It’s hard to believe that summer is coming to an end and the girls are heading back to school this Monday. Summer has flown by and I find myself with only days rather than weeks to ease the kids back into “school” mode. Now, we are entering scramble mode to get them ready for the new school year. A few of the things we do to get ready for Fall:
Reset Sleep Schedules
Summers, we stay up late and sleep in. So a few weeks before school starts, we start to shift bed times earlier so that they will get enough sleep and be able to wake up early for the school year. Unfortunately, this year, I did not allow enough time to implement this so we are attempting to compress a couple of weeks into four days.
Declutter their Desks
Each girl has her own desk in her room for designated for homework; however during the summer, it becomes craft zone and craft supplies have taken over. I can barely make out the desk underneath all the paint, paper, and glitter. As part of getting ready for back to school, the girls are tasked with cleaning and organizing their desk and drawers. This is when we restock their pencils, erasers, post-its, index cards, binder paper, etc.
Take Stock of Clothing and Shoes
Before doing any back to school clothes shopping, I go through the closets with the girls and toss out anything that is stained, torn, outgrown or just beyond redemption. Once their closets and drawers have been cleaned and organized, we make a shopping list of items that we need before hitting the stores.
Refresh your Paper Management System
With school comes tons of paper, so I have a paper management system to corral all the paper that comes home with the girls each year. Before school starts, I’ll reassess the system to see what worked, what didn’t, and retool if needed. It's a pretty simple system - a portable file box with a section for things to do, things to file, and a section each for the girls. The stuff that goes in the section for the girls are papers that need to be reviewed, signed, and sent back. The other stuff - school projects and paperwork goes into a drawer designated for each girl.
I'll go through the box once a week and put the paperwork into their more permanent filing system. The drawers where I store the school projects doesn't usually get tackled until the end of the school year. At that time, I'll go through what I want to keep and toss.
Lunch Planning
My favorite!! Both Z and L prefer to bring lunches rather than do the school hot lunch. While some find packing lunches to be a lot of work, I personally love packing their lunch. It makes me happy knowing that even though I’m not with them; they are still getting a hearty and healthy lunch. To make the process easier, I’ll have about 5 “go-to” meals that I know they will eat and rotate 2 – 3 of them into the weeks. The other days will usually be leftovers from the night before. Since Z and L do not like sandwiches, I’ll usually pack their lunches in a DINE or THIS & THAT. Stay tuned for some lunch meal ideas.
Comments will be approved before showing up.
