Organising for the summer holidays and half term

It is half term, well almost, and so organizing for half term can bee hard. I have been there with my son, travelled to London thinking it will stay warm and dry, with my son and got drenched, due to the heavens opening up. 

Local park where I like to walk through in Epsom

Also it's money and I am on a tight budget, so I go through ahead of time of booking my son to go to a holiday club he likes to go to, in the holidays and is a company called Youngstars: https://www.young-stars.co.uk/holiday-camps/

If not that then I look at what is available locally and living in London and Surrey they will often in certain areas have a funfair near by. It can be expensive, so I take in consideration of what is cost effective and right age of your kids, as often theme parks and funfairs have restrictions on some of the rides. 

I like to take Henry by train to different places and have a list of the places he wants to visit and check for deals on travel and what is there at the place we visit and how long it will take us to get there.  

Then it is the challenges, If there is going to be industrial action that will affect travel and have a plan B and good way to set up games that they haven't played yet, as my son has lots and check what films are on that the whole family can watch. 

At the weekend it is the FA Cup final and a great time to get out the dips and snacks or hot dogs, burgers and to have friends round who have or don't have kids, but a great event to organize a get together. To those that like football that is, and this weekend we are going to my brothers rugby club and if its not rainy play out on the large pitches it has. 

Then Monday plan to stay local but it is good to not have a plan as such but ideas. I will be seeing family in the week and so Monday perhaps is weather is good, to have a picnic and my son can go around the local parks on his scooter and when he is at the holiday club and sunny want to sit in a park and read, do some writing with a nice cold coffee and pastry. 

So you can still have time to yourself and delegate, if you can and so you not on your own trying to entertain your kids. 

Have a good weekend and have a super if possible, half term.

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X 

Managing your time

When it comes to time I find that if I don't plan ahead that my to dos take over my wellbeing and I become self destructed and overwhelmed so now I like to manage my time to make sure that it gives me a boost and I get my life together by completing tasks and setting targets for myself. 

Good book to read that has helped manage my time 

Check out this video I did for my Life Coaching Programme "Summer Project 2024" https://youtu.be/Z6MghO0ZSqQ 

I like to spend time planning my days making sure I take breaks and get some form of exercise as I can get quite stiff when seated at the table using my laptop, so breaks are essential. 

It is good to hydrate through out the day and I am not always good with water but make sure I have some and I am focusing on my eating habits at the moment as this can affect me in managing my time. As an example snacking and picking, not having a meal, especially around lunchtime.

So I have been sorting out my eating times, the type of food and concentrate on having my three meals a day. Still a working progress but been well in that I haven't gone for the biscuits.

I try not to do too much each day, but if I feel like working on other projects then I will, but keep note of my time. I ask myself, how much time can I spend on each task? 

I keep the lists I make as small as possible each day so I don't get burn out and that I know I can complete. 

Remember SMART, Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relative and Time. 

How long will it take you to clean the kitchen?

What if I do the longest task first or should I get the small tasks done first and set an alarm as I do each task and what doesn't get done, can it be done tomorrow? 

I do a brain dump each Sunday and then see which day of the week I can realistically get it done. What have I got going on already planned ahead in the week, go through my list and see if there is anything overdue, to be done, and is there anything I can do on a later date.

Do you need to get up earlier or bed later? Check out the video I did today: https://youtu.be/_Hymsm7Kugk

If you have kids and work from home, can they do some chores? Can I delegate tasks to my spouse/friend/family member?

Can your kids cook a meal a week whilst you watch some TV or need to do some tasks on your laptop?

Doing a rota is a good method. When we and my husband agreed when we moved to Epsom that he will take care of upstairs and I would take care of downstairs. 

On Sundays my husband will mainly make dinner and I make the dinners in the week. 

So spread out your tasks and include breaks and then you will find that your time is with you not against you. 

Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X  

 

Multi Tasking as a parent

I am not a fan of Multi tasking as it would burn me out, especially when it comes to being a parent. 

Focusing on one task at a time is a lot better for me. 

Image from my walk to my sons school through Ashtead

This morning I was trying to watch something on Youtube on my laptop whilst making breakfast and wasn't working and realised multitasking is not me. 

I schedule, and block my days of what I want to do on each day and of things that I need to remember like with my son's week, as he does swimming with his school and sticking this on my calendar reminds me to write on my daily and weekly task page, on One Note to focus on getting his stuff ready. 

There was a time where I was not using my google calendar because I kept getting alerts and was clogging up my email inbox and so changed it now and found a better way of using it, where this doesn't happen but still am notified and make sure that all errands for the day get done, by focussing on one thing at a time. 

I do find I can get distracted by other things so try to stay focussed but playing some music, when on the bus little to music or an audio book, and when cooking or cleaning. But focus on one thing. 

Now he does an afterschool club I will focus on walking to his school to pick him up, as the taxi he gets for school not able to pick him up, but I don't mind as I have been enjoying the walk. It is a long way but for one day, its fine and that I make sure that we get back and then have dinner and then bed, and make sure that he has bathed and concentrate on making sure he has a good nights sleep. 

In the evenings I make sure I finish on my laptop for the day so I can get his dinner ready, and we usually will cuddle up on the sofa and chill until bedtime and that he has brushed his teeth and gone to the toilet, and just focusing on making sure my son is alright, helps me then focus on myself and that I have all that I need to do for myself done to make sure I can focus on my son and just helps stop getting overwhelmed. 

As a parent there are lot of things to remember so taking my time, and thinking, when he gets up he will watch his tablet (please don't judge) its so I can get bits I need to do in the morning, then do his breakfast and then have him get dressed, get his bag ready and then wait for his taxi to take him to school and when not doing after school club, wait for him to come home. 

I hope this helps you and see that you don't have to do everything all at once, and schedule so you still get jobs and tasks done.

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Many thanks for reading,

Carrie X