First of all, I can't believe that two months has passed since my last post! Summer has flown by and I 've stayed quite busy with this active toddler. But I'm ready as we approach "back to school" time to share with you all my crazy little organized life!
Did you know that the first week of August is "Simply Your Life" week? Me either! Who knew someone out there has a job to declare special days, weeks, and months of the year for us organizing junkies?
So...in the spirit of "Simplify Your Life" week I am unveiling my top 5 ways to round up your summer fun and get the kids back on track to start the daunting schedule school has to offer.
Drum Roll Please......
1) Have everyone in the family write down one fun thing they would like to do the last week of summer break and put them in jar. That last week someone draws a piece of paper and that is the activity for the day! Everyone gets to fulfill their last summer fun wish! (Keeping it reasonable of course, which could get tricky, but you can set the rules first, ok moving on...)
2)Everyone needs to go through their closets and get rid of all the worn out and out-grown clothing. Purge! Purge! Purge! Once completed, make a list of the most needed items for each child and only those items need to be purchased during back to school shopping. Also, make sure you know when your state offers their "tax free" shopping days on certain items. For a list click the link below:
http://www.taxadmin.org/fta/rate/sales_holiday.html
3) Backpack and Lunch Bag checks: Make sure each child's previous year back pack has been washed and is in good sturdy shape for a whole new year of lugging around heavy books. If not, add it to the shopping list for each child as needed. Same goes for your lunch box. Don't forget! Check out your Tupperware too! Do you have enough for everyone to bring a lunch? What about utensils? Thermos? Prepare now, stress-free later!
4)Laundry Basket Assignments: This is one of the best ideas I've seen out there for getting and staying organized with your laundry! If you aren't the crafty person who has any interest in making this little "laundry dresser" you could always keep a colored laundry basket in the laundry room where everyone drops their colored clothes and a white basket for their whites. There are a ton of ideas out there...try Pinterest! This is will be a huge help during the school year with all the extra curricular activities. I am a believer that if they CAN they SHOULD be helpers around the house. Color code, label, number whatever works best for your family but make the kids be responsible for putting their dirty clothes where you have assigned. You can read more about this awesome idea over at Ana White's blog:
http://ana-white.com/2010/11/laundry-basket-dresser?page=1
5) and Finally..MEAL PLAN! I know this may seem an impossibly overwhelming task as first BUT wait...it can and will make life so much easier! Get the family around the table and ask each person to pick their favorite two meals you serve. For a family of four you will have one "extra" special meal you can rotate each week but this will give you a full week's meals and you haven't even had to think yet! Next step, make a list of the meals you tend to make and what your family tends to enjoy the most. Once you've done this evaluate how many meals you have and create as many weeks of meals as you can from this list. Once you've used all your meal ideas up repeat the first week of meals and voila! You are done for the month!!! Finally, make a list of staple items to keep on hand at all times and a separate grocery shopping list for the items needed to make the meals for each week of recipes. Put the time in now before school gets underway and I PROMISE your life will be much simpler!
A little bit of thought, planning, and implementing now can make for a much smoother transition for the whole family! Good luck and thanks for reading!
