The alarm goes off announcing it is 6:00 am.  You drag yourself out of bed, jump in the shower and dress for work.  Somewhere between the alarm buzzing in your ear & dressing, you call out to the other family members telling them to get up and get ready for school.  As you try to decide if a scarf or necklace would better disguise the fact that you did not iron your blouse, you discover that no one else is up.  Once more, but slightly less pleasant, you begin to give the 5 minute warnings to ready to leave.  Instead of leaving 10 minutes early for work, you find you are now 10 minutes behind schedule and no one has had breakfast.  Thankfully, there’s enough breakfast bars for everyone to eat on their way to school.  Traffic is barely moving but somehow you arrive at work only 5 minutes late.  Your sense of relief is short lived when your boss sticks his head in your office to inquire about the report that is due by 4:00 pm today.  So, instead of getting some errands done during your lunch hour, you will probably have to work through lunch.

     After work, you pick up the kids from daycare.  They didn’t complete all their homework so as you prepare dinner, you’re coaching them and checking their projects to make sure they are finished.  After dinner, the kids tell you they don’t have any clean underwear.  While they bathe, you do a load of wash.  Everyone is tucked in bed, you can hardly wait to start reading that book everyone has been talking about when your husband leans over and asks you if you would like to fool around.  Unfortunately, before you can respond, the 6:00 am alarm goes off and you start all over again.

     Does this sound familiar?  Our lives are very busy but with a little planning, we can ease some of our daily stress.  First of all, ask for help.  Maybe your partner can pick up the kids and help them with homework while you cook dinner.  Maybe you can take turns & switch these chores.  Try to plan out your dinners a week in advance& if possible, make some dishes over the weekend that will require reheating during the week.  Throw in a load of wash while you are making dinner.  With today’s modern appliances and carefree fabrics, doing laundry can take little effort.  Also, depending on your kids’ ages, they can do some of the laundry.  Some detergents now make pre-measured pods that you drop in the tub before you add your laundry.  Before you & your family go to bed, lay out your clothes for the next day.  Establish a place for everyone to leave everything they will need in the morning – have a table, shelve or cubby just beside the door so that everyone can grab what they need as they leave the house.  Lunches can be made the night before and stored in the fridge.  Kids love white boards.  Hang one on your fridge or by the cubby with a daily check list written on it.  Let the kids check off items before they leave for school.  Not only will it help you but it will teach them some responsibility.