Posts in the series:
Preparing for Baby
The First Weeks
A New Routine
Helpers – Big & Small
Unexpected Circumstances
Baby has arrived! You are elated, emotional, and exhausted…all day, every day. Now is not the time to stress over homeschooling!
Take a deep breath, and let’s talk.
Baby Steps
Sometimes the upheaval of having a new baby can cause moms to want to create even more upheaval. We want to revamp our entire world. Frankly, I believe this is a hormonal reaction and a search for some sense of control and normalcy, but we have to give ourselves permission to slow down and take things to their lowest common denominator for a while.
When it comes to homeschooling with a newborn, you have 3 choices:
- No school
- Bare minimum school
- Back to normal school
In my opinion, it’s best to follow these in order and move to the next one when you feel ready, and not a moment sooner. Start by telling yourself you have permission to take off from school while you adjust to a new baby. When you feel stronger, add in the bare minimum, namely independent work the children are capable of doing on their own or with minimal help from mom. This will give you time to work out kinks in your day, and find a new routine (more on that tomorrow!). When you are ready, you can step into your {new} normal school day.
When Will I Find the Time to Homeschool?
We all know caring for a newborn takes time. We all know homeschooling takes time. We have 24 hours, and somewhere in there we need to sleep and eat as well. It’s a balancing act, for sure!
Those newborn days may not follow your usual homeschool schedule and that’s ok. You are allowed to wait until baby’s nap to do school. It’s ok if you do school in starts and stops. Let your children know things are going to be a bit different for a while, but do not make baby out to be a burden! Your newborn is a blessing and your other children will be blessed by the new baby in so many ways! Do not let workbooks and tests get in the way of being a family!
Ultimately, you find the time to school when you have the time. These newborn days are short and soon baby will have his own little schedule and you will find your rhythm.
Don’t Do What You Don’t Have to Do
You are not superwoman, and no one expects you to be either. More than likely, you are your own worst critic. Your expectations of yourself are too lofty for you to reach, and you need to let go of the guilt and only do what you need to do.
This is going to look different for everyone, based on your own convictions, passions, energy level, and time. One of the first things to go for me is always bread baking. I’m okay with buying my bread in a store and saving myself those hours. One thing I don’t let go in those early days is cloth diapering (although I will let it go when I’m dealing with morning sickness) because I really enjoy it! (By the way, Erin from The Humbled Homemaker has a great ebook called Confessions of a Cloth Diaper Convert on all things cloth diapering that sells for $9.95.) You have to choose what you can and cannot do, always remembering this isn’t a permanent choice.
How To Homeschool AND Feed the Kids
Major events in my life tend to shut down my kitchen. I don’t feel like cooking, dirtying up the kitchen, or cleaning up, but I still have to feed my children. (By the way, if you are looking for some large family friendly recipes, I have a brand new page here on Raising Arrows where you can find all the large family recipes from the site in one place!)
The best way to homeschool with a newborn and manage to feed the kids all in the same day is to simplify, simplify, simplify!
Breakfast – Whatever you choose, make it something the children can get on their own. Yogurt, fruit, peanut butter or honey on toast, granola, and cereal are all good options here.
Lunch – I’m a big fan of Amish Lunches. These are simply individual finger foods that come together as a sort of free-form meal. To accomplish this, all you have to do is have some of these things on hand:
deli meat
cheese
crackers
pickles
jams & jellies
bread
fruit
veggies and dip
hard-boiled eggs
nuts
Lay everything out and call it lunch! My kids love this, and it is oh so easy!
Dinner– Make this meal repeating and easy. Choose 7-10 recipes your family really likes and repeat them over and over. Good recipes for this category are:
Chili
Crockpot Hamburgers
Easy casseroles
Grilled sandwiches
Soups
And don’t forget to feed yourself! Have an end table or tray table near your favorite chair so you can have a place to set food and a drink while you feed the baby because babies are hard-wired to wake up and need to eat the moment mama gets ready to eat.
