We all want our kids to succeed in their sports and extra-curricular endeavours, but that can really be tough to manage when we are so busy. With kids back to school in September, our hectic life has gotten worse ten folds. Between their swimming lessons Jazz and Piano after school, there are days I feel I can’t do it anymore. Not to mention impromptu grocery runs and other appointments eat up all of my time on week days. I mean, there has to be a better way to manage all this?

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That’s why I put together this Busy Parents Guide To Juggling After School Activities. We feel like it is important to continue encouraging our children to work hard and reach their arts,  fitness and sports goals, while we support them by being there for practices, events and daily needs. With work, family and sports all throwing you a dozen directions it can be tough, so my tips below are here to help you manage to keep your kids active in their favorite activities and sports while you stay on top of it all to get everything done.

How to Juggle After School Activities like a Pro!

1. Carpool with other parents.

Check in with other parents of kids on the team and lessons. Find out who lives close to your neighborhood and begin a carpool system where parents can take turns picking up and dropping off kids to practices and games. While you want to be there for everything, it is sometimes necessary for your family that you take advantage of a carpool to give you time to juggle other household matters. It also helps everyone cut back on costs.

2. Create menu plans to help with nightly chores.

Menu plans are a lifesaver when you are a sports/dance mom or dad. Busy parents menu plan to help keep their evenings orderly and streamlined. Whether you set up freezer meals that are easy to pop into the Crockpot, or you designate practice nights as sandwich nights doesn’t matter. Make sure that you have an easy meal for your family that won’t take tons of time.

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3. Keep sports equipment/dance gear etc in the car or at the door.

One thing any busy parent can do to help with juggling after-school activities on a time crunch is to make sure equipment and changes of clothing are always ready to go. That means packing back into the gym back after washing jerseys, and keeping everything packed in the car, or by the door for grab and go when practice or game day arrives.

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4. Limit the number of teams your child participates with.

There are a lot of kids who are really athletic and love doing various different sports. However, if you have multiple kids in multiple sports it can really cause issues with your family going back and forth all the time. Limit your kids to one team per child per semester. Even that can be tough to juggle at times, but trying to get kids to multiple practices for multiple teams each week can be a real frustration. Limiting will also help them to focus and make sure to keep their grades up.

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Same applies to dance and music. Refrain from signing them up for Jazz, ballet or Voice and other instruments all at the same time. Less is better when quality is at stake 🙂

Helping your kids build their self-confidence and athletic skills are important. Doing so while working full time and managing a household can be tough for any parent. Hope my tips on juggling after-school activities comes handy to you. But they are really just common sense concepts that most parents will think, “of course!” and put back into their routine.

You can have a happy, healthy and organized home no matter how busy your schedule may be.

How do you juggle your kids’ after-school actvities? Share your tips!