Hey, everybody! 

Can you believe August is only 5 days away!?  That means school is right around the corner!  To make back to school as easy and successful as possible, I’ve created a back-to-school prep.   

We’ll start off by talking about clothes.  

Start now and go through your children’s wardrobe, donating any items that they outgrew last year or over the summer.  Make sure you’re all caught up on laundry before you start. Otherwise, you’ll have little stragglers.  This is the perfect time to take inventory on what your child has or doesn’t have so you can make an accurate shopping list for their back to school wardrobe.  Go through their winter clothes and shoes, as well.  Most importantly, make this a group activity.  Your child, especially the older ones, will need a say — not only with what fits, but what they will wear.  I know it’s always a struggle with my daughter.  She’ll see an outfit that’s cute and want it.  But, once she gets it home she never wears it again.  Maybe it’s too tight around the arms or the fabric is itchy.  That brings me to another point, don’t keep clothes just because they’re cute.  That’s another mistake I made with my daughter.  We would buy these cute outfits and then she’d never wear them, but instead of donating them, I would hang on to them because “I had just bought it” or “she only wore it twice” or whatever the case is.  Keeping clothes that aren’t getting worn takes up space and makes more clutter for you.  Finally, pay attention to the quantity of clothes each child owns.  The more clothes they own, the more laundry they have.

Now let’s talk about schedules.  

Food seems to be constantly disappearing over the summer months, doesn’t it??  Some kids, like mine, can get into a habit of snacking A LOT.  Then when dinner arrives, they’re not hungry.  I start a new schedule for my kids in August and I add “eat lunch” or “have a snack” on there to get them back in the habit of scheduled eating.  

Sleeping habits can change in summer months, too.  Lots of sleeping in and staying up late, am I right? Make sure your children are starting to migrate over to that early bedtime if they fell off of it over summer.  Planning activities for them during the day is a great way to ensure they’re moving their bodies and will be tired at their earlier bedtime.

Concentration is another important skill your children, especially younger ones, may need to relearn after summer break.  I write “learning time” into their updated schedules that way they are able to “practice” sitting still for extended periods.  

Finally, with school comes extracurriculars, clubs, meetings and more.  Having a central calendar that the whole family can check is crucial to staying on track during those busy weeks. I use this acrylic board on my fridge to track the menu for the week and our events. https://amzn.to/3DRDDX7

School shopping has been a tradition since forever, right?  Never do we get to start a school year without hitting up Walmart or Target.  I always make sure I go school supply shopping about 3 or 4 weeks before school starts.  I like to purchase the supplies before they all get picked over.  As soon as I get home with the supplies, I put them right into the kids’ backpacks.  Then, about 1 week before school starts I do a double check of everything we have to ensure nothing has been forgotten.   

The last topic I want to go over is your home. 

Once school starts back up, it seems like our evenings go by so fast!  There’s no time for anything, cooking, cleaning, helping with homework.  We MUST employ shortcuts if we plan to maintain a tidy home during these crazy days. 

Here are some shortcuts I employ:  my 6/10 List, my Basket Method, disinfectant wipes (for quick cleans of toilets, counters, you name it), sticking multiple bags in my trash can for quick emptying and grabbing my stick vac https://amzn.to/475BZhH for fast vacuuming.

While we’re on the topic of our homes, make sure you have a drop station.  This is where backpacks, shoes and coats will go when the kids get home from school.  This station will, preferably, be by the door to contain the mess.  Another plus of the drop station at the door is you can spray their gear with disinfectant when they get home to ensure those all too common germs don’t end up on every surface of your house.

I think I’ve covered everything!  Follow these tips for a successful back to school season!

-Aud