Back To School Routine

Get Your Routine Set Before The First Day of School

Are you ready for school to start?  My best advice to you is decide what your morning routine is going to be, in advance of school starting?  Make a chore board… or routine board.

Why? Because once the hectic mornings begin, it will be hard to change habits.

Here are my suggestions for a morning routine.

Morning Routine

1) Get up at least 15 minutes earlier than you “think” you need to. There will always be a glass of spilled milk or a “melt down” when you least expect it.
2) Have a “chore board” or “morning routine board” if needed to help your child remember their morning routine.
3) PREPARE the night before!!!
* Pack lunches or lunch money
* Lay out clothes
* Have book bags ready to go
* Homework inside in the bookbags
* Library books inside the bookbags (you get the point)
* Take your shower the night before if possible.
* Have breakfast planned and table set

After School Routine Tips

1) Routine…Routine….Routine. (kids need it)
2) Book bags emptied when they come in the door. Have a specific spot for their papers where you can go through them.
3) Snack
4) Homework time (don’t delay it, get it over with..they are still in school mode..not play mode yet.)
5) Have a quiet place, with low stimulus for homework. Desk in their room without tv, or a kitchen table.
6) Put their book bags away in a set spot. Hooks on the back of a door can work great.

It isn’t hard to establish a routine, but don’t expect your children to do it.  You need to do it for them.  Once you get it going…within a couple of weeks it will be habit to them.  They won’t think anything of it – kids need routine.

Your days will go much smoother with just a few rules put in place. Believe me… I’ve been there.. done that (I have 3 adult sons….remember?

 

School Supply Shopping

Purchase Yours & Help Others Too

Have you done your school supply shopping yet?  Hard to believe we are talking about going back to school already isn’t it?  But it is coming up very fast! Within weeks for most of us.

The kids get so excited to go and get school supplies. But they can get very expensive.  As expensive as they are for us, have you thought of the families that can’t afford them at all?  Have you ever considered buying extras to give to families that need help?

But don’t necessarily think of kids over seas or in the inner city. There are more than likely many families in your own school district that need help.  They might be the families that really need help, but don’t qualify for all the government programs.  Call your school principal and ask them if they can anonymously donate for you.

We were lucky enough last year to be involved in a program through Elmer’s, called Bag it Forward.   We were able to purchase supplies to outfit two full book bags of supplies.  We called the principal of our school and she knew of a couple of families that could use them.

My suggestion would be to actually go to a different school than your kids go to. The last thing you would want would be for your kids to realize that was “the school bag they donated” and tell the kids or tell other kids.  I had a discussion with the kids over this and explained how donating without others knowing is a really cool thing and that they wouldn’t want to embarrass any other children.

Even if you can’t do an entire book bag… what about just getting some extras of certain things?  I just found spiral notebooks at Walmart for $.20 each. I mean wow!

So consider why you are buying your supplies this year – if you are able to spare some extra, consider helping others while you get your kids school supplies this year.

 

Organizing tips for Back to School

When do your kids go back to school?

Are you ready?  Jumping up and down..or crying your eyes out?

But for all of us it means a Change in Routine!  There are lunches to pack, book bags to attend to, papers to see, sign and dates to put into our calendars.  Getting to bed earlier, getting up earlier.  Catching a bus or learning the route to walk/ride bikes, or moms doing the driving (like me).

This is part of a post I did last year – to give you an idea on how to make a “Routine Board” for the Morning crazies we all have.

I gave some tips for morning and afternoon routine in my Back To School Post you can see here.  Today I want to tell you about the School Routine Board you can make for your kids.  I use this same concept for a Chore Board..but this is why it is such an adaptable idea.  Here are the steps to Make your own.  Instead of the child’s name at the top of the board, you can use “Before School” and “After School”.  Then use your magnets and drawer pictures with brief description of the task that needs to be done.  Children are visual and instead of rattling off the list of “To Do’s” every morning, they will know to look at the Routine Board.

It’s just another way for your morning and after school routines to go a little smoother.

