My twin girls are starting second grade this week. On the eve of the beginning of their third school year, I realized I was giving myself a bit of a pep talk. Having two years of school under my belt, I am going to TRY to learn from my hardships and do a few things to give myself an easier time of it.

1. I will carve out time over the weekend to do some food prep for the upcoming week.
While I would love to spend every ounce of the weekends hanging out with the girlies, it makes my life much simpler to put together some make-ahead recipes on Sunday.
2. I will invite the girls to help me in the kitchen when I do food prep.
I have done a pretty good job of this this summer, but it’s easy to get into “get it done” mode during the school year. I’ll feel better about “taking away” time from the weekend for food prep if I can count it as quality time with the girls.
3. I will make lunches the night before.
I’m bad at this one. I get so tired by the end of the day, I often wait until the morning to assemble lunches. I’ll enjoy more of my mornings if I’m not rushing to peel cucumbers at 5:50am.
4. The girls will clean out their own backpacks each day.
We get busy in the afternoons, and I want to spend down-time with the girls as much as possible. This often leaves the task of cleaning out the backpacks to me. I already have an adorable in-box in place. I’m going to try to break this habit!
5. The girls will load their backpacks for the following day (with the exception of their lunchboxes) before bedtime.
See #5.
6. I will have the girls in the car by 7:30am.
That’s actually a tiny bit more time than we need to get to school at 7:45, but that allows me to run back into the house for whatever it is I forgot that day. (It’s seemingly inevitable, at least once a week…might as well plan for it.)
7. I will fix the coffee pot before I go to bed.
What a great treat it is to get up in the morning with just one button to press between me and that sweet elixir!
8. I will blog at least once a week.
I feel much better when I sit down, relax, and write. It’s so easy to get out of the routine, but I feel much more like “me” when I stick to it. I’m hopeful that I’ll have time in the mornings here and there…since I’m saving myself time on lunches and coffee prep, mornings are going to be a breeze, right???
So here’s my game plan…
A. Get Hubby’s buy-in…
…in the food department. I don’t exactly need (or want!) his help in the kitchen most of the time, but he can help facilitate the Sunday afternoon schedule for me to do that.
…in the management of backpacks. He’s home with the girls in the afternoon, and I’ll ask him to help reinforce our new outline.
B. Keep the girls on task with a fancy list…
…to remind them of their backpack chores each afternoon.
…to provide a checklist of their morning duties to give us the greatest chance of success for that 7:30 departure.
C. Cut myself some slack, when necessary…
…to allow for the occasional pizza night or PB&J two days in a row. Even the best-laid plans don’t always pan out. We will survive!
What am I missing on my list? Any tips and tricks you Multiple Mamas can share that make your days run a little more smoothly???
MandyE is mom to 7 1/2-year old fraternal twin girls. She blogs about their adventures, and her journey through motherhood, at Twin Trials and Triumphs.