Digital Reflections: Back to school: get organized

There is so much to do, so many lists running in my mind, on paper or on our calendar. It's a fun but very busy time of year. Being organized is key in lowering the stress level that comes with getting 4 kids prepared for school. I will share some ideas and better yet, some links for some great ideas to help you start the school year off on the right foot.

1. Get a good calendar system: whether its a traditional dry erase calendar or some of these cool chalkboard wallies... cork boards are also good to help keep everything that comes from school in one place. Last year I finally got in the habit of reading the school flyer with my dry erase pen in hand, and transfering dates, deadlines, and events right onto our main board and then tossing those papers in our recycle bin. It kept down on a lot of clutter.

Weekly Planner Green & Brown DRY Erase Cling Self Adhesive Board Fridge - Sticks to Stainless Steel with NO residue

2. Find a place for everything...

Whats not to love about Pottery Barn Kids...

Big units like this all the way to desk top organization is a big plus when trying to keep several kids "stuff" in one place, easy to find and get to and easy to put away and maintain some sense of order in the world.

Organize.com offers great products, and I love seeing sets that come together.

* Create an inbox/outbox system for each child. It has helped us when needing to locate papers that are due or money that needs turned in for school pictures. Their school papers come in and go in the "in box", when I get a chance to go through them I can sign them, attach a check or whatever needs done and then move them over to the "out box". It is a time saver in the evening as we pack backpacks. This could simply be a folder for each child, a magazine holder or a nice stationary box if you have the room for several of them.

* Have a designated "drop" zone. If your house gets as crazy at 3:45 as mine does, this can be a huge relief. We have a drop zone right by the kitchen, the kids can just drop all their backpacks, lunch boxes, kick off shoes, jackets it doesnt matter. After snack we then collect the things that need gone through, each child is responsible for clearing out their lunch boxes and we usually sit in the kitchen to go through their backpacks before they head to the table for homework. I realized quickly with 4 kids each, exhausted from school and needing some unwinding time that it is best that I am not barking reminders as to where to put everything right off the bat, rather I would just enjoy the time to hear their stories from the day and allow us all to settle into our evening routine.

3. Start labeling...

One of my favorite finds came via Cool Mom Picks. My kids could already tell you how much I love my lable making machines and tools around here. It is always fun to create that little personalized touch for their items. But Mabels Labels takes it to a whole new level, and I just love these great products.

4. Laying it all out...

Probably one of our biggest back to school struggles is the whole "what to wear" challenge. We nipped this in the bud last year. A simple closet organizer like this and each of the kids had 5 days worth of clothes picked out on Sunday night. We left nothing out, in each compartment is the outfit (unless it is still on the hanger in which case it is next to the closet organizer) socks, shoes, hair accesories, etc. It takes some time to sit in each child's bedroom on Sunday night and pick out clothes for the week, but the times that I let it slide proved to me how invaluable this aspect of being organized can be.

5. Lunch to go...

With our using a bento style lunch plan this year that could be an aweful lot of prep time. What we came up with was this great chart I spotted over at MarthaStewart.com. This is going to be especially helpful with my little kindergartener and first grader. Once I get our all laminated and up on the fridge I will get a photo to show how we changed it up for our menu plan. We will have about 6 items in each lunch -with smaller portions and emphasis on percentage of protein (a vegetarian eater among them) and fruit/veggies and grains. We get a lot of inspiration from this site... Whats for lunch at our house. Last year we quit purchasing ziplocs and sewed our own washable and reusable napkins and we will continue to do that this year.