Dear Kari,
I am enjoying the freedom of summer, but I am beginning to feel stressed about getting my kids back on a schedule for the upcoming school year. How can I get my family to smoothly return to our past system of helping around the house and a bedtime routine?
– Momma Needs a Plan
Dear Momma Needs a Plan,
First, I would sit down and map out an updated schedule and the needs of your household system overall. Invite everyone in your family to a family meeting and share with them the revised schedule and chores to complete each day/week. Finalize who does what and when, then post the schedule in the kitchen and provide each family member with a copy, making sure you include a start date. Model for your family that the schedule is a guide to help your family be a successful family system overall: you support each other with chore help, everyone gets good sleep, you have a clean house, and you are all successful at school and work. Good luck and remember you can update this review process and plan each year to adapt to your growing, changing family.
– Kari
As published in the August 2021 issue of Connections.
About Kari:
Kari O’Neill, MSW, LICSW, is a licensed independent clinical social worker and a resident of Issaquah Highlands.
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