Revving up for the busy Spring Season

This week is the beginning of intramural sports practice and games for many kids. Which means that parents will have to figure out how to handle sometimes already packed after-school activity schedules for their kids.

In last week’s  on the East Windsor Patch, local moms shared their views on how they manage their family’s after-school activities, and on how many after-school activities are too much. I mentioned that my daughters are already participating in dance and music lessons and Brownies, so the addition of sports in the spring may overload our schedule. I got a taste of that yesterday, as my daughters had to share a quick McDonalds meal with friends as they all rushed from an after-school art class to soccer practice. To make things easier, I dressed my kids in their sweats in the morning for school, as I knew there would be little time for changing clothes between dinner and soccer practice.

I decided that I will need help in keeping our family’s schedule on an even keel. So, after some researching and reading, these are some tips that I found:

1. Create a family calendar: When a family’s schedule is busy, it is imperative that a family calendar be kept, so everyone knows what events are planned for each day. You might want to post the calendar on your fridge or on the inside of your front door so it’s highly visible to everyone. You can print out your own family calendar, but there are also good family calendars that you can purchase, like the Mom’s Family Calendar 2011 by Sandra Boynton. You could also create a calendar online (like Google Calendar and Yahoo Calendar) that can be shared with your family members. With Google calendar, you can create custom email or text messages to remind you of upcoming events.

2. Think Ahead: When kids’ activities pile up, it’s crucial to work ahead, as you may be shuttling multiple kids to multiple activities. You may need time to arrange car pools and to coordinate your schedule with that of your spouse. You also might need to pack everything your kid needs for after school in the morning or the night before, as there might not be enough time to grab your child’s essential gear after school.

3. Plan Meals: If you want your kids to eat a home-cooked meal every weeknight, you most likely will have to plan or make meals early in the week, so all you’ll have to do is reheat meals later in the week. But, if you have to grab a takeout meal on the go once or twice a week, it’s not the end of the world. (Some restaurants offer with the purchase of an adult meal, so you might be able to save some money.)

4. Get Help When Possible: When you have multiple kids with conflicting schedules, it can be tough for one parent to handle it all. Recruit the help of family members and friends, and look into carpooling if your child shares activities with friends or neighbors.

5. Leave Room for Change: If a schedule gets too busy, you have to be willing to skip an activity here and there once in a while. For example, if one week your son or daughter has a big school homework assignment that conflicts with a soccer practice, you might have to skip the sports practice that week. While you won’t want to make skipping activities a habit, you might have to occasionally juggle your child’s commitments with what’s best for him or her.

If schedules get too busy and your child can’t honor all of his or her commitments, you will have to think about dropping an activity or two and have your child only devote his or her time to a limited amount of activities.