Back-To-School, Spoonie Style!

So, this week marked the start of school in my neck of the woods. I was certain that my son's school opened on August 22, so I had to make haste (thanks, "fibro fog".)

Taking care of a child is stressful, taking care of a child primarily by yourself AND dealing with a chronic illness, unemployment, and a ton of other medical and financial issues make things ten times worse (but I take it all in stride.*smile*)  I don't like the term "single parent", even though I am single and I am a parent...so I'll say "primary parent".

As the primary parent, 98% of the daily task land on my shoulders: I needed a plan to calm all the madness that is elementary school!

This was the first year since I fell ill that I really had to brace myself for what lay ahead; second grade is a huge deal, according to my son (I lovingly call him "J" on the internet.) Among the hundreds of thing I had to prepare, I had to find "the right book bag", you know...something cool that didn't look like a first-graders book bag or heaven forbid, a kindergartners! 

Mama had some work to do!

Sunday, I set my plan in motion: I need to make sure this ship moves smoothly!

The first thing I had to do: get all of J's outfit's together for the week (M-F)







Secondly, present a timeline for the week:
7 am: wake-up, get ready for school.
7:30: make it to the bus stop/ alternate plan in place if we miss the bus...thank goodness the school isn't far away!!!
(After the bus stop, this is my "off duty time", trying to catch up on rest due to the lack of sleep the night before. Depending on how I feel, I punch back in early and take care of housework/errands.)

3:00 pm: BACK ON MOM DUTY!
3-5: J is running around playing, getting fresh air and squeezing out that last burst of energy.
5-7: Dinner and homework
8:00: "family time": reading, TV, or playing with our respective "toys"
9:00 pm: bath-time
9:30 BED FOR J!

*Don't worry, I have a chart to help me daily!*

(Me: battling insomnia or painsomnia  from 12:00 am- 7:00 am) 

7:00 am: START ALL OVER AGAIN!!!


*Insert a yawn wherever you feel it's acceptable*
This is the first week of my plan - so far so good! We have a nice rhythm going on and despite my pain, we are making it work!


I hope this can help new spoonie moms or mom's (parents) in general; if you have any tips or tricks to make life easier, please share! I'd love to hear how you run your ship!

Off to hunt for those Zzzzzz's everyone seems to catch.

xoxo