Raise your hand if you enter the week feeling rested, accomplished, and ready to tackle anything that comes your way!
Anyone?
Bueller?
I’m with ya. Sunday should be a day of rest, but what mom can rest while taking care of kids and running a household? That’s why I accumulated a list of things to do for Sunday prep that are easy enough, relatively quick to knock out, and most importantly, crucial to your sanity for the upcoming week! Don’t leave this all to yourself to take care of; make sure to involve your significant other and children as well!
1. Calendar prioritization/strategy session
Take a look at what you have coming up over the next seven days so you can prepare mentally and don’t have any surprises. Prioritize what’s most important and rearrange, re-schedule, or cancel anything that interferes. If one child has a birthday party at the same time another child has a sporting event, make sure you have coverage. Don’t forget about yourself. If going to the gym is important to you, make sure you allow time for that. If you haven’t seen a good friend in a while, set up time for dinner or lunch with her. If you over-think everything like I do, you can even figure when you’ll take your shower each day, and which days are for hair washing and which days dry shampoo is your best friend.
2. Grocery shop/meal prep time
Life is so much easier if you invest time one day to decide what you’ll be eating every day of the upcoming week and make your grocery run. This eliminates multiple trips to the store during the week and also prevents the frustration of trying to figure out what you’re going to feed your kids each day. Making food for the week is key for Sunday prep. Breakfast muffins, hard-boiled eggs, pasta, and a slow cooker meal are all easy to make and wonderful things to have on hand when you need to grab something quickly.
3. Laundry & outfit planning
Struggling to find something for you and your kiddos to wear on Monday morning is a surefire way to start your week under a black cloud. You also don’t want to be walking out the door and realize that your child’s uniform or jeans for Cowboy day are dirty. Prevent these headaches by doing the laundry on Sunday and making sure all the clothing items they need for the week are clean. If you really want to save time and frustration during the week, plan out outfits for each day on Sunday. If this is too much, try to do this each night instead, so you and your kids can all get out of the door a little more smoothly in the morning.
4. Quick clean
You don’t have to scrub your home from top to bottom, but spending half an hour or so picking up around the house can really help getting your week off to a good start. Unload the dishwasher, clean up the kitchen, take out the trash, file stray papers, go through school work and mail, and wipe down counters for a fresh start to the week.
5. Go outside
Spend some time outside working in your yard, taking a walk, or playing with your kids. This will improve your spirits and help you feel refreshed!
6. Round up the family
Go on a family walk, have dinner as a family, attend a local event, or anything else that your whole family can do and enjoy together.
7. Do something just for you
Make sure you take time for yourself—this Sunday prep tip is just as important as any other. It might be a lazy morning with coffee, reading a book, taking a bath, catching up on Netflix, or anything else that is relaxing and is just for you. Don’t feel guilty about you-time. You deserve it!
8. Go to bed early
This is so much easier said than done, but it is crucial to starting your week off right! Set a bedtime alarm if you need to; you won’t regret the extra zzz’s.
