Fall is fast approaching and no matter where you live, you have an intimate, ongoing relationship with your weather. What happens outside affects you inside your home and within you too. Consider how your life shifts as the seasons of the year phase in or out. You can take advantage of these seasonal changes to make each season special and unique in its own way.

Use these tips to help you get ready for a happy, healthy fall season that your whole family can enjoy:

1. Prepare your home for the change in the weather.

It’s wise to take care of tasks such as examining weather-stripping, storm windows, and your heating system this time of year. Look a few months ahead as you think about any preparations or repairs you might want to make to your home before the first cold fronts arrive. Bring prepared brings you peace of mind and can avert a stressful crisis down the road. If you need help coming up with a list of fall maintenance tasks, here is a post from Clean Mama that might be useful.

2. Use special autumn activities to strengthen your family bond.

Spend a dinner out together or a family evening at home to plan things to do together in the fall.

• Make it even more enjoyable by allowing each of your kids to choose a favored fall activity. This makes them feel included and more likely to participate; even in the activities they don’t like.
• Whether you visit a local pumpkin patch for hot apple cider in late October or plan a drive to your closest national park to view the changing leaves, you can arrange to spend plenty of special autumn times together as a family.
• Fall’s approach can be something for your family to look forward to together and a time of creating (and keep) family traditions.

3. Engage your family in fall menu planning.

Encouraging your children to take part in the planning of some delicious seasonal meals serves many purposes.

• It’s fun for the kids to have a choice in what the family eats. As parents, you have teaching opportunities about foods, nutrition, cooking, budgeting, and cultural diversity. So you can all look forward to preparing and enjoying the meal together.
• Incorporate your children’s ideas into your fall meal planning as a way to teach them about fall vegetables and healthy, flavorful eating.
• Don’t forget to get the kids involved in school lunches as well. Now that the new school year is in full swing, it’s time to keep the momentum of back-to-school schedules and organization going. Check out this post I wrote about how to make packing school your kids will actually eat and how to make it stress free.

4. Evaluate your moods as fall sets in.

In the past, have you noticed specific changes in your moods as the leaves drop from the trees and the weather cools?

• Do you feel relieved that the heat is dissipating for a spell? Or do you feel disappointed because there will soon be fewer hours of daylight and the weather will be getting cold?
• Thinking about how the coming season will affect your mood is a smart thing to do in preparation for autumn’s arrival. That way, you can be better prepared for any seasonal shifts in your emotions.