OGIO Backpack

I have to tell you that my son was sooo excited for this review! He looked at several backpacks that could have been reviewed from OGIO and he picked “that cool one mom” backpack. The OGIO company was nice enough to give us one to review . What I was happy about with the OGIO Mastermind  was that the straps were wide, and heavily padded. He complains every year about his backpack straps hurting and they almost always break before the end of the year. He has over a mile to walk to school everyday and with all of the stuff he always carries I know that he is happy with these straps, as am I.

The quality of this backpack is seen from the straps to the interior.
Here is the description of the different pockets straight off the site:
Back panel side entry padded laptop sleeve / Front vertical file organizer / Large center storage area / Power cord and mouse storage / Four large exterior pockets / Neoprene top grab handle / Heavy duty reinforcements / Airline ticket sleeve / Weatherproof fleece lined audio pocket with headphone exit port / Sliding sternum strap / Deluxe organizer panel / Fits most 17″ laptop / Laptop sleeve 17″h x 13″w x 2″d

As you can see this backpack can be used for kids, but there is no reason that an adult could not use this one!

To Purchase Your Own:
Go to OGIO to purchase. By the way…this company has sooooo many other products! There are golfbags, luggage…you really need to check it all out.

To Win:

1) Go to  OGIO and find the tell me the 2 other colors this backpack comes in.  Then come back here and comment.  Your e-mail address needs to either be on this post or easily accessible.

For Extra chances to Win:**Each of these HAS to have a separate comment written please. (I know its a pain, but other wise you won’t have as many chances if you don’t.)

1) Subscribe to my blog with the feeder or by e-mail. 5 extra chances.
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See….lots of ways to enter to win!

This Contest Ends Monday Sept. 14th at 11:59 pm est. THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. ANY ENTRIES AFTER 11:59 pm est on Sept. 14th will not be eligible.
This contest is open to US mailing addresses only. Only one person from home can enter.

You will have 48 hours to respond to my e-mail if you win to be eligible. If I don’t hear from you then I will go on to the next winner.

Back To School Organizing Tips

Back to school! Yeah…or boo?  For some moms it means sadness..”Their babies are not in the house” – For some moms it means, “Freedom my babies are not in the house!” LOL

But for all of us it means a Change in Routine!  There are lunches to pack, bookbags to attend to, papers to see, sign and dates to put into our calendars.  We have the morning choas that so many of us love and the call from school saying Little Johnnie forgot his lunch. So what can we do to make it go smoother?

I gave some tips for morning and afternoon routine in my Back To School Post you can see here.  Today I want to tell you about the Routine Board you can make for your kids.  I use this same concept for a Chore Board..but this is why it is such an adaptable idea.  Here are the steps to Make your own.  Instead of the child’s name at the top of the board, you can use “Before School” and “After School”.  Then use your magnets and drawer pictures with brief discription of the task that needs to be done.  Children are visual and instead of rattling off the list of “To Do’s” every morning, they will know to look at the Routine Board.

It’s just another way for your morning and after school routines to go a little smoother.

Back to School with Adidas Stylin’ Shoes!!

Review of the Style Essentials Tech L2 Shoe

Everyone knows that Adidas makes a great shoe….for sports, exercise and for everyday use. So when Adidas contacted me to ask if I would like to be sent a pair of the Style Essentials Tech L2 shoe for one of my  sons to review…do you think I said no?  Of course not. I was thrilled. I happen to have 3 of my 7 boys in the room when the e-mail came through…LOL  If you can picture me sitting with a laptop computer and a 15, 16 and 21 year old huddled around me drooling.

The consenses was that they all 3 liked the white ones the best from the pictures.  So now the next question was…who gets them? My 21 year old is out since he doesn’t live at home anymore and doesn’t go back to school.  My 15 year old has recently gotten 3 new pair of running shoes for track/cross country…so that leaves the 16 year old to get these shoes. {He was jumping up and down….yes..I mean literally…wish I had my video on when he did his Happy Dance}

We got these shoes really quickly. They just launched this Style Essentials Tech L2 shoe at the beginning of August. They thought of comfort, style and of course the Adidas quality to make this Back to School Shoe a hit with teens. Tim opened the box and the first words out of his mouth were a very calm, “Cooool”.  He tried them on and was even more impressed. He said he was surprised they were cut a little lower than he thought they would be (Adidas design was for the low-profile shoe sport look so that the shoes can be worn casually or on the go).  What he was most impressed with was the comfort. He kept saying, “Wow…these are really comfortable. I like them, they feel really good mom.”

