After school action

For many of us, we’re a few weeks into the new school year.  Don’t mind us for asking but, how is it going?  Are you already thinking fondly about the unstructured summer days before all the lunch packing, homeworking completing and sports schlepping?  We’re here to help.

One of the most stressful parts of the day is that period of time after school and/or activities and before dinner.  So many things are being unloaded into our home (especially if errands were part of the post school plan).  Don’t let the overwhelm take you to a place of stress. 

Here are a a few tips we live by:

• A dedicated place to store backpacks.  Maybe it’s a hook in an entry way closet or behind a pantry door.  Getting the bags off your counter (even if you know they are coming back out in the morning) will help you mentally and visually clear the clutter - trust us on this. We love these easy to mount hooks that can go anywhere.

• Kids can and should be responsible for unpacking their bags!  Make it part of your routine and it’s one less thing for you to do.  

• Implement a “Lost and Found” bin for all the rogue kid items that come home (and have no immediate importance) and tend to take up counter space - get them out of the way! These are great bins and clips for establishing this system!

• Don’t unload everything from the car at once!  For example, bring in backpacks and unpack them before the groceries and sports bags come in.  You’ll be able to control the flow of what is coming into your home.

It’s the small things that really can change the way you wrap up your day.  At Sorted Home, we are all about controlling the inevitable chaos and making you feel in control - you’ll be happier if you think through how to create space for your life and how to hack your mental overwhelm!

Establishing your after school routine will transform your entire day! Repetition is key for kids to find the new normal, so getting those solutions in place will ultimately benefit the entire home.