Where did the summer go? And how are we looking at just a few more days or weeks of summer before the regularly scheduled chaos begins?
As many of you know, I have a toddler in a full time Spanish-immersion Montessori school, twin teenage step-daughters entering their last year of middle school, and a university job that’s 150 miles from home. So roll on a new school year for us all – and back to being away from home 1-2 nights per week for me.
Here are some of the best investments we made in the last couple of years to ease our transitions.
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I bought this for my toddler on the days my husband is home alone and needs to quickly get her dressed – but I love how easy it makes putting away laundry! And when I’m being super-mom, I even get the toddler to help me select which clothes go in which day so she learns about household chores.
One key to this is having the weather app open when putting it together each week!
This took us way too long to buy as we rely heavily on multiple google calendars to make our lives work – but this makes our lives so much easier. With kids coming and going between two houses – and my own travel to and from work – it really helps to have a common reference to what’s going on.
We have 2 – so you can see the current and next month. A good wet-erase pen is essential for dates and some recurring items, otherwise, a good pack of magnetic dry-erase pens are a welcome addition.
Yes, there is a theme here… I use this to display the weekly meal plans so everyone knows what’s going to be eaten each night.
And I’m committed enough that use the second on our main freezer too, to keep track of the pre-cooked and raw food that’s in there, which helps with meal planning each week.
I, and some of my kids, are a little in love with the Sistema bento box. I only wish they sold the more of the little sections separately, as my toddler likes to bring lots of variety to lunch. Pack them up the night before with a range of items, and everyone eats happily the next day. And yes, menu planning for lunches helps too.
- Bulk pencils, pens, highlighters, notebooks etc.
There aren’t many ways to make life easier – but for the kids knowing they can grab what they need in the morning without a last minute crazy panic is great. I am still looking for a good organizing system for these though – so post ideas in the comments please!
