This summer I quit my job as a full-time Spanish teacher to teach part-time 3 year old preschool at our church this fall. It was definitely not something I was planning to do, but the job presented itself and after a lot of thoughtful prayer and reconfiguring the budget, we decided it was the best choice for our family. At this point I’m overwhelmed by the changes (going from seeing 220 students total in 30 minute increments throughout the week to seeing the same 8 students for 5 hours straight, the obvious age difference in my students, etc.), but in the long run I get to spend 2 more days a week at home with Little Piñata and I’m really excited about that. The neat thing is that he will come to the Toddler Room two out of the three days a week that I work, which is also really special and convenient for us.

I will say that as a teacher, I feel very spoiled to be with Little P pretty much full-time in the summer. So, even though I will be working fewer hours than I did last year, it’s still a transition from being home full-time for almost 3 months. Last year when I went back to work Little Piñata was just 3 months old, so other than being sure his diaper bag had diapers and breastmilk bottles, there wasn’t too much to get ready in the mornings. He also slept so well during the day and took so many naps that when I returned in the afternoon, I still had 1-2 hours of time to clean the house and make dinner before he was awake from his last nap of the day.

At 15 months old now, this is quite a different story! It seems there are SO many things that need to be ready each day, not least of which are healthy meals for the family. And there will definitely not be any “free” time to make dinner in the evenings either. So, I decided I really needed to get organized before school starts up again this year!

Here are some things I’m planning to do to (hopefully) make for a smoother transition. These tips will help whether it’s just your kids going back to school, or if you are going back to work too! And I think the last two would be helpful even if you’re home full-time.

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1. Have a separate diaper bag for school than for errands/church.

When we go out to dinner, run errands or go to church, it’s pretty necessary that I have extra clothes, hand sanitizer, extra pacifiers, some books and toys in Little P’s diaper bag. There is inevitably a lot of entertaining that needs to be done in these situations. However, he won’t need these things for school. Since I will also be teaching there and bringing my own school items and lunch, I need Little P’s bag to be as lightweight as possible! He will always have an extra set of clothing in his cubby, so in his school bag I will just have enough disposable diapers for the week, his lovey (which is attached to his pacifier), a hat for outdoor play, and his insulated lunch box. This will be SO much easier than always having to clean out his diaper bag based on whichever place we’re going!


All packed up and ready to go with just the essentials.

2. A Weekly Cleaning Schedule

Last year when I was teaching full-time, it seemed like the house was never clean. I attempted to do cleaning in the evenings after Little P went to bed or on the weekends, but I was usually too tired! Our plan for this year was to hire someone to clean the house twice a month, but with my part-time hours we just can’t afford it. So, I’ve decided that each day of the week I will have a designated cleaning chore. And if one day I’m just too tired, it’s not a big deal because I will just be sure to clean it the next week. Hopefully this will keep the house from being a complete disaster. Because when that happens, I get totally overwhelmed and then don’t know where to start. I plan to do more on the days I’m home and less on the days I work. Every day includes cleaning the kitchen because that’s just a necessary item (unfortunately).


Little Piñata “helping” sweep in the kitchen

Here’s my schedule:

Mondays- Clean the kitchen (including sweeping the floors) & 1 load of laundry
Tuesdays- Clean the bathrooms, kitchen & 1-2 loads of laundry
Wednesdays- Clean the kitchen & mop the kitchen floor
Thursdays- Sweep all the bare floors & dust the house, Clean kitchen & 1 load of laundry
Fridays- Clean the kitchen & Vacuum the rugs
Saturdays- Keep the kitchen clean and do any tidying or catch up work that needs to be done
Sundays- Clean the kitchen, 1 load of laundry and do grocery shopping for the week

I haven’t put this plan into place 100% yet, but it’s already been very helpful!

3. Implement a 3-Week Meal Rotation Schedule

In my opinion, keeping everyone in the family fed is the most stressful “household” duty! After an exhausting day I find it nearly impossible to decide what to make for dinner. And once I decide, I realize the meat is still in the freezer and needs to be defrosted. So, even in a best-case scenario I’m having to microwave the meat to thaw it! And we really try to avoid the microwave when we can. I have decided that I will have a general meal plan that will rotate every 3 weeks. This way I can go shopping over the weekend so that everything I need for the week is already in the kitchen. Each week I will have 4 meals planned ahead of time, and the other nights will likely be left-overs or something quick and easy like sandwiches or even a frozen pizza. There are also inevitably evenings when my parents bring dinner over or we order take-out. So, I decided 4 meals ahead of time was a good start.

I will blog more about how this meal rotation works out as I get more into it in the coming months and can give you more tips on making it work. We’ve been doing it since August started, and it has really helped out with making dinner time less stressful.

Here’s an example of one week’s schedule.

Week 1
Monday- Roast in Crock Pot
Tuesday- Chicken Soup
Thursday- Liver
Friday- Leftover Chicken (Chicken salad, Fajitas, BBQ chicken etc)
Weekend- Plan meals for the week, go shopping and make breakfast casserole for week #2


This roast with my homemade rub would be perfect for Monday night! (Recipe to come soon)

On Mondays of the first week I will put a roast in the crock pot. The nice thing about this “schedule” is that it’s not going to be the same recipe every 3 weeks. The weekend before I will look at what we have on hand to help decide which beef roast recipe I will make. Also, every 3 weeks I will cook a whole chicken. So, on Tuesdays I will boil this chicken for several hours while I’m home. With the water it has been boiled in I will make soup! I will use some of this chicken for the soup and save some for more chicken recipes later in the week. Wednesday night we’ll have leftovers. On Thursday I will make a liver recipe (it’s super healthy for you if you buy it from grassfed cows!), then on Friday (or even Saturday if we have Friday night plans) I will do something simple with more of the chicken that was boiled on Tuesday. It will likely be something like chicken fajitas or BBQ chicken. Over the weekend we’ll have leftovers and/or eat out and I will plan ahead for the next week. And on Sunday night I will put a sausage/egg breakfast casserole in the crockpot to be ready Monday morning for breakfast for me and Mr. Piñata. This casserole will probably last us a few days in the fridge, which will be a good start to the day several days in a row!

There are obviously a LOT more things that need to be organized when going back to school and work, but these are a few that I think will make the most difference in feeling less rushed and hurried and able to enjoy family time more.

Is anyone else on a more “school year” schedule and headed back to school? What are some ways you stay organized as you transition?