Falling into...Order???

Well hey there Peeps! How is your September shaping up? Here in Busy Momma land school is back in full swing and the return of school inevitably signals the beginning of the chaos that we like to call "fall". I don't know what it is about the fall season that makes it seem SO overwhelming to me. Well, actually I DO think I know. Stepping back into the order and routine of the school year is hard for us. We LOVE our summers. My job slows down...a tiny bit... and we get to spend more lazy time together - at the pool, at the beach, even just at home. It's like we forget and relax the rules a bit for 8 or 9 weeks...and it is divine. Want to stay up late and watch a movie on a Wednesday night? Okay. Want to go out and get ice cream after dinner on a Monday? Sure - let's go! Want to just eat dinner tonight at the pool? Sure - who is ordering the pizza?

But all too soon, those school supplies start arriving at Target, uniforms are ordered, bookbags are packed, teachers are met and whammo - vacation is over. And we feel like this:

And it seems like we go from 0-60 in a flash! One day we're chiiling at the pool, reading a book and our biggest concern is having enough coals for the grill tonight. The next day we are trying to juggle piano, soccer, tutoring, chorus, cross country, HOMEWORK, getting to bed on time, getting up early, making healthy lunches and balanced dinners and on and on and on!

My last Back-to-School post was titled "Falling into Chaos". And as funny as it was - it was funny in retro-spect. Meaning it wasn't really funny screaming at PC because I forgot about scout meetings and uniforms and whatnot. And PC didn't find it all that hilarious either - at the time. So, I was bound and determined that we would start off on the right foot this year as Bella began Middle School.  I knew that there would be multiple teachers and multiple assignments and that would mean LOTS and LOTS of paper to manage and organize. And - well, if you've seen my desk - you know that's kinda not my thing. I am a paper hoarder. I am afraid to throw anything out and as a result I have 3 filing cabinets in my office that are stuffed to the limit- because you never know - I might need the instruction manual for that 12-year- old Pack and Play one of these days. As I type I am looking at a pile of handouts that I got at a meeting in JULY that STILL need to be filed away. And many of you heard my "Whoops - I forgot to register my kids in school this year" story...so let it suffice to say that I needed to get me some organizational systems in place.

So here is what I did:

I created these hanging "pockets" for each kiddo. We empty everyone's folders every night, but we don't always have time to file away everyone's papers into proper folders. So, we keep all of our papers for the week - study guides, permission slips, reminders, graded papers - in our pockets.

Then, when we have time on the weekend - we empty our pockets, get rid of outdated papers that we don't need to keep and file papers that we need to keep in a file box. The hanging folders are color-coded by kid. Bella's are red and Jack's are blue. I keep the school calendar in th front of the box and write down everyone's assignments - Jack's in blue and Bella's in pink on this calendar. This wayPC and  I know what's going on, what test is happening on what day, AND I am also looking at the school calendar so that I'm not missing picture day or out-of-uniform day and whatnot.

But wait - there's MORE! I found these AWESOME pads at Target. They are magnetic and I hang mine on the fridge. It has a place for EVERYONE's activities AND a place on the bottom where I plan out my meals for the week. This way - everyone knows where I am every day and where the kids need to be! I cannot live without this thing.

I also found them at Staples. It is called the Weekly Family Planner by momAgenda. The website is www.momagenda.com - I don't get anything from these guys...other than a manageable life!!! I actually just bought one for my mom's house since it takes a village to raise my kids and my parents do most of the after-school pick-up and homework doing, I thought it would be useful for them to have a duplicate.

So I think we are starting off as well as we possibly could. So far, I have managed to get all forms signed and returned, permission slips filled out, hot lunches ordered, picture slips filled in, scouting dues turned in AND I have also managed to sign up for 1 volunteer committee at school, 2 slots for the Fall Festival and 1 cub scout popcorn selling slot. (OK - PC did that. But I did print out the schedule and add it to the master calendar!)

Now before you go and think - Hey that Busy Momma is one brilliantly organized Chickie - I'm really not. I don't take credit for ANY of these ideas. I got the pocket idea from Pinterest...the subject of an upcoming post. I got the hanging file system from a GREAT book called The Organized Student by Donna Goldberg.

It is a REALLY great book that I think every Busy Momma should have on her book shelf. Especially if you are the Busy Momma of a kid with executive function, organizational or attention issues.

Will it work? I hope so. Bella has some really AWESOME teachers who are totally focused on making this transition easy on the kids - and their parents. I left Back-to-School night feeling like: "OK, I think we can do this." If any of you guys have any tried and true organizational hints - send them my way!!! I'll take all of the help I can get!