The Simple Life
If there is one reoccurring theme throughout this entire series, it is that of SIMPLIFYING. Look at every aspect of your day and every area of your home to find ways to trim time and energy. One of my favorite time and energy savers are DrinkBands
Color-coding your drinking glasses is a fantastic way to cut down the clutter in your kitchen with very little effort. We have been using DrinkBands for a couple of years now and are very thankful to have them!
THE DRINKBANDS GIVEAWAY HAS ENDED!
Posts in the series:
Preparing for Baby
The First Weeks
A New Routine
Helpers – Big & Small
Unexpected Circumstances
Marissa W. says
We would need drinkbands for 8 children and 2 adults. These look like a promising solution. We have colored cups, but colors repeat and it only partially works.
Jenn says
We have a new baby expected in Oct, so this was helpful! We’ve tried using rubberbands to mark glasses in the past, but they fall apart quickly – drinkbands sound great!
Leah Williams says
It’s hard telling how many I may need eventually 😉 but for now, 7 would cover us. Actually, 6 since the baby just nurses.
Laura says
Our family is still pretty small (3 children, 1 nursing) but we would use these daily, I’m sure!
Julie says
These look like just what we need! We have a daughter with food allergies and trying to keep our drinking cups in order makes my head spin. We would need them for 11.
Amital says
These look great! We would need at least 7 – once we get everyone up to drinking out of a cup 😉
AK says
These look like a nice way to avoid dishes! Thanks for the opportunity to win!
Katie K. says
Currently, we would need 6 without guest. With our friends who also have growing friends for dinner, we’d use all between our families. Hopefully we would use all 18 with just our family, but that’s the Lord’s business right now. 🙂
Sara says
I’m expecting my fourth in October. I will have a fourth grader and two kindergartners. I’m thinking of holding off on K until January. We would need six drink bands.
Jekka S says
I have so much energy after baby comes, thanks to always being borderline anemic when pregnant, that I pretty much throw the new baby in a wrap and go into overdrive making up for all the ground lost during that last trimester. Now, how to school with a into everything, climbing on everything, coloring on everything, dumping out everything toddler… that I need some help with. We’d need 6 drink bands here at the moment.
Alicia says
Oh yes, please!!!! I know the bone-tired feeling of the newborn days are harrowing to deal with. But, I would also LOVE some ideas of school-time with a fearless, crazy-pants (I know that’s not a proper word, but it’s the best I can do at the moment!) toddler, who just turned 2. Sit and do “preschool activities” just doesn’t work…yet. Other than doing school while she naps (because really we all NEED to rest in the afternoon), please, I would be most utterly grateful for any ideas! I’m believing for that sudden change to at least a little more calm in the next several weeks (please!), but I’m holding on for dear life (mine and hers!) for now. (:
Amy says
LOL – You are not the only one asking for this topic! Honestly, I’m living it right now! He’s 4 and BUSY!
Jen says
Wed need 6,but a few more are always nice for company!
Erin O. says
I would love these! We would need at least 8 bands (but only 2 in “girls” colors LOL)
Mrs. Cliff says
Every time I have heard you talk about theses I think they would be so neat to try!
Ashley says
We would need 6 drink bands (4 kids, 2 adults).
Desi says
About to have a new little bit at the end of August and this series is great! We would need at least 8 drink bands!
Joy C. says
We would need them for 6 family members. I LOVE this idea! =)
Sarah says
With a baby due in July I need all the advice I can get. This posts come at a perfect time for me. I love the band ideas, to go on cups we already have and cut back on dishes. Every little thing helps.
Jillian says
I just got my drinkbands and I love, love, love them. My guys are sick and this is really helping to limit the spread of germs. I don’t know why I waited so long to order them!
Stacy says
There are five of us, so far.
heather says
These would sure help us keep things straight.
Deana McHatton says
These are so neat. We would need 6 of them.
Susan Alexander says
I would need drink bands for 2 adults and 4 children (well, ok, 3 for now, but 4 eventually) plus another 2+ for visiting adults/children. 🙂
Sharon says
These drink bands look great I have 9 children so I think a pack of 18 should do us?
Thanks for the chance to win some!
Tiffany Marston says
We have 3 adults and 6 kids!!! So 9 is our number!!! What a super cool idea!!
Carisa Webb says
Maybe the drink bands would reduce the number of dishes we need to wash.
