We’ve all been there, an exhausted family in toe from a week-long extrusion full of hotel stays and fast food stops. The kids are cranky, you’re begging for your bed and now, everyone is hungry. If only you could have a 20/20 vision into the future. You can! Well, enough to make the few days after coming home smoother.
5 Things To Do Before Vacation to Beat the Post-Travel Chaos
1. Laundry, Laundry, Laundry
It’s the battle we all are forced to gear up for, but ensuring you and the kids have a few clean items to come home to, will make the next day’s piles of unwashed clothes feel a bit less daunting. Keep a spare pair of undergarments and PJs everyone can change into after the long day of traveling back. An extra outfit for the next day will keep everyone from digging through the dirty piles and prevent pressure on you to get to the laundry ASAP.
2. Change the Sheets
The night before you leave, have everyone’s sheets changed. This will make crawling into the bed you’ve been missing so much sweeter.
3. Make a 3-Day Meal Plan & Grocery Shop
The biggest snag we run into when returning from vacation is having a stream of food/ dinners planned. Sometimes you’re having to rush back to work and life making it difficult to sort through the missed routine. Plan three simple meals that involve a few ingredients and have them ready. This will have a future you thankful for the easy options.
4. Tidy the House
I know, in the chaos of prepping for vacation cleaning is the last thing on your mind. But, coming home to a clean home allows you to decompress from the prior week’s adventure. Do a little bit at a time through the week. Make your kids have their rooms picked up, have the laundry done and linens ready to go. All these small actions will prevent those post-vacation blues.
5. Make a Checklist for the Kids
Before leaving have your kids (and you) make a list of things that need to be done the day after returning. Pile up dirty laundry, throw away way word trash that was accumulated, and put away luggage. This will prevent the inevitable open suitcase on the floor that isn’t taken care of for weeks.
At the end of the day the post-vacation blues will take hold but it doesn’t have to take weeks to get back to routine. Remember, everything you’re doing is for the future tired mom who has enough on her plate. Preparing is its own form of self-care to mitigate the stress of it all.
