your duties and demands that you be particularly organized and on top of things. You are a professional, and that means that sometimes things will get thrown at you you weren’t anticipating — like a pyjama party for six teens with only one day’s notice! And every one of them is vegan!
But if you’ve spent your days wisely while the kids were in school, there should be just about no task or abrupt event that throws you off your game. You’re ready! There’s almost nothing that daunts you, because being a professional nanny means being prepared.
That’s how we at Elite Nannies define it, and we are sure that you define it that way, too!