Kids Archives | A Personal Organizer

Organizing For Back To School!

By Helena Alkhas
Filed Under: Back-to-School Season, Kids, Organizing

Preparing an Information Central For The New School Year

As the last days of summer bring school vacations to an end, it’s time to prepare to get back to school and to minimize stress, expenses, and the waste of time, it is essential to get organized. If you have kids, here are just a few things that will come up on your to-do list in the upcoming weeks:

School supplies shopping
Do you need new shoes and clothes for the kids?
Do you need to take care of arrangements for before & after school?
Do you need to pack the pantry with food for lunches?
Do you need to replace the gear for sports? Are your kids trying new sports this season?
Does your child need a tutor or homework help on an ongoing basis?

To simplify and get everything done before the kids step foot on the bus again, let’s get you organized. To start, you can download the Back to School planner.

The first thing I do to stay organized for the school year is to prepare my calendar on the Home Management Binder where I keep all school/sports/classes related materials and communication as well as a monthly calendar that I update every month or when new events come up.

Preparing an Information Central For The New School Year

In my back to school binder, I created a section for each child and under their names, I create sub-sections with their specific activities, like this:

Child Name on a page to create the subsection
School Communication – I include in this section their school address, phone numbers, names for the Principal, Secretary, Nurse, Librarian, and particular teachers
X Grade – Teacher name, email and phone number. I also learned to include the room mom’s phone number and email. 😉
Roster – One plastic sleeve will hold the directory of the class and on the back a list of their friends and moms names and phone numbers for play-dates.
Class Schedule or blocks, depending on your school.
Field Trips
Sports (one divider for each sport they are enrolled in)
- Here I print on the computer a page where I enter the name of the sport on the top of the page,
- the coach, phone number and email address for the coach,
- location of the practice
- with a bright color, I print the date and times of practices, games, and other important dates.
Other Extra-Curriculum Activities – I do the same thing I do for the Sports section for Choir, Band, and Music classes
I also include friends and moms names, as well as moms I share car-pooling duties.
You can also print out this birthday and anniversary planner to keep track of these important dates. If you would like instant access to all of the organizing printables at once, subscribe to the vault for free right here.

For this binder, I use a sturdy and large binder from Staples like the one in the photo.

I include poly envelopes to hold the small papers as well as regular binder dividers with pockets. I make the labels with a label maker, so they don’t fall – you can write with a Sharpie, but it may still come off after so much handling.

Teaching Your Kids to Get Organized

Until last school year I kept all papers and invites on my calendar, but I wanted to start getting the boys involved and taking responsibility for their activities and schedules, of course under our supervision, so I needed to “de-centralize” the information, but I kept thinking “how?”.

One of my organizing clients has a huge pin board in her kitchen, and she uses it beautifully to display her children’s artwork and invitations they receive. I borrowed her idea and decided to do the same and purchased this one from Pottery Barn and I use it in my home office where I can see all the activities, school papers and some precious rewards and art the kids bring home.

This board is from Pottery Barn and it’s really large so that it will accommodate all our information, cards that arrive, invitations and when the Holiday Season comes (not too far!) we’ll have a great spot to display all the artwork as well.

Addie and I will have to share our driving duties this upcoming season, and that’s another important part of keeping a shared calendar both online and on the pinboard.

As I’m always on the go I use calendars both on paper (at home) and in electronic form on my phone. It may sound too much, but after I had shown up at dental appointments on the wrong MONTH, I decided it was worth it. A benefit of the electronic calendar is also that I can share with “guests” and I can invite Addie on the days he’ll be driving one of the boys.

Next week will be the last week of summer camp for the kids, and we’ll take “tourist days” in San Diego! We have some nice things planned, and I want to make the end of the summer relaxing, fun and filled with good loving memories of a time that won’t come back.

I hope you are having a fabulous summer and that this post helps you gear up for a new school year confident that all is under control. If you need any help, send me questions on the comment section below, and I’ll be happy to answer.

What are you doing to get organized for back to school? Do you have a tip you’d like to share? Leave your comments below!

Back To School Saving Tips

By Helena Alkhas
Filed Under: Back-to-School Season, Kids, Organizing

From School Supplies to Clothing, Organize & Save

FREE BACK TO SCHOOL PLANNER

It’s that time of year again – time to get the kids ready for school! Let’s check some back to school saving tips to get the school year started without breaking the bank!

