One of the things that I am trying to do better with the kids is to build in margins. If we all have to be somewhere at a set time, then I schedule the drive time and parking. Then I add the time that it will take to find the children’s shoes and also go to the bathroom (me too) and clean up the kitchen and hallway for five minutes. That way when we get home, the house isn’t a total disaster and the kids aren’t crying on the way. Obviously, we could’ve started yesterday, but you get the gist. 

Also, it’s helpful to add in alternates. The alternates things we can do, but don’t have to do. Yesterday, I intentionally scheduled time to go to the park after school. That way, the kids got out some of their zoomies before getting to the house. Plus, they were hungrier for dinner since they were not immediately around food. My youngest pulled out her half-eaten sandwich from her backpack and snacked on that. Having your kids eat the food you made the earlier is also a win.

Finally, I have really tried to stick with the “one kid, one activity” rule. Each semester, each kid gets one bonus activity like karate or soccer, but not both. Sometimes I have violated my own rule and regretted it. Sometimes it’s fine if the activities are different like art or music. Now that my oldest is in middle school, I want respect her homework. When I taught college, the instructors often got the schedules of the sports students and had to give them more leniency for traveling, but sometimes their studies suffered anyway. I don’t want my kids or their teachers to have to go through that.