So most of us have been back at school for a couple of weeks now. It’s starting to feel more like the routine again.

As you have most likely gathered, if you are a regular reader of the blog, I’ve learnt embrace the chaos that parenting brings. Most of the time I can be found dashing from one place to the next, checking off my mental to-do list and built in diary of daily arrangements and timings.

For a few years that will be it’s just the way things are, and I consider it to be part of the ride really. In general I find that the more you stress about it the worse it becomes, the more flustered you are and the more overwhelming it all seems.

I always think if anybody shadowed me for the day they’d be laughing out loud most of the time at the ‘chaos’ of the daily routine, but it is just that, routine…it’s my chaos and most of the time it works, however crazy it might seem to someone else.

I have unique ways to tackle things, get things done and achieve the most out of every day. I’ve had to become like that the achieve anything in the day.

Of course that doesn’t mean that things don’t go wrong, they frequently do in fact. Someone will always need a wee or a poo at the most inconvenient time; someone will be sick the night you have the most work to get finished; there will be a road closure the one day you are running late; sheep will block the road on the way to an appointment you’ve waited six months for and so on and on and on.

That’s parenting.

That’s life.

We have to laugh and move on!

For the days when it’s all a bit too much it helps to have a treat to pick you up. I’ve said before that for me there is nothing much that a hot bath and glass of wine can’t fix, although during the day a green tea does the job too.

For the chocoholics amongst you what about turning to a bit of Ombar? It’s chocolate with a difference, a raw chocolate.

Rather than roasting the cacao beans, they are processed at lower temperatures, thereby retaining far more nutrients and goodness. As the beans have not been roasted, they are considered raw.

Raw chocolate is perfect for those who are trying to ‘eat clean’, those who are lactose intolerant and those who are discerning about their chocolate. The ingredients used to make this raw chocolate are organic and intentionally so. They use coconut sugar rather than refined sugar, and the bars are vegan.

Essentially, raw chocolate caters for a wide variety of palates and dietary requirements while simultaneously remaining delicious – that’s what makes it special.

Sound good? It even comes as buttons! A great boost when you are feeling a little frazzled, and only 146 calories.

How do you cope with the day-to-day chaos? What helps you manage when life gets frantic?