Back to school season is just as fun for moms as it is for the little ones. A new grade, back-pack, outfits, everything is so exciting! But, it’s even more enjoyable for the moms that can get turn this big expense into a more manageable one by shopping smartly for back to school time!

With three growing boys with very different likes and personalities I also find myself with the challenge of trying to make the most out of our dollars when shopping. Here are some back to school saving tips:

Make Use of Your $1.00 Store!

Did you know that dollar stores in your area may actually accept coupons on their already discounted merchandise? The most notable dollar retailer that accepts coupons is Dollar General. However, by checking the FAQ of your local dollar store’s website, you’ll be made aware of their coupon policy.

If you have a $1 coupon off an item that you’re going to purchase at the dollar store, you’re going to score the item for free! Thankfully, if you have coupons for a large quantity of items you need, you may be able to score half, or even more, of your back to school shopping deals for nothing but a few cents in tax.

Thrift Stores

Thrift shopping is often frowned upon because the items are secondhand, and you might fear that they may be dirty and germy. However, a quick wash in the laundry will do the trick for most used clothing items. Thrift stores, such as Goodwill and the Salvation Army, often run tag sales. Sometimes all items with pink tags are priced 50% off, or items with red tags are priced under $3.50.

These items can include jeans, brand name suits, and shoes, among other things. Sometimes, you can score a big part of a secondhand closet for very little money! Professional organizer Lori Marrero always highlights her Goodwill findings on her organizing videos.

Stockpiling Coupons

If you have three kids or more, it makes sense to consider stockpiling coupons for school supplies as soon as you can. A little trick that many coupon moms like to use is stockpiling coupons for the essentials by purchasing the newspaper, printing online and requesting that coupons be directly mailed to their mailbox.

Stores like Staples will also give you a 15% discount on school supplies card on purchases over a certain amount. I just got mine 2 weeks ago!

By the end of the summer, the coupon moms that stockpile coupons often find reduced deals because the items have been on the shelf for most of the summer. Often times, many items end up being free or pleasantly cheap.

Shopping a Year Early

When you go back to school shopping, it may be tempting to simply shop a few weeks before the semester begins, like most parents. But, if you purchase items, such as binders, pieces of clothing, pencil holders, etc. just a few weeks after school has begun, just about everything in the store will be marked down considerably.

I keep a small section of our office-supplies cabinet dedicated to school supplies that are “evergreen”, like pencils, erasers, binder dividers and ruled paper. These are items that will be in perfect condition a year from now and if I get them for a good price at any given time of the year, I’ll stock up.

To further your savings, sign up for email newsletters of all of your favorite stores. The boys’ favorites come from family friendly sites like Land’s End, Gap and Boden so I keep an eye on their sales and as soon as I receive the email with for the sales time I shop the items I know the boys will wear over and over again. Stores like JCPenney or Kohl’s send out quarterly coupons for 10% to 15% off of all of their merchandise, including their sales items.

There are so many ways to save on back to school shopping for your family. What are your favorite back-to-school saving tips?
Looking forward to having your children’s activities planned and organized? Download the planner below!

Summer Routine For Kids At Home

By Helena Alkhas
Filed Under: Kids, Organizing, Routines & Time, Summer

How To Organize And Create A Summer Routine For Kids At Home

Summer break is almost here, and we are all preparing for longer days, more outside time and having our kiddos home. Even though we all love the ease of Summer, it can quickly turn into a household of chaos. From disorganized mealtimes to scheduling conflicts, a lack of a Summer routine can throw the best of us off balance in a cinch if we don’t prepare. Here are some great tips on how to create a Summer routine for kids at home.

When you start to think about preparing for Summer with kids at home, you’ll want to take a look at how certain areas of your home are organized and then rearrange some things to fit the function they will have in your Summer routine. You’ll also want to check in on your daily routine and see how this will change, make a note of changes, and adjust.

Let’s start with organizing your homes hot zones for a Summer routine with kids at home.

1. Entryways and Mudrooms

In the colder months, our entryway closets and mudrooms are stacked with winter coats, scarves, hats, gloves, and heavy boots. Now that it’s warming up, you’ll want to switch out what you keep in these high-traffic areas.

