This year our elementary school changed the hours of school and the kids are getting out 45 minutes earlier than they did in previous years. This really threw our family for a loop since the hubby is a teacher and was able to pick the kids up after school when it let out at 3:45. His school gets out at 3 and it takes a good 35 minutes to get to our elementary school. Now the kids are also getting out at 3 and there is no way for him to be in two places at once.
My schedule is flexible but I still need to get the hours in. Since I am not able to start my day until I get the kids to school I cannot end my day in time to get home by 3 either. At least not every day.
We tried to get into the after school child care program but it was full. So we are using extra-curricular activities as an extra hour of childcare this year. I had intended to do two to three days a week of activities so I could work later and then pick them up the other days. But there were so many things they wanted to do! This semester we have a very busy schedule but the kids are happy with it and seem to be doing ok so far. They are actually not getting home very much later than they did last year due to the time change. And that last hour is a fun activity so they seem more relaxed when we pick them up.
The extra-curriculars this year are AWESOME. The activities we are doing are just a sampling of all the great things offered at our school. All the activities are very reasonably priced and we are probably spending less doing this than we would have with the after school program. They are all on-site so there is no issue with transportation. We are so fortunate that we have access to all this great stuff. A huge thank you to our school's PTA for setting it all up, for us and all the other families that use it!
So here is our schedule this semester:
Mondays: cooking class (so awesome!)
Tuesdays: I pick them up and we usually hang out on the playground for a while before heading home
Wednesdays: violin (just started last week). They also have piano on Wednesday evenings that they have been doing for over a year.
Thursdays: Maya is doing Ballet and Max is doing an Athletics class that does a different game/sport every week.
Fridays: drama.
So each day that they have an activity I pack them a snack to have between end of school and start of activity. They usually have 10-15 minutes waiting for the activity to start.
On Mondays Max has chosen not to have a snack because they are in cooking class and they eat whatever they make. Maya still wants one because she frequently has to switch out ingredients in the recipe (she is allergic to dairy, egg, and fish) and sometimes doesn't like what they make. Max has liked everything so far! It is so awesome that the cooking instructors provide alternatives for Maya. They provide coconut yogurt (because apparently there is a shortage of soy yogurt in the US this year), soy milk and tofu. And some items they have everyone make with safe ingredients. It's just so wonderful that they are so accommodating!
But anyway, nearly every day I make a snack in addition to their lunches. Their after school activities are all pretty active so I want them to have a healthy snack that will give them energy. I found these fabulous containers that I have been using for snacks.
I got this container on clearance at Target. It is great! There was only one left or I would have gotten more! It naturally separates the stuff in the top from the stuff in the bottom. I usually put fruit in the bottom and something crunchy (veggies sticks or something) in the top. Today though Max wanted peanut butter celery so that went in the bottom. I asked what he wanted for the crunchy part and he said "celery is crunchy". So he got grapes in the top. He also got ice water.
This is the Sistema breakfast container. It also separates the top from the bottom. It comes with a spoon that comes apart and attaches to the bottom of the top container. This is a fantastic container too. Sistema has a whole line of containers that I may have to check out. Maya got celery and grapes in the bottom. She didn't want sunbutter in her celery so it was plain. She got pita chips in the top half and ice water.
Thanks for reading!
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