Summer is a lovely, rare and special time in the life of a child. It means staying up late, sleeping in, lazy days and no homework. Endless days with friends, summer camps, day trips or family vacations. But as an adult/parent it means something totally different. For us, it means doing everything we normally have to do, but now with kids added to the mix. Which is an extra layer of ... lets say ... "effort." I wouldn't trade it for the world, but when the 2.5 months of loose schedule, prepping 3 meals a day, and acting as cruise director for their social lives comes to an end, I'm ready. I'm ready for routine, for a schedule, and to catch up on the oh so many neglected details of life that fell through the cracks over the summer. And I won't miss applying all the sunscreen! Anyone else detest this chore as much as me?!?!
So ... with the summer wrapping up and the start of another school year on the horizon, this triggers a fierce nesting instinct in me. From cleaning, to organizing, to preparation in every way possible, I'm like a woman on a mission. It starts as soon as we get the "back to school" letters from their teachers. Included is a supply list which we make a priority before the pickin's become too slim and my 11 year old son gets stuck with a pink unicorn pencil box. So this year like all others we venture out together and load our cart with the requested essentials. I also take this time to add the new teachers email addresses to my contacts.
Next on the list is to prep their school gear stations. For us this is the back of the door heading to our mud room (and garage exit). They've both chosen to keep last years back packs, so that was easy for me. I just washed everything and hung them in their designated spots (along with their lunch boxes).
Craft cabinet clean out. It won't be long before homework is coming home and a variety of supplies are needed to complete any given assignment. So I like to clean out our craft cabinet and make sure all our supplies are in working order and easy to access. Markers, glue sticks, scissors, color pencils, crayons, you name it. I get rid of most of the saved projects (because lets face it, they'll make more), sharpen all the pencils, trash any dried out markers/glue sticks, and group all like items together. It's amazing how easily and fast this cabinet gets trashed by its users!
I always hang the new school calendar in an area we can all view it in. Which for us is heading down the stairs to our family command center (the mud room). And of course I add all the important dates to my smart phone calendar.
School bin clean out. My kids each have their own bin which during the year houses all the papers that come home from school. Assignments, report cards, art projects, spelling tests, and work sheets. I keep it all because you never know when you'll need to reference something throughout the year. Plus some are keepsakes that I'll want to hold onto. This is my least favorite job. I try to do it swiftly and make decisions quickly and just plow through the job. 98% of it winds up in the trash and what I've selected to hold onto winds up in their "School Days Memory Books." There is a folder for each grade and I always put their final report card, photos sent home from school. select art work, and school work that shows their personality or is memory worthy. Then the empty bins go back in their rightful location ready for another year.
Before tackling the job:
After (empty):
Kids Rooms. I enlist the efforts of the kids to do a total and complete purge of their rooms. Clean out their desks, declutter, and organize (with my help). I really feel like this step is extremely important for our little learners. I find it essential to start the year off with a clean slate and fresh page. A quiet, clean space is ideal for concentration on the homework that is to come!
Lastly ... cram some learning into what is left of the summer. I have a folder for each kid (they decorated them) with information regarding educational websites (and log in credentials) that school has sent home. Besides reading we haven't been very good about staying ahead of summer learning loss. So we've got to make up for lost time. The week before school I'll have them spend at least 30 minutes a day on these educational sites running over their math facts and the such. They have their folders with passwords and their tablets and I check to see how they do. I find it really helps. Especially for slackers like us.
The dreaded lunch box packing will resume shortly and I'm trying out a new method which I'll blog about soon. A friend of mine said she packs her kids lunches on Sunday night for the whole week. She made the investment in extra lunch containers and bangs it all out in one night. I was intrigued. I already sat the kids down and asked them what their favorite lunches were and assigned them to one of the four days of the week (they buy on Fridays). So assuming I have my grocery shopping done by Sunday night, and their requested lunch orders, I guess there is no reason why we can't put the effort in upfront and have one less chore during the week. More about this later ... I'll report back with my experience.
I do not do too much with their closets or back to school clothes shopping just yet. Some new sneakers and that's about it. Most of what they wore all summer will be just fine for the first couple months of school (at least). We'll cross that bridge when the weather starts to cool off and/or they grow out of their current seasonal clothing.
So that's all she wrote! Hope some of these tips are helpful as you prepare to send your little ones back to school! I wish everyone good luck with "reentry" and a safe school year ahead!
Thanks for stopping by and here's to another day closer to a life in balance ...
xo
Sloane
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