School will be in full swing before we know it. The longest eleven days of my life to be exact.
With school comes schedules, routines and predictability.
Which one would assume would make life easier.
But it doesn’t. Not for me.
Every year at the beginning of school I think it will be different. I’ll be more organized. The kids will be more compliant with my requests.
I know that’s not going to happen. I’m gearing up for my 6th “First Day Of School” and I know that this year will be no different than the last 5.
I can’t get my act together when it comes to after school chores and activities. I feel like as soon as we walk through the door a tornado blows through the house.
Welcome back to chaos…
I have every good intention of serving healthy snacks, unpacking lunch bags, starting homework and preparing dinner.
But it just doesn’t work.
There’s nothing worse than trying to throw a lunch together and realizing that all the snack containers are still in the lunch bags from the day before.
Our after school schedule can be varied with Cam’s rep hockey schedule but when the weather is warm and when we can, we stay after school and play for a while. Our school gets out late – 3:45, so sometimes we don’t get home until 4:30 – 4:45.
We get home kids are hungry (and bored already) and tired.
Trying to make dinner?? ya…No.
Chaos. I get frustrated. Kids just run around bugging each other and annoying me.
So I’m thinking.
I’m thinking about a Mothers Helper.
Someone to come by after school to play with/entertain the kids while I get the incidentals done – unpacking lunch bags, going through zippy bags and agenda’s, getting dinner started…
I just wonder if a young teen or tween could handle my crew.
Have you ever hired a Mothers Helper?
I would love to hear your experiences.
How old were they?
What were their responsibilities?
How much did you pay them?
Christine,
School started on Monday for me (I’m a teacher). I have a long highway commute and I find it very difficult to come home and play with the girls, try to make dinner, tidy the mess, etc. Tomorrow, the girls start school so I will have their lunches to do also.
John does often make the dinner, but I usually have to give him the idea and we haven’t been planning ahead. I’m hoping to do a menu plan and then regular “big cook” and “big bake” days with friends to prepare dinners and lunch baked goods to freeze.
Regardless of all organization and planning, it’s exhausting! Get the mother’s helper!
Here’s a few things that help in my house: we run the dishwasher every night. Even if it’s not completely full. Derek unloads it every morning before he goes to work. I’m soooo lucky he does this. He just puts the lunch plastics on the counter near where I make lunches and I end up re-using the same ones every day. When the kids come home from school. They put their lunches on the counter above the dishwasher. I get to empty them (and see what the kids have/have not eaten) when I’m trying to find enough stuff to fill our dishwasher every night.
It seems to me that Tim has a few girls that would make awesome Mother’s helpers too. How convenient would THAT be?
Ohhh…don’t remind me Kath…I was thinking about that the other day – not having Mrs. Clarke leading the first day of school.
It will be a very different year for us.
“There’s nothing worse than trying to throw a lunch together and realizing that all the snack containers are still in the lunch bags from the day before.” Oh yeah. I know that one. The worst is finding them all that way on Monday! Grrr…one of the girls’ ONLY jobs is to clear out their backpacks when we get home from school – agendas on my desk, lunchbags on the counter.
As for a mother’s helper – my oldest is nearly the right age to BE one, so I don’t think it’s right for me, but it would have been a fabulous idea when my kids were younger. I totally think you should go for it! I would say their jobs should be to occupy the kids while you take care of other stuff (clearing out backpacks, reading agendas, getting dinner going) for maybe 90 minutes after school. Maybe they could walk you kids home for you, too? I would say 10-12 would be a good age, and $5/hour would be fair. You don’t need an older kid because you will be around, presumably, so they wouldn’t be responsible for babysitting, per se.
Those are my thoughts. Good luck with school starting again (even without your fab principal…)