I was in school for over 25 years.  I lived my life semester to semester, holiday to holiday, and bell to bell.  It’s routine.  It’s living life in abbreviated chunks of time.  It keeps the day moving, and hopefully running on schedule.

It has taken some time now that I stay home full-time to realize relying on the bell schedule might not be as bad as you would think.  Sometimes everything on our grand to-do list keeps us from enjoying the segments of time we have with our kids.  We instead become grumpy, stressed, and overworked just trying to keep the home fires burning and all the kids breathing.

How have you passed these last few days with your soon to be back at school babies?

Me? Well, I made a bell schedule.

I wanted a visual reminder in our home of the daily routine.

Then, I made a daily chore board for the kids so they can start to take some ownership over their routine.

For weeks I have hustled to get school supply shopping, back to school clothes, and an idea list for lunchbox meals all neatly compiled.  The fridge is ready for lunch box assembly, freezer stocked for drive-thru avoidance, and laundry mounded waiting patiently to be folded.

We’ve met the teacher, slept in late, and now it’s time to make the kids a giant stack of pancakes, run the slip-and-slide in the yard, bake some s’mores cookie bars, and soak up the last rays of summer.

How you gear up for back to school?