Listography Seasonal Survival Tactics

Kate's gone on holiday and asked me to sit her listography. I'm a little nervous, but I am told it's well trained and doesn't bite. I hope she brings me a stick of rock back from sunny Wales.

So, seasonal survival tactics. I'm thinking more of surviving the domestic jungle than the outback. I'm drowning in clutter and chaos. The washing pile rivals Snowdon. The peasants are revolting. Since we relaxed the rules and embraced summer no one listens to a word I say.  My children are free ranging on feral.

Yet somehow in a week's time I have to restore order before my oldest starts school. It's a familiar story around the country. Back to school.  But I really don't think you need school age kids to get that feeling as September looms.

This September, for the first time ever as a family unit, we must be clean, presentable, fed and watered before nine am Monday to Friday.  I confess I don't think we have ever achieved that five days running in the last five years, never mind the last six weeks.

So come on, survival of the fittest, what are your tactics?  I'm looking for the systems, life changing apps, fail proof techniques, honed routines, off topic distractions, tongue in cheek remedies, anti S.A.D. measures...whatever you recommend to survive the transition from summer to autumn.

1. Stationery.  September means stationery. No more writing to do lists in red crayon on the back of an unpaid bill, there will be new pens, notebooks and an academic diary.  I will dig out the Dodo family calendar I was given at Cybermummy, from under an avalanche of paperwork. There have been some violations of the cornerstone of family harmony, the family calendar of late. Come Sept the rules will be final. S/he who gets it down on the calendar first gets to do it.  I will write important dates and things to remember on it, and look at it at least once a day.

2.  Holiday. I think I might of just been on one, but that doesn't stop me planning the next one right?  It's my rule of thumb that you should plan your next holiday on your return journey, especially if you are prone to SAD or live in Britain where there's been so little summer to feel SAD about.  If we can wangle a weekend long babysitter and copious amounts of cash, there's a wedding we've been invited to in sunny Spain this Autumn...

3 Gadgetry.  Ideally that gadget that gets people out of bed and to the breakfast table from Wallace and Grommet   Failing that, I am seriously thinking of investing in one of these.

4 Capsule wardrobe - I want what he's got.  

 

It's not just the kids who need uniform.  A new season means new clothes. I don't do summer clothes very well, I much prefer cardigans and jeans to shorts and vests.   This autumn I will achieve a selection of clothes which mean I can pluck out an outfit in seconds, rather than scrambling round the floor, washing basket and clothes airer. Gok I need you.  It is also my dream comrades, that the rest of the family will finally graduate from their training in dirty washing disposal.

5 Bribery and mother's ruin. Ice creams, Pimms and Haribo worked for the summer. Perhaps September calls for harder stuff. Hard cash for their child labour and gin for mine. Pocket money will be paid consistently, gin will be drunk copiously.

Over to you, please share the wealth.  Looking forward to visiting and making some new friends.

And for lovers of small things and family traditions, life writers, family historians and those who have loved and lost, check out my Little Legacy project, you can link up posts on Thursdays.



Learn more about Kate Takes 5 Listography here.