Unorganised Parenting – A Survival Guide

It is widely acknowledged by everyone in my orbit that I am chaotic and unorganised.

As a teacher I would secretly seethe at the parents who forgot their children’s PE kits or dropped them off late. I would never be like that as a parent, I told myself as I ate my nutritious lunch prepared and packed for me by my mother. Oh how easy life was when you hadn’t any responsibilities!

After moving out and the birth of my first child I worked hard to be independent and organised and my parents were proud of how I always had a well stocked baby bag of nappies, wipes etc. Sure I was always late for EVERYTHING but slowly I was improving. And then came baby number 2 and 3 and the chaos resurfaced!

With great regret I have now accepted this is who I am as a person. I know I am not alone as a parent and there are other chaotic parents reading this post at this very minute, whilst finishing their child’s history project. So as I sit waiting for my washing machine to complete its cycle of my children’s uniforms I thought I would share my tips on winging it as an unorganised parent:

Theme Days/Dress Up Days:

Accept you will never be one of those parents sculpting award winning paper mache Easter Bonnets. Instead ensure you accumulate a well stocked box of random dress – up outfits and accessories that will consequently give you the basis of a costume for World Book Day or any other fundraiser!

Reading and Homework

Whenever grandparents, aunts, uncles, neighbours, friends etc come to visit repeat the following tactile conversation “Alice why don’t you show nanny how well your reading/spelling/maths is coming along? You’ll be so impressed she’s been saying how much she wants to read to nanny/grandad/auntie” There we have it! Visitor spending quality time with the child and one more job off the list!

Packed Lunches

Rave to your child how amazing the school dinners are. Jamie Oliver set to work on school dinners for a reason and the turkey twizzlers we were served are a distant memory. Alice has a variety of food to choose from and loves school dinners! The obvious point being – school dinners = no packed lunch making!

School Gate Mafia

Always befriend one of the Do Good Society as mentioned in my previous post School Gate Mafia. Let them add you in the class Facebook groups and whatever other media platform they are plugging the school events with. Turn on the notifications and embrace your constant reminders!

* If you still forget you can use the following excuses; “My internet was down” “My child accidentally put my phone in Flight mode” “My account was hacked”

Easter/Christmas Fayre donations

Another chaotic parent advised me of this little beauty after witnessing my humiliation after sending Alice in with a tray of cakes resembling road kill. Always have these simple ingredients in your cupboards:

1. Chocolate
2. Rice crispies/cornflakes
3. Butter
4. A bag of sweets/mini eggs for decoration
5. Cupcake cases

Method: Heat chocolate and butter (microwave or over a pan) mix with cornflakes. Spoon into cases. Decorate with sweets. Refrigerate. Place into Tupperware box (the one you never returned to the last person who lent you one.)

Voila! Lovely little cakes any child would be proud to present at the school fayre and prepared in less than 10 minutes!

If you are an unorganised parent and are feeling the pressure remember you are not alone! There are thousands of us up and down the country walking our children to school at ten past 9 in their uniforms on non uniform day! Please feel free to share any other tips and ideas you have to help us unite together to mask our chaos!