The upper shoe material is a combination of mesh and synthetic materials and there is 3D cushion to provide all the comfy support my son liked.

I have to say that this shoe got the thumbs up from my son.

Available in boy’s/men’s sizes in either the white/silver/black  or the black/blue color. Retail price is $75 and you can find them exclusively at Famous Footwear stores.  (They are so popular that they are temporarily sold out on the web site, but still available in the stores)

Disclosure Policy

Back To School Organizing – Are you Ready for the Routine to Start again?

Many of us have kids starting school within the next two weeks. My kids start next week..they are excited. I have the “mixed emotions” going on. I am not excited about the morning routine, homework, crazy mornings and after school….BUT I am excited that I will have some more time freed up during the week to spend with my organizing clients.
I discussed what Peter Walsh had to say about the school organizing. He talked a lot about “routine”.
But what is the routine?
My Morning Tips.
1) Get up at least 15 minutes earlier than you “think” you need to. There will always be a glass of spilled milk or a “melt down” when you least expect it.
2) Have a “job board” if needed to help your child remember their morning routine.
3) PREPARE the night before!!!
* Pack lunches or lunch money
* Lay out clothes
* Have book bags ready to go
* Homework inside in the bookbags
* Library books inside the bookbags (you get the point)
* Take your shower the night before if possible.
* Have breakfast planned and table set

My After School Routine Tips
1) Routine…Routine….Routine. (kids need it)
2) Book bags emptied when they come in the door. Have a specific spot for their papers where you can go through them.
3) Snack
4) Homework time (don’t delay it, get it over with..they are still in school mode..not play mode yet.)
5) Have a quiet place, with low stimulus for homework. Desk in their room without tv, or a kitchen table.
6) Put their book bags away in a set spot. Hooks on the back of a door can work great.

Get Ready…Get Set…here come the school projects!!

Peter Walsh Back to School Web Cast with Office Max

I took part in a web cast with Peter Walsh that Office Max sponsored yesterday. He had with him in this picture from left to right a Teacher, a middle school student, Peter, a Mom and a High school student. He would ask different questions and then compare how the different people viewed the different situations.
He went over how to get organized to start school. I want to share the information that he gave because I think it is valuable.
(My pictures aren’t very good of this because I took a picture of my computer screen and I kept getting the glare back)

These are the screens he put up. I wanted to show this one to show you what we saw..but I will just write up the test of them.

TIPS FOR HOME
1) Find the vision you have for a space (what do you want it to look like)
2) Make Organization a Family Value
3) Use the Right Tools for Organizing

TIPS FOR ORGANIZING YOUR CHILD
1)Show that you value Organization
2)Establish Clear Limits and Routines
3)Always Finish a “cycle”. Finish a task

TIPS FOR THE CLASSROOM
1)Establish Clear Routines
2)Involve Kids with Classroom Organization
3)Use Word pictures and color to help Organize

One of the things that the teacher pointed out that really doesn’t have to do with Organization but I thought it was a wonderful thing to mention was – That teachers do not want wooden apples and little gifts for holidays etc. They want classroom supplies. Peter Walsh said on the average teachers spend about $1,200 a year of their own money on classroom supplies. So next time instead of buying your teacher another little trinket that will add to her clutter at home….buy her things she can use for classroom supplies.

Peter got on twitter for about 15 minutes after the web cast. Of course remember he has over 200 bloggers all trying to “chat” with him via twitter. I said a few things, but he did respond to me.

I wrote him, Thanks @Peter_Walsh You are like chocolate to an Organizer.
He actually saw it and said Thanks Sandy.
I know that seems crazy….but it made my day. LOL