Put away everything you don’t need and store it for next Winter. A few good ideas for what to keep in your Summer entryway and mudrooms for Summer are: flip flops, light jackets, hats, sunblock, bug spray, outdoor toys, tote bags.

2. The Kitchen

Start by clearing out your pantry, fridge, and freezer. Make room in your refrigerator or more fresh veggies and fruits from those farmer’s market trips. Create a space or a bin where you can keep some pre-cut fruits and veggies for grab and go snacks.

Making your kitchen kid-friendly during the Summer months will save you hours in a hot kitchen. To continue your kitchen refresh, check out my top 10 kitchen organizing tips.

3. Your Car

As the weather warms up, everyone gears up for day trips, weekend getaways, and Summer vacation. Your car collects Winter items as well, so take this time to remove snow scrapers, hats, and gloves, etc. If you don’t have one, pick up a trunk organizer.

Keep items like sunblock, bug spray, a first aid kit, sun hats, towels, bottles of water, a blanket for those impromptu picnics, and a change of clothes for each child. Here are my tips for getting your car ready for the Summer.

4. Your Garage

In your garage, you will want to move large Winter items, like snow blowers and winter sports gear to the back and move Summer items, like lawnmowers, weed whackers, and other yard care items, as well as outdoor sports and play equipment to a more easily accessible area.

Complete your garage refresh with my 5 best garage organizing tips.

Now let’s look at your routine for your Summer with kids at home. Here is a step-by-step method for re-assessing your calendar for the Summer months.

Look at what holidays, birthdays, events, camps, trips you have planned and mark these onto your schedule for June, July, and August.
Assess how much time you have left each week after these commitments are all planned out.
Remember not to overschedule! Always leave more time than you think you will need to guarantee free days to relax and enjoy being home with your family. You will also want to leave space for impromptu items.
Look at your daily routine. Here, you’ll want to make any adjustments to mealtimes, bedtimes, and downtime during the day.
Summer days are longer, which means if you have little ones at home, you will need to have a plan for an extra activity or two throughout the days.

Summer daily routines can be looser in structure, but a few “touch points” during the day will keep everyone feeling better.

Mealtimes are a great thing to keep on a schedule to create a nice rhythm to your days and avoid meltdowns.

Keeping a chore chart is also an excellent way to keep your home humming along in the Summer.

As we welcome the carefree days that the Summer brings, having a routine in place will help us avoid a slow slide into disorder and stress. All humans, especially children, need a little bit of structure or rhythm to our days to keep us balanced, healthy, and happy.

What are your Summer plans? Share them in the comments with me!

Grammarly proofread this post.

Declutter And Organizing Challenge – The Playroom

By Helena Alkhas
Filed Under: 30 Days Organizing Challenge, Kids, Organizing, Organizing Series

Day 23: Decluttering And Organizing The Playroom

Welcome to Day 23 of the declutter and Organizing challenge! Today we are getting into the playroom. Playrooms can be one of the most challenging areas to keep clean in your home. But, if you efficiently declutter and thoughtfully organize your playroom it will be so much simpler to keep neat. Bringing order into this room is really a matter of only keeping items your kids play with and organizing them into a way that makes sense so that everything in the room has a home and is easy to put away. Bonus points if you get your kids involved in the clean-up of their space!

If you don’t have playroom you can use this day to focus on another space of your house that is not covered in the challenge or that you still haven’t finished. If you do have a playroom, take a deep breath and let’s get started!

Check day 22 – Organizing Kids’ Rooms to see even more tips about kids’ spaces.

How To Organize A Playroom

Set up
Start by pulling everything out from closets, drawers, cabinets, shelves.
Discard anything that has missing pieces, broken, pieces, or has just generally seen better days.
Now, look at what you have left. Are your children grown out of any of these toys? Do they simply not play with certain things? Take these items out as well, donating or selling things that are in good shape and tossing the not so great stuff.
Wipe down all or your surfaces, and vacuum or sweep your floors.
Finally, organize what you have left after decluttering and replace them back in their spots in the room.
Consider organizing the playroom in a specific way, such as by child, or in stations related to the activity.

Decluttering And Organizing Playroom Checklist

Ready to tackle this project? Grab your Playroom declutter and organization checklist and let’s get started!

After you grab the free printable each day, don’t forget to share your process and progress on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter with the hashtag #APONewYearChallenge for a chance to win a free copy of the Life BInder Purposeful Life Planner!

