How to Plan Your Spring

Spring is almost here! If you want to make the most of this season of new life, the time to plan your Spring is now.

Happy March! When the calendar turns to March, I get excited. Spring is coming soon! The weather is about to get warmer, the leaves are about to return to the trees, and the threat of snow disrupting life diminishes. Although I love these parts of Spring (especially the lack of snow), there are other aspects of Spring that I don’t love so much. Looking at you, pollen. To make the most of the joys of Spring and reduce the annoyances, I like to take some time now, before Spring officially begins, to plan my Spring.

For all you Type B folks out there, don’t worry, I’m not suggesting that you need a color-coded system and 12 hours to plan your Spring. I just like to think through some things and maybe roll up my sleeves and accomplish a few tasks to make Spring go a little smoother. If that sounds like something that could help, read on for my suggestions for how to plan your Spring.

Home

Health

Family

Home

I always find that the first thing I want to do when the season changes is get my home in order. That’s especially true when moving from Winter to Spring. Here are all the home-related things I think you should focus on as you plan your Spring.

Windows

As soon as the bitter chill leaves the air, open those windows! Because I’m a schedule-oriented person, I like to open the windows in my house on a schedule. I typically throw them open after I put my son on the bus in the morning. Then I just leave them open until it gets chilly in the house. You’ll be amazed at the good opening your windows will do for your body and your mind!

A/C tune-up

Open windows means it’s only a matter of time until the air conditioner is running. To stave off the disaster of no A/C when it’s 95 degrees outside, I like to call my HVAC service company and schedule a tune up in early Spring. It’s not a foolproof way to avoid your A/C going out, but it’s the best thing you can do to avoid it.

Bedding

We are a flannel sheets family in the Fall and Winter, so Spring coming means bedding swaps in my house. It’s entirely too hot to sleep in flannel sheets and a big comforter when the nights are warm, so we switch to cotton sheets and quilts. It might not be warm enough to make the swap just yet, but it is the right time to get the Spring and Summer bedding out from storage and run it through the wash. Nobody wants musty bedding!

Spring cleaning

Perhaps the biggest indoor home activity to account for as you plan your Spring is Spring cleaning. I like to plan my Spring cleaning well before I start actually doing the deep cleaning so I can make it manageable. Because moms need to be strategic about Spring Cleaning. I write a list of what I want to accomplish with my Spring cleaning for the year and schedule it out on a piece of paper or a calendar page printed off the internet. This keeps Spring cleaning from being overwhelming and lets you map out where the kids can help!

Garden

Outdoors, now is the perfect time to plan your Spring garden. I have a black thumb, so I highly recommend you take zero advice from me when it comes to planting a garden. My husband handles the garden in our home, so he can be trusted to give gardening advice. He suggests that you clean up the garden beds, rototill the soil, and add some fresh topsoil. You’ll also want to figure out what varieties of plants you want to grow. Map it out so you don’t overbuy!

Health

Getting ready for a new season is a perfect time to get your health in order. Don’t forget your health when your plan your Spring!

Allergy medicine

For me, Spring is synonymous with allergies. I am an absolute mess in the Spring. The only thing that allows me to function is my trusty old allergy medicine. Even though the pollen isn’t really a problem yet, now is the time to start taking your allergy medicine if you need it.

Sunscreen

Another thing you should have at the ready when you plan your Spring is plenty of sunscreen. I wear sunscreen on my face year round, but I don’t typically wear body sunscreen in the Winter when my body is fully covered by long pants and sweaters for months. My kids are also not lathered in sunscreen in the Winter. But that’s about to change. As the sun warms us up a bit and we shed some layers, we will need sunscreen at the ready. Buy it now so you’re not scrambling when you really need it. In fact, get all of your sun protection strategies ready to go.

Sunglasses

It’s March 3^rd, do you know where your sunglasses are? If not, now is the time to find them. Trust me, you won’t want to squint through the Spring.

Outside

Once you have your sunscreen and sunglasses handy, it’s time to get outside! At this time of the year, you’re probably only going to get outside for small periods of time. But as the weather gets better and better, you’ll be able to spend more and more time outside. Take some time now and plan your Spring outdoor activities. Need some ideas? Here are some outdoor things I like to do in the Spring:

Walk the dog

Hike

Picnic

Sports (play or watch)

Ride a bike

Playground

Recipes

I don’t know about you, but I like to lighten up my food choices as we get into Spring. Sure, heavy casseroles and stews still taste delicious in the Spring, but they just don’t hit the same. I want dishes with lots of veggies and not as many carbs. If you like to switch your meals as the weather warms too, you need to do some recipe hunting as you plan your Spring. If you need some inspiration, you know I have a few recipes to get you started.

Chicken tzatziki bowls

These chicken tzatziki bowls are so refreshing and satisfying. The mix of textures and temperatures really does it for me in the Spring.

BBQ ranch chickpea pitas

These BBQ ranch chickpea pitas could be in my top 10 weeknight dinners, especially in the Spring. They are easy to throw together, they taste delicious, and they don’t feel too heavy at all.

Mexican grilled chicken Cobb salad

I love salads with a whole bunch of toppings on them. Toppings really make salads feel like a full meal, especially in the Spring when I’m craving all kinds of veggies. This Mexican grilled chicken Cobb salad is right up my Spring meal alley!

Family

If you’re the mom in your family (which like 99% of you are), you don’t just need to plan your Spring. You need to plan your whole family’s Spring. You’re the keeper of the schedule and the household no matter the season. Sorry.

Calendar

Before the start of every season, I like to sit down with my calendar. Preferably my calendar and my husband, but his schedule is chaotic, so sometimes I have to make do with just my calendar. During this calendar session, I input all of the kids’ activities, any adult activities we have planned, and any special events. Now that I know where I have to be and when, I can do the rest of my family-based Spring planning. This is a necessary first step.

Travel/activities

When the calendar is up-to-date, then it’s time to plan your Spring travel or other special activities. What are you doing for Spring break? Can you sneak in a day trip? What activities do you want to keep in your back pocket for that ever-shrinking free time? For larger trips or activities, I like to pencil them into the calendar. For free time-fillers, I make a list and keep it on my desk so it’s handy whenever we find ourselves in need of something fun to do.

Wardrobe

Updating the wardrobe could just as easily have been included in the home category of Spring planning, but I decided to put it in the family category because everyone’s wardrobe in my house is my responsibility. I’ve written a whole post about dealing with kids’ clothes, but most of it works for adult clothes too. Long story short, make sure you have adequate seasonally appropriate clothing in the correct size (even you, mom!) in an easily accessible location.

Toothbrushes

Conventional wisdom (at least as relayed to me for the last 40 years) is that you should swap out your toothbrush (or toothbrush head) once every three months. Because each season lasts for three months, I find it easiest to just swap everyone’s toothbrush at the beginning of each season. This is the only way I won’t totally forget this task. It’s almost shocking how well this works, so I wanted to pass this little tip on to you. Plan your Spring toothbrush, but also your Summer, Fall, and Winter toothbrush with a four-pack for each member of the family!

How to Plan Your Spring