Ranee says
These look awesome. I could use about 8 of them. Thanks and Blessings.
sajmom says
That’s so odd, I was just telling my son about drink bands, I saw them on Pinterest! We’d need 7 of them for our family.
Laura Roberts says
Good morning and thanks for the giveaway 🙂 we would need at least 8 drink bands 🙂
Cecilia says
We would need 10. 🙂
Kelly Gonzales says
Thank you for writing these posts about homeschooling with a newborn. I have a 1 week old and I tried starting school already, when maybe I shouldn’t have. Your posts come at the perfect time for me!
Amy says
It all depends on how you are feeling. If you feel like you can manage it, then go for it! If not, it won’t hurt to wait longer. 🙂
Melissa Bryant says
I have been wanting to try these. Thanks for the chance to possibly do so.
Krysten says
I have seen these before and could’t remember their name. What a great idea to keep track of glasses and cups – there always seem to be so many, too many, in the dishwasher at the end of the day
Melissa says
Drinkbands, good idea, hubby would love that, and he’d stop marking on the glasses with sharpee!
April Woodall says
Thank you for this blog post. We’ll be starting our first year of homeschooling this fall and while I don’t have a newborn – we do have two littles (one will be 2.5 when school starts and one will be 13months) Our school days definitely won’t have a ‘normal’ look to them for a while, especially since we’ll ALL be learning how to do this homeschooling thing 🙂
Amy says
You can do it! 🙂
Tiffany S says
I’m really thankful for this series as right now I’m pregnant with #4 due in October and will begin official homeschool (kindergarten) with my oldest in the fall. That doesn’t include continuing some semblance of preschool with my 3 1/2 year old and find ways to occupy #3 who will be about 19 months when baby’s born.
The drink band sound like a great but simple organizer! We will need 6 in the very near future!
Amy says
Congratulations!
Tiffany S says
Thank you! We’re excited to be adding boy #4 to our family. God is good!
Jessica Cash says
Excited about these drink bands!
Nikole A. says
The drinkbands look awesome! We would need 6. And thank you so much for this series!
nancy says
7 minimum
Thanks!
Nancy
Barb says
Drinkbands are a great concept. They are great for our family of 10 plus it is always good to have extra colors for company (especially if they are children). The multicolored bands are neat and fun looking.
Nikki says
I would need six drink banks, but really just four for my children since my husband and I can tell ours apart.
Stacy says
Daily washing, I would need 4 drink bands. Thanks for the chance to win!
Aymee T says
Thank you for sharing all those tips, they are very useful with baby #3 on the way
Amy says
You are welcome! 🙂
Tiffany Ballard says
Since baby is due to be here next month this series is really helpful. We would need enough for 9 kids and 2 adults right now(10 kids counting baby that is due next month) but who knows how many we will eventually need. 😉
Britta Kreps says
Our family would need 2 adult drinkbands and 6 almost 7 kid drinkbands. I love the concept of these because they also push me get rid of the plastic junky cups I have and move to some sturdier glassware that can be dishwasher safe!
Melissa G says
I would love these – we use elastic bands now, or just try to remember colours (and mom can never remember!) These would be great! We would need 6 different colours so far.
Suanna says
There’s 8 in our family and occasional visitors so these would be great. LOL I need one for my cup so the kids don’t dump it out and put it in the dishwasher right after I pour my drink and left it to go take care of something.
Coby says
I would need drinkbands for 3 kids and 2 adults. My kids have cup issues – they think they need a new cup every time they get a drink!!! 😉
Amber says
Love this idea!
Dove says
We don’t really need them yet (20 m and 5 m old children) but hopefully we will someday!
kama says
My first 2 were 15 months apart too! 🙂
kama says
This is such an awesome group of 5 posts. I am due in 3 weeks with #4 and plan to start homeschooling #1 (who will turn 5 in September) in the Fall so this has really helped a lot. I’m excited for your next 3 posts. I have 3 kids now with one on the way, so we would need 6 of them for regular drinks throughout the day. Of course we all have a glass of milk in the morning so they would help there too, but 6 would do! 🙂
Amy says
Congratulations on your newest blessing!
