7 Things to Do on Sunday to Make Mondays Better:)

This year three of my four children are in school which meant creating a schedule that works for us.  After many trial and errors I finally found that if I do these 7 things on Sunday, I find Mondays are not so bad.  I hope these will inspire you to find what works in your family.

1.  Finishing the laundry.  Even though Saturdays are normally laundry day for us, I never seem to get through all of it.  One of my children will want something that week to wear and it will still be in the laundry hamper.

2.  Pick out clothes for the next day.  I tried to have my children pick out their clothes for the whole week but by Tuesday they were already changing their minds.  I also had them pick out the clothes after lunch.  This way I had time to wash any clothes that they insisted they wanted to wear.

3. Find shoes.  This may sound like an easy enough task but for my kids it was the last thing they remembered to do.  We have a cabinet that they are supposed to keep them in but for some reason they forget over the weekend.  It is always good to keep a note of when your child has PE, that way you are not looking for sneakers in the morning when they suddenly realize they can't wear flip flops.

4.  Go through backpacks.  As much as I would like to say we do this Friday, that rarely happens.    Two of the three have agendas that need to be signed daily.  Remembering on Sunday is always better than rushing to get them done Monday as the bus pulls up. 

5.  Schedule Sunday dinner earlier and make Monday's dinner at same time. It may sound like a lot of work but I find it helps a lot.  It is very easy to throw a meal into the crock pot Sunday morning or cook more chicken or hamburger than needed.  I love my Pampered Chef Deep Dish Baker for cooking in the microwave too.  I can make Pot Roast in the crock pot while cooking chicken in my stoneware.  It doesn't take too many extra dishes to make two meals at once.  Monday dinner will be easy to throw into the oven or microwave and most of the clean up was done Sunday. 

6.  Pack lunch.  After dinner clean up we go through the list of foods available for lunch that week.  Each of the children decide what they want for the next day.  I have a drawer in the refridgerator that we put the foods that need to stay cold over night.  In the morning it is very easy to pull them out and put into the lunch boxes sitting on the counter.  Each of my children have water bottles that they fill in the morning as well.

7.  Prepare for breakfast.  Before bedtime have each child to choose the cereal they want in the morning.  Place a bowl, spoon and cereal on the table.  If a gallon of milk is hard for your child to lift, put a few ounces in a cup that can be covered on a low shelf in the refridgerator.  

Our Mondays improved greatly by following these steps.  Of course, you can use these steps for every day!