Firstly, I’m sorry I’ve been absent of late however we have been planning and preparing for our “baby” to start school. Let’s just say it took me a while to come to terms with this giant leap forward. After cramming in as many “special days” as possible, I finally had to concede that time was marching on and our littlest guy was ready for the next phase, whether I liked it or not.
Apart from the emotional conflict , I was also concerned about how on earth I was going to keep everyone organised once we had three little students under our roof. The school notes alone make my head spin …
They say necessity is the mother of all invention so my overwhelming need to avoid the usual morning chaos and “Shouty Mama” drove the development of our new School HQ. Ta daaaaah!
It’s an easy IKEA hack, completed by hubby and I without any domestic disputes whatsoever! The basic unit is the Kallax, a bargain at $159 (no, this is not a sponsored post, we just love IKEA). During construction, we (OK, hubby) left out the bottom row of shelves to allow space to hang school backpacks and store school shoes. We have used stick on hooks to avoid damaging the unit.
There is a shelf for hats and water bottles, and another to house readers, library books etc.
I’ve made a (not-so) fancy new folder for the millions of notes that come home and previously would be stuck on our already crowded fridge, left in a crumpled mass in the bottom of a school bag, or just lost. Notes will be filed under the relevant child’s name, or general subjects such as band, sport and finances.
Because our printer is currently on the fritz we hacked a Kikki K Kontrast Weekly planner document. You could, of course, easily make your own personalised version which I believe would be waaaay cuter.
This planner is a prompt so the boys all know what they have on each day, giving them the independence to pack for their own requirements eg musical instrument, sports equipment etc. The littlest still needs help but takes great pride on packing his bag like his big brothers.
Just one week into the school term, we are yet to reap the rewards of our new HQ and I don’t expect it to look this pretty for too long however I do believe it is an important step in saving my sanity whilst teaching my boys to plan ahead. Fingers crossed.
How do you and your family stay organised for school?
rudy and the dodo 