Good morning...Today is the first day of school here in Portland. I hope you all have had a good morning getting your children off to school. I am sure some of you could hardly wait...while others are reading this post through blurry, tear-filled eyes {in your jammies!}.
Yesterday, I started in on the topic of organization. We will finish that and then get on to today.
Unless you thrive in chaos...this does not apply to you. If you are like me and stress over the back-to-school CRAZINESS {a.k.a. insanity} keep reading.
No matter how you look at it, it is a complete shock. The beginning of school, that is. One day, you are sleeping in and if you are lucky enough, it was after eight in the morning and your children snuck into bed with you...along with the family dog. The only thing going that day was to meet up with friends at the swimming pool and enjoy late night ice cream! And all of a sudden...your mornings are out-of-control, rushing around, making sure the children are on time for school. I am not EVEN going into the details, because we all know exactly what I am talking about.
Here are a few suggestions that have soooo helped me to be less stressed.
MANILLA FOLDERS: INVEST IN THEM. COSTCO carries them...unless you want some really cute ones from TARGET. Make sure each child has one. When our children were younger, I had an upright file basket BOLTED to the kitchen desk and it was their responsibility to put their school papers in their manilla folder. {maybe I should have kept it a bit longer!!!! HMMMM?} It takes the pressure off you and helps makes them more responsible. After school, before homework and snacks...it was their job to clear out their backpacks. That allowed me time to see what was what, write dates on the calendar, write checks for school pictures etc. On most occasions, backpacks were ready the night before to eliminate extra stress in the morning. Extra manilla folders were used to send communication to teachers, art projects needing to be treated with t.l.c. etc.
LUNCHES: Night before. ENOUGH said. P.B. and J's can even be frozen. Our children had specific days to make lunches. It was their responsibility to make lunch for the other child. We started this in highschool. I made lunches for them through junior high. I wanted them to learn how to take care of eachother and how nice it felt to have a sibling do something special for the other one. I wont mention which child took his/her own money and bought school pizza for lunch on more than one occasion...it was the same child who opted to "sleep in" and pay the other one to clean his/her room before breakfast. I suggested it be done the night before, but I did not micro manage. I let them figure it out. There were times my hubby or I would surprise them and make them for them. They were truly grateful and it was a small way of showing them grace. YEP! Even in making lunches!
NOW for Tuesday: My hubby does not have a regular schedule, so it depends on if he has the day off or not, but on the Tuedays that he works, is my day to iron, bake and meet friends. I decided that after my son grew out of his clothes that were in the ironing basket...I needed to have a day that I would get it done. I learned to iron my dads hadkerchiefs and cloth napkins, and so I had my children do the same. YES...even my son. There is nothing more valuable than having a hubby who knows how to iron!
I love taking baked treats to friends and functions, so it is nice having a day to think ahead. Most things that I bake are great frozen. This takes pressure off when there are last minute appointments, change of plans, sickies, etc.
BLAH.BLAH.BLAH. It is your turn. How do you do lunches in your house? Do you iron? What ideas do you have to make back-to-school less stressful? We are all ears. I would love to change it up a bit since we only have one child left in our nest!
Happy Tuesday and Happy back-to-school!
Tomorrow is our sons first day of school, so...I will let you know about our traditions. IT includes decorating for AUTUMN! OUR VERY FAVORITE! YAY!
I found your blog through Pen n' Paperflowers - and I just wanted to say what a scathingly beautiful blog you have to share.
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