If there’s anything we understand at Craft-E-Family, we understand a hectic schedule. We understand moms and dads running around. We understand not seeing your significant other except early mornings and right before bed. We understand.
Having said that, we thought you might be interested in some tips and tools to make your life a little bit easier. Organization isn’t such a bad thing. If you get really good at it, you might actually be able to save enough time that you can schedule yourself a bubble bath with a glass of wine or an hour with just you and your beer in your man cave. Who could be mad about that?
MEAL PLANNING
One of the most time consuming priorities in the house is, of course, meal preparation and cooking. It can be overwhelming at times – especially if there are options on the menu other than chicken nuggets and mac ‘n cheese. We found a free app/website that is perfect for moms that need a little help with meal planning. We really like Big Oven. Its features like Recipe Ideas and Recent Raves help start the creative juices flowing. There are plenty other apps out there. Try them out and see which you like best.
COACHING
Are you one of the over-achievers? We kid. It’s incredibly important to teach our young ones sportsmanship. It carries over into so many other parts of life and we salute your commitment to them. You’re making a difference and you stick with it – even through screaming parents and argumentative littles – or not so littles. It’s tough taking on this role while you’ve got a family of your own at home so we wanted to find something to make life a little easier for you. Wiggio has an app available or you can use it from your desktop computer. It allows ease of communicating with parents, adjustments of practice and game schedules, sending emails and more.
SCHEDULING
One of the things parents find most frustrating is that things can so easily start to slip through the cracks with multiple schedules. You may have had the following conversation a time of two unless you’re on top of this: “Babe, why did you schedule golf on Saturday? You KNOW Xavier has a game that morning.” We’ve all been there. It can cause a lot of stress if it’s not managed well. Don’t worry! There’s an app for that! Cozi is the #1 organizing app for families. From a photo journal to the calendar to list making function, it’s a great option for families that have a lot going on.
CHORES
Does it seem like a never-ending battle with your kids to get them to brush their teeth? Make their bed? Do dishes? We know the feeling. If you’re a parent that believes in rewarding their kids for chores, we found a really cool tool for you. Have you heard of Chore Monster? Click that link and they’ll show you a really cool and cute demo video about how it works. It just might work for your family. You can also find out what other families do in regard to household responsibilities and glean some insight there!
BIRTHDAYS AND SPECIAL DAYS
No matter how incredible your memory may be, the best of us have trouble remembering every single anniversary, birthday and holiday. Whether you’re an app user or not, having a visual reminder every day will help you remember those special occasions. At Craft-E-Family, we have a couple of options to help you out in that regard. Our Contemporary Perpetual Calendar is one way to always have a visual reminder of what important events are coming up. Another option we offer is our Countdown Blocks. This one is newly introduced and we’ve had a lot of great feedback from people that have purchased it so far. Use this to countdown days until weddings, graduations, anniversaries and more. It’s a great tool to remind you how quickly days are approaching. For us – it’s a great reminder to stop procrastinating gift buying!
REALIZE AS MUCH AS YOU WANT TO BE, YOU’RE NOT A SUPER HERO
Moms and dads out there, we know you want to volunteer for PTA. We know you want to be a room mom, chaperone the field trip, coach little league, sponsor the class Valentine’s Day party, plus be super mom, super husband, super daughter, super nephew and super friend. I mean – did you just read all of that? I’m tired after having typed it. Can you imagine how exhausting it must be to do all of it? What’s the point? Remember that in order to take care of anyone else, you must first take care of you. Find something that you find joy in and volunteer for that one thing. If you love going on field trips, sign up for that for the year. If you’re all about holidays and deck your house out for every one, be a volunteer for holiday festivities. Do something that “feeds” you as well as others so you don’t wear yourself out.
Our hope is that we’ve somehow made life a little bit easier for you. Managing a family is certainly hard work; so make sure to give yourself a breather every now and again. We’re in your corner rooting you on!
Until next time – Keep it Craft-E!