Family only. Wednesday night after church, we have family movie night and take out. Sunday afternoon around 6 we have a family dinner. Usually at least one grandmother comes (both grandfathers have passed.) Until recently, we ate dinner together every night, but that is changing due to varied times of everyone coming home. Weekends now include a few friends or one of my children involved in an activity without the rest of us. Normal growing up stuff; but harder than I realized.

2 mandatory family events per week sound like a great idea. Is it family only or are friends and extended family allowed to attend?

Neither did I! Really, I just want to work with him on figuring out for himself how to break down big assignments. If he has to do 3 spelling tic tac toe assignments before Friday and has soccer from 6-8 on Monday/Weds, how can he make sure he doesn’t end up doin alllll the spelling on Thursday, when he also has to do reading journal? Also, I want to be as hands-off as possible 🙂
(This schedule sounds insane, but the soccer is really his brother for the first hour and him for the second, and all the homework on any one night takes about 15 minutes, so it’s not that bad!)

@Linda M – also the garbage can fairy. The situation is pretty bleak.

@Abbie – having shoes that fit is totally a victory.

@Meghan – I don’t think I started using calendars until high school or so, though I must have had some system for remembering dates, as we had assignments due in the future in middle school. I have given my 10-year-old calendars in the past, but he kind of just draws in them and writes random things. It’s not been used for things he needs to remember. Though the honest truth is that there aren’t too many things for a 10-year-old to remember beyond the current week.

I also love paper planners. Time to start shopping for 2018!

I’m glad you have had an on-balance successful back to school! We had a major meltdown last night when my 7yo couldn’t find his spelling homework sheets (turned out he’d put them away with other stray papers earlier in the week), but it’s gone mostly smoothly. This is the first time both my kids have been at the same schools two years in a row! It definitely helps from both a routine and a social standpoint. They are at different schools from each other, though.

I’ve been perusing kid planners online — I am a faithful bullet journaler, but need something more structured for my 7yo. His elementary school gives planners to 3rd graders and up, so I may check to see what they use (he’s in 2nd). Curious to see how your 10yo does with his!