A few ways I am not going to be “that mom” this school year

As a former educator I should be my children’s teacher’s favorite parent. I should be the one to know about assignments before they happen, keep track of the teacher’s birthday, turn in permission slips on time and without jelly or coffee stains on them. But alas, I am every teacher’s not exactly nightmare, but just “that mom.” When they see my name I truly think they must roll their eyes, sigh audibly, and whisper “God love her.”

I am “that mom” that never quite has the calendar set, forgets about spirit days, doesn’t sign up in time to go on field trips, is usually running up a textbook or lunchbox that was left in my car, and is frantically searching for the lunch menu, assignment email, or sheepishly texting other moms at the last minute with those questions that make them wonder how God ever thought I could handle three children much less one.

I can’t promise that this year I will ever be the Pinterest mom who has it all together but I have made a few goal/resolutions/promises to hopefully help this school year go a little smoother.

1. Schedules SchMEDjules. All three kids are at different school on different schedules. Our oldest will be a  freshman at Belmont University in Nashville. Middle Son is a sophomore at Francis Howell High, and Youngest Son is a 5th grader at Zion Lutheran. This year above any other year is going to be tricky keeping track of who needs to be where when. I have actually already recorded each of their school schedules on our shared family google calendar as well as written it down in my planner. I blocked out days on my work calendar where I am not available for travel to avoid being the mom that keeps missing important games and concerts. I DID THIS BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED FOR ANY OF THEM. Gold stars for sure.

2. We will have a homework station in the dining room. Try as I might none of my kids have really liked being confined to our office or their rooms to do homework or projects. To avoid the headache of papers being everywhere, needing that protractor one measly assignment I am setting up a homework station in our dining room where the work gets done anyway. Because we are family of Messies the station will not only have the usual graph paper, highlighters, notebook cards, red pens, but a small bottle of glass cleaner and paper towels to avoid the inevitable honey and jelly on a traditional Figgins’ Kid Homework.

3. Laundry Demons Be Gone. Emma will be on her own in managing laundry and clothes while at college. Sam is very neat and orderly when it comes to his laundry and knowing what clothes he needs when. Alex… well Alex doesn’t exactly value clean underwear everyday. I have the habit of disappearing into my closet on Sunday nights to pick out my outfits for the entire week. Alex is going to do the same. He attends private school so we have the sanity of a daily uniform but it still is a stupid mad dash almost everyday to find two sock and clean underwear. I bought Alex a hanging closet that has six compartment so he can load up each day of the week with a complete school uniform, sock, undies and any special clothing he needs on Sunday as well.

4. Our favorite subjects: Lunch And Recess. We are pretty big on nutrition and healthy eating and pretty low on school lunches. Because we all value sleep as well I have added to our shared family calendar nightly reminders to pack up lunches so we don’t have to get up early and rifle through the frig and pantry. Our Sunday discipline will now also include pre-packaging our veggies and fruits so those are easy to pull out too.

So there you have it. Not world changing but just a part of my identity I am tired of carrying around. What’s one way you are changing how you approach this school year? 

Photo by Joe Shillington on Unsplash