Back to…..What??

 “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education. “
~Albert Einstein

I can’t believe that my children just finished the first day of the new school year.  

We just said good-bye Mrs. Whited, and now it’s hello Mrs. Wright.  Don’t get me wrong, I love our year round school schedule with two weeks in the fall and spring for break, but this summer literally slipped through our fingers.  I read a quote yesterday that said, “The days are long, but the years are short.”  Spot on.

SO-  do you have it all together, or are you still trying to get ready?  If so, here are a few ideas to help you.

Create a  “homework central.”  Doesn’t have to be anything fancy, just a place your children can go where everything is together and easily accessible.  Here is ours:

They can grab what they need and don’t have to ask me where it is- (love!)  I have some of those sweet little chalkboard labels that I’m going to label each drawer with.  It’s on my to-do list.  I’m sure my Max won’t mess with those.  Maybe I should re-think that.

 

I keep this right in the kitchen because that’s typically where we do homework.  The caddy on top is portable, so they can take it to the table or kitchen bar and not have to get up again.

 Here is an idea of what to keep in it:

Found this handy little caddy at Target last year and love it.

Next, you should have a landing point: a place where you can drop everything off when you come in, and have everything ready for when you leave the next morning.  If you have an area that you can hang some hooks and a shelf or two and add a bench, that works great.  Here is ours:

I recently added the black file on the wall to the left- my sweet friend Mandy Pryor posted this on her blog. www.craftysouthernmama.blogspot.com. She has the most incredible back-to-school ideas.  I had needed something in that spot and when she blogged about finding one of these files at TJ’s, I had to run down and see if they had anymore.  I really needed an excuse to head down there. 

This is the opposite wall that we use for messages and a charging station. 

If you spend a little time now setting up systems that work for you and your family, then those hours between 3 pm and dinnertime will be just a little easier.

Don’t forget to make it a little festive too!  We view back-to-school time just like a holiday around here, and decorate accordingly.  (Cue the OfficeMax commercial- “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!” or is it Staples?) 

Here’s our apothecary jars full of fun goodies- and we even change out our nightlights for the occasion!

No matter how you get ready, the point is that you do it.  Time spent now getting organized will be so appreciated later when you are up to your eyeballs in projects.  Don’t you just know that they are a’ comin?  Ugh…

Have a wonderful year!!

Instead of ending with a tip on this blog, I’m going to try a little something different.   I’m giving away a Dynamic Frame (www.dynamicframes.com) over on Mandy’s blog that I mentioned above. (Check out her blog NOW!!) Seems that a lot of you are interested in these super cool frames that we carry!  So how bout I give one away here as well?   All you have to do is go to my facebook page for Superior Construction and Design, become a fan, and type in the words “Back to School.”  I will draw for a winner at 5pm on the fifth day AFTER this blog goes live on WilsonLivingMagazine.com. 

The date it is published will be right under the title on the home page on WLM.com.  Now we’ll see just how many of you actually read to the end. (tee-hee!)