Returning Home from Vacation - Having Everything Ready When You Return

My friend Kristen (super-organized mom!) wrote a great article about returning home from vacation. She sent this to all the families that went on the Disney cruise with us. It's a good strategy to use anytime you leave town for the weekend.

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One of the greatest laments my 'organized friends' and I discuss is the backlash of returning home from a trip! If you're kids aren't in school, it is no big deal! But Monday morning can come quickly for school age moms and stress is at an all time high! Here are 3 tips my friends and I have begun to put into practice before we leave on vacation.

Have 4 dinners planned & in the freezer for Sun., Mon., Tues., Wed., This gives you Sat. dinner out from the airport to home and 4 dinners covered until you can get to the store. These can be store bought or made and frozen by you! I tape a note to my kitchen cabinet to remind me of my plan when I return. Here is what I did:

Sat. (mexican restaurant on the way home from airport & krogers for milk)
Sun. (stouffer's lasagna, frozen garlic bread, canned corn)
Mon. (frozen chicken pot pie, cinnamon applesauce, crescent rolls)
Tues. (frozen spaghetti sauce, noodles, frozen green beans)
Wed. (frozen ham quiche, cinnamon applesauce, canned carrots)
Thurs.- Mothers Day Out and grocery shopping

Have 1 lunch & 4 school lunches ready for the returning week. I go for convenience and suspend the worry of the fat and chemical intake for this week. Here is what I planned for:

Sun. lunch- 8 can soup in crockpot & drop bisquick biscuits
Mon.-school kids & MDO kids- lunchables for everyone!
Tues.- school kids- lunchables
Wed.- school kids- lunchables
Thurs.- school kids & MDO kids- lunchables for everyone & go to grocery store!

Have 4 uniform days put aside for the next week. I took leftover 2 1/2 gallon size bags and put pant/shirt/undies/socks in them and labeled them Mon.-Thurs. I did have to go to Wal-Mart to buy a few more of these because many of them were taken up on the cruise but, the relief of stress was worth the $10 to me. If you're using their school clothes on the cruise- make a big note to yourself and tape on your bathroom mirror to remind you on Saturday night to run the clothes for school Monday on Sunday!

These 3 things will give you the breathing room to relax yourself on Sunday and start the mounds of laundry that await us all! You may get to the store before Thursday but, you don't have too! That is the greatest stress reliever of all!