It’s that time of year once again. Vacations are over, classrooms are waiting, and the kids are heading back to school. Whether you are sending your Littles off to First Grade or your driving-eligible teens to their Senior Year, you are likely keeping multiple balls in the air as you wade through mayhem and chaos.

The last thing probably any parent wants at this time of year is one more thing to do, but it really is the ideal time to lay out ground rules for the busy year ahead instead of doing cleanup when things don’t go the way you hoped or need them to go.

All things being age appropriate to work well, how about setting rules for what time to get up in the morning.  Is it breakfast first or get dressed first?  What time does the bus come whether it’s big and yellow or a sedan driven by a parent.  What about lunches?  Will the kids buy them or make them themselves?  How about a menu to choose from you buy ingredients for once a week.  Who washes sports uniforms so they’re ready for practice?  What about household chores?

Perhaps the hardest of all is for divorced parents to try to work together, yet this is clearly not a task for one person who simply cannot do it all alone.  Maybe it’s time to set an example for the kids to see how, yes, even grown-ups can get along.