With kids still home from school, our lives as parents have become incredibly overwhelming. Even if you're lucky enough to have your little one leave the house for daycare or a learning pod, chances are you’re still exhausted from all the meal planning and lack of outdoor activities. Here is a list of 5 easy tips you can follow to make your week with kids a little more manageable.
1. Meal prep
Hunger is often at the root of the most annoying of kid behaviors. Everyone always talks about meal prepping and how much of a time saver it can be, but if your family is anything like ours meal prep often doesn't work - you make enough food for the whole week, but it's all eaten on day one! Here are some ideas that do work.
2. Make a snacking plan
It’s easy to let them graze on snacks with everything going on in our lives today. But if you make a plan and let them know what the plan is, it’s a lot easier to stick to it. One snack a day at lunch and one at evening time is a great rule of thumb. You can let them make the decision on which snack they choose each time.
3. Pack your car with snacks and water for the week
There's nothing worse than leaving the house with kids without any snacks. Try packing the car with a handful of their favorite snacks and waters for those times when you forget to pack some in your purse. It’s a great way to prevent meltdowns with little ones and an easy way to make the older kids happy.
4. Have an activity planned for each day of the week
Find some ideas here. Nobody wants to be searching for things to do at the end of the day after a hard day of work. It's a lot easier if you have a plan. Print out our calendar and stick it on your fridge, that way the whole family gets excited about the activity coming up that day.
5. Reintroduce their favorite toys
Have you ever gone away on vacation with your little ones? Remember how excited they get about their toys when you get back home? Here's a tip for replicating those moments. Put most of their toys away in bins over the weekend. This will also help you keep the house tidy and organized throughout the week. Introduce 1 to 2 new toys each day over the course of the week. It's like Christmas all over again! Let them pick out a new toy each day and they will get as excited about these toys as they did when they first got them!