Insanity! What is this chaos? Every time I write a post I feel so old because I always talk about my memories, and I realize how much things have changed. One thing that has changed significantly has been driving and dropping off kids at school. What is this new fangled thing? I remember just walking to school. No, it wasn’t in 10′ of snow, it wasn’t 30 miles both ways, it was just a sweet walk of blocks, or at most 2 miles when I was in junior high school; high school I actually took the bus because we lived too far but even then I walked a lot of the times because I liked it.
Now, I recognize that times have changed. There seems to be a lot more crimes against children then there used to be, and our perception of children’s safety has risen more so then when I was a kid. My mom’s response to me walking at night was: “Oh hell, if someone snatched you they would just take you to the next street lamp and dump you.” Now given this was a lighter approach to walking alone then what should have been utilized even then, and the reference to my appearance wasn’t much appreciated by me even though there was no ill intent by my mom. I believe that there has to be a happy medium…doesn’t there?
If not what can you do to make it less painful. I’m sure your day is chalk full of things to do, and waiting around to drop off your kids and to pick them up from school feels like a HUGE waste of time. You could utilize the time to get things done especially in the age of smart phones. Here is a list of productive uses of your time while waiting (that is if your kids screaming in the backseat will let you; courtesy of themotherlist.com):
1. Make some phone calls: business, personal, whatever (see caveat in #8).
2. Balance your checkbook.
3. Complete your monthly meal-planning.
4. Clean up your car.
5. Finally finish that book you started three years ago.
6. Clip coupons.
7. Plan your next vacation.
8. Catch up with a friend (of course if you do this inevitably chaos will ensue as soon as your friend answers).
9. Pay your bills.
10. Check your emails.
11. Make your to-do list for the week.
12. Go through the weekly sale ads.
13. Make appointments (see number 8 for a caveat).
14. Give yourself a manicure.
15. Plan your holiday shopping list.
16. Get caught up on the news
17. Play all the games on your phone that you want — without having to share.
18. Write out lunchbox jokes to avoid having to come up with something witty in the mornings.
19. Get caught up on TV shows. Isn’t technology great?
20. Take a brief cat nap — maybe even get there early for an extra-long nap (on a sunny winter’s day these are quite refreshing)!
Regardless of what you choose to do make it a time to calmly transition your day. Really try to create a routine for you and your children to follow. Having a day start and finish in a way that is expected can help the ability to make unplanned transitions through the day as long as we have the touch stone at the beginning and end of the day to return and center us we can expect a day that we can handle.