Bridget says
As of now, I would need 6 drink bands for each member of my family. However, that may change soon to 7 🙂
Bridget says
As of now, I would need 6 drink bands so each member of my family has one (2 adults, 4 children). However, that may change soon to 7 🙂
Carrie*Lynne says
We are having baby #5 in 3 weeks and these would be great 🙂
I am so thankful to be having this baby in the summer so we do not need to include schooling. I did end schooling early because of exhaustion but we are continuing reading for as long as we can 🙂
Christina says
I would LOVE these! When it is just us here, we would need 6!
Beccy H. says
We would need 6 or 7 if you count our newborn!!
Latisa Whitley says
8 drinkbands needed here! 🙂
Vivian Mcwhiney says
We would need drinkbands for 10 These look like a promising solution. i actually got read of all kids cups , plastic cups etc…. we got new cups and it be perfect
Chelsea Wipf says
We would need them for 2 adults and 3 children.
Sheila says
Love the drink bands .
We are a family of 8 so these would be awesome!
Sheila says
Love the drink bands .
We are a family of 8so these would be awesome!
Amanda H says
I would need 5 on a normal day, but 7 during the summer when I have extra kids here.
Brea says
I would need at least 8 of them for now 🙂 Drink bands are such a great idea! I constantly have a sink full of glasses as everyone gets out a new one every time they are thirsty.
Jennifer P says
Love Drink Bands. Somehow my kids have decided they make really cool wristbands. Which is true. Yet, I NEED to keep my cups and water bottles straight with 10 people milling around.
Tara says
#5 is on the way! I am excited for the new little one and will be even more excited once the morning sickness is gone! We went to separate water bottles this last year, but drink bands would be great for milk!
Cindy says
Oh, I need a bunch. Between my 5 kids and us and all the people who drop by, it’s hard to tell whose cup is which.
Katie says
As a mom of a two month old, I can completely relate. I look forward to her having a nap schedule! 🙂
Katie says
Oh, by the way, right now we would only need 6. 🙂
Holly says
What a great idea!
Holly says
Oh we have 8 in our family !
Jen says
We would need five for our family.
Catherine says
Great giveaway idea! I would like 10 drinkbands! Thanks!
Kacie says
I love this series already! So I’m having my third child this Sept/Oct. and my son is 4.5 and daughter is 2.5. Part of me is considering starting a K4 thing this fall…and part of me is like…aim low. Aim for reading a book together each day. The end.
I’m not sure what we’ll do exactly, but I do intend to be really gentle on myself and very flexible. My kids are LITTLE. It doesn’t matter if we take the whole school year off, really. I’m sure lots of learning will be done no matter what I do! 🙂
Amy says
You’ve got the right perspective, Kacie!
Shannon Mallory says
What a great idea! There’s 8 of us. Plus one on the way!
I have thought of doing this with ponytail elastics BUT they are always needed for hair… Or lost!
shelley quiroz says
With baby number 3 on the way we would need 5 for our family. What a great gift for other growing families so I know the extras would get put to good use.
Thankful for God's Grace says
We would need 6 drink bands right now but we are praying that the Lord would continue to bless us and then we’ll need more:D I love this idea and have passed on the website to a few friends. Thank you for the opportunity to win some!!
Nicole Garcia says
I would need 5 total drink bands. What an amazingly simply solution to reduce the amount of glasses in my sink!
Writer Mom says
With 6 little blessings I can relate that there is a season for everything and sometimes that season is to do NOTHING or as little as possible.
I’d love to get my hands on at least 8 of these drink bands.
Em says
I would use 7 drinkbands now plus 1 up and coming drinker!
Bev P says
There are 4 of us, would love to try these out!
Kristy Rainwater says
We have 8 in our family, but our good friend, who also are a family of 8 are here frequently, so it is entirely possible we would be able to use almost all of them on a regular basis. We were just saying yesterday that we should really get some of these and lo and behold you put up this giveaway! 🙂
jen says
Love the drink bands. I have color coded my 9 since there were only 5 of them…(and even unconsciously before)…everyone has a color and it applies to cups, bath towels, clothing, dry erase calendar, notebooks, and anything else I can get in 9-11 different colors!!
