First Day of School!

I grew up in Maryland, and we always started school the Tuesday after Labor Day, so I’ve had a hard time adjusting to how early they go back to school in the south!

This is the earliest yet; my kids went back today (what?!).  They’re on a modified year-round schedule, which I think we’ll love, since we get two weeks off in October, a week at Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas, and two weeks in March–BUT, this morning it was a bit painful!

We had houseguests until yesterday morning, so our Sunday was spent hurrying to get everything in order: uniforms washed and ironed, backpacks and school supplies readied, and the all-important trip to the grocery store for lunchbox supplies executed.

Speaking of which, my kids pack their own lunches now; they’re in 10th and 7th grades and since they’ll have to feed themselves all the time in a few more years, this is a step in that direction.  I do still take a peek to make sure that Annabelle hasn’t packed all desserts, of course!

I posted my refrigerator organizers on Facebook yesterday and a couple of people asked about them.  They’re from HomeGoods (TJ Maxx usually has them, too) and they are in the kitchen section.  I added the chalkboard labels (they’re in our Etsy shop here or you can cut your own with a Silhouette or Cricut) just to label what’s where.  Sometimes I put a date on there, too, for items that might have a shorter shelf life, like homemade hummus or ranch dressing.  I’m guessing a dry erase marker would do the same thing and you wouldn’t even need the label (but it’s cute, of course).

I don’t have a super-organized fridge like a lot of people out there, but at least the kids can find what they need.  I also cut up veggies and put them in containers so that they can fill a snack bag or their Sistema lunchbox containers (I also found those at HomeGoods).

And while this isn’t really meant to be a shopping post, here are the links to the ones I use in case you can’t find them locally (affiliate links):

I do something similar in the pantry and group all of the lunchbox items together in a basket so they’re easy to grab:

I’m actually taking a page from Amy’s book; she wrote about organizing school lunches {here} and has some great tips.

We also started a new system this morning that involves checklists and chore cards; if I can get permission from my friend Stephanie to share them (they’re her creation) then I definitely will.  My son does best when he’s given a list to follow, and that way I don’t have to nag them.

Minus a few small blips, like Connor wearing last spring’s pants instead of the new, longer ones I ordered for fall (and of course he didn’t care enough to change them–boys!), we managed to get them out the door and to school on time.  Neither of them wanted me to walk them in–sniff–I guess they are too old now.  I headed home and had a second cup of coffee on the deck while I started working on my laptop:

I have a big long list of things that I’m going to do in the house now that we’re back into the school routine, so be sure to stay tuned.  I’m working on the pantry/garage drop zone first, because it’s just that time of year!

Good luck if this is your first day, too, and if you still have more time (like Amy), then enjoy these last few weeks of summer.

Thanks for stopping by–