Lacey says
We are expecting our 4th little girl in August and will need 3 drink bands for our older girls 2 for mom & dad plus a few extra for when friends come to visit (which is often). I love this idea!
Amanda says
I hope that I would only need 5 bands since there are only 5 of us. 🙂 Which ever size would fit around a pint mason jar.
Jami says
We would need 9 for now. These seem like they would be so helpful!
Faith Heitger says
I would love to win the drinkbands! Right now we’d only need 3–but hoping for a whole houseful in a few years 🙂
Marie says
We would need 4….no make it 5– because they baby on the way will be drinking out of a glass in just a few years!
heather says
Great post!
Jessica says
I would love some drink bands! They would be a lifesaver for a mom of 5 with no dishwasher:)
British American says
We have 5 in our family, so 5 or 10 would work for us. 🙂
Elise says
Love the idea of the drinkbands. Thanks for the great giveaway!
Courtney says
Very useful! I would love to win these.
RoseC says
I need at least 12 as I have a large family and it would be great to have one for each person. The holidays we have between 13 and 16 people usually. Great times when we have family over but I sure hate it when I end up with double the glasses to wash because no one knows where they left their drink. These would be a great help in that department. Thank you for the chance to win this product. Have a blessed day and good luck to all who enter.
RoseC says
Oh by the way I would be happy with just one as it will be the beginning of the collection campaign. LOL 🙂
Misty Marr says
I’d love Drinkbands for 9!
Elizabeth says
We would need 5 on a regular basis and more when we had guests!
Vicki says
Sometimes you feel like someone needs to give you permission to slow down and take it easy. Thanks for doing that!
Alexandra Howard says
This series is sooooo timely, thank you for writing this! We have a 6, 4, 2, and baby #4 is on the way around July 23rd, we are relocating from OK to MI August 1st, my husband is starting a new job August 8th and have our home for sale…..whew!!!
This will be our second year homeschooling and we aren’t planning on starting the school year until September to get settled, but it’s nice to have confirmation that things can wait, planning ahead is key, and simplifying is the goal!! Thanks!!
Amy says
Absolutely! I hope your move goes smoothly!
Angie says
Man these are great! I would need a set of 6 for sure – and a double set of 6 would be even better! Thanks for the giveaway!
Stephanie says
Thanks, Amy for all your great tips!! I just found this series and with a baby due in November and starting school for the first time, this will help tremendously! 😀
Stephanie says
As for the drink bands, we would need 4 for the children plus the two of us, so 6…for now. 😀
Hannah B says
I would “need” 4 for now… Really I just need to get my husband to reuse his cup, but with company & planning for a big family 6 or 8 would be nice too! 😉
Melissa says
We would need enough for 8 children & two adults
Jenn says
We would need 10 bands 🙂
Bonnie says
drink bands smart, less dishes
Mary Smiley says
We would need 6 for us right now. Our youngest is still just nursing, but she’ll need one sooner or later.
Lucinda says
we would need 9! these look awesome, what a great idea
Judy says
What a great idea…especially with LOTS of kids –which I have : )
Sarah says
These would be so helpful! 8 people drinking from cups here, and when we have people over it gets impossible to keep track. Love your posts Amy, I’m definitely a fan of simplifying during the crazy times in life… without guilt!
Christa says
These drink bands would make life so easier in my house! My husband has been saying we need to get colored bands for our cups! I never knew about these until now! Thanks!
Christy says
I really should have gotten some Drink Bands by now. We’ve tried colored rubber bands, but they are just too thin to be noticed easily. I also hate having to work at getting them untwisted once I put them on. It’s the little things. 😉
Shannon says
We need these badly…no one ever remembers which glass is theirs!!
Bekki says
We would need 6 drink bands for our family. They would be so helpful to have less dishes!
Darlene @ {In Pursuit} says
I would need 5. I love them!
Lisa says
We’d need a dozen. But 6 would be super helpful.
Sheri says
I would be excited to win the drinkbands. They sound like a helpful idea!
Sheri says
oops! We would need 7.
Tawnya says
Colored rubberbands do the trick without the expense!! Love your articles!