4 Tips to Make Back-to-School a Breeze

By Helena Alkhas
Filed Under: Back-to-School Season, Kids

Make back to school a success with these tips

Click here to download

Back-to-school season can be a challenging time for every family. A little organizing goes a long way toward making this school year your best yet!

To save time and money, prepare for back-to-school shopping ahead of time. Here are four tips to help you get organized.

1. Prepare for Back-to-School Shopping

First, make a master school supply checklist for the entire family. Combine the supply lists provided by your kids’ schools and check off the items you already own. Check your kids’ rooms, your office and your kitchen for supplies like pencils, notebooks, and paper. To save you time and money, download my School Supplies Checklist printable!

2. Shop Strategically

Once you know what you need and you’ve prepared your school supply shopping list, it’s time to go to the store. Be sure to stick to your list (and budget), to only buy the basics, and to watch for sales. Shopping at multiple stores, including discount stores, and shopping early in the season can help save money. If you have multiple children who all need the same supplies, consider purchasing items in bulk. For more ways to save money, check out “8 Tips to Save on School Supply Shopping.”

3. Create a Designated Space For School Paperwork

Be mindful of what to keep and what to throw away. Schools are notorious for sending notices, permission slips, practice homework and more. Before you know it, your house is overflowing with paper. To organize the paperwork that comes from your kids’ school, use a magazine file folder and divide it into sections. Keep important practice work for each subject area such as math, science, and language so it’s easily accessible by you and your children. Keep important information from the school together: calendars for the school and each classroom, a school directory, and passwords for online access. For more information on how to set up an organizing routine for school paperwork, click here.

4. Develop a Morning Routine

Mornings are a beautiful time but are often the most stressful time for families. There’s a lot to do:

get everyone out of bed and dressed,
grab some breakfast,
make sure everyone has their backpacks with lunches and
get everyone to the bus stop on time.

But, if you make time to do a few things the night before, you’ll set yourself up for a stress-free morning.

Before you go to bed, clean up the kitchen sink and do the dishes, set the table for breakfast, prepare your kids’ lunches and set everyone’s backpack by the front door.

For more tips on stress-free, organized morning routines, read “Kitchen Organizing Makes for Happy Mornings.”

And Baby Is Coming Home

By Helena Alkhas
Filed Under: Kids

Organizing The Nursery To Bring Baby Home

There’s a lot to do before you bring baby home from the hospital: assembling the crib, installing the car seat and folding lots of tiny clothes. Here are a few organizing to-dos before you bring your baby home for the first time.

Preparing Your Nursery

Not everyone has the luxury of an extra room just for baby. Many parents in apartments or small homes create a “nursery” in their living room, bedroom or home office. Wherever you choose to designate space for baby, make sure to organize it so it works for you and your family. Here are a few of the essential furnishings.

Organizing the nursery to bring home baby — {involvingcolor.com}

Crib: Ensure the slats or bars are spaced no more than 2³/₈inches apart. The crib should be kept away from radiators and heaters as well as any long cords from blinds or curtains.
Crib mattress: Firmer mattresses may reduce the risk for SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome).
Changing table: To save on space and create additional storage, consider placing a changing pad on top of a dresser and forgo the changing table.

Storage: Baby’s have a lot of stuff and you’ll want an easy way to organize it. Consider open shelves, baskets, and bins to hold items from pacifiers to clothing.
Stroller: Choose a stroller that’s light, easy to fold, has brakes and is well balanced. If you live in a city and travel on the subway or bus, be sure your stroller collapses.

Contemporary Nursery by New York Interior Designers & Decorators m monroe design

Gathering Supplies

You’ll want to have a few essentials for baby and mom waiting at home. In the weeks and months leading up to your due date, gather all the supplies you’ll need for the first few weeks.

Diapers…lots and lots of diapers
Baby soap and shampoo
A thermometer
An ear bulb
Nail scissors
A first-aid kit
A stroller
Fitted crib sheets
Baby outfits, onesies, undershirts and nightgowns
Baby blankets
A hooded bath towel

Transitional Nursery by Solana Beach Interior Designers & Decorators Lori Gentile Interior Design

Taking Care Of Business

Before you bring home baby, there are a few important documents to update or create. Write or update your will, purchase life insurance and update the beneficiary information on your 401K and retirement accounts. Keep all your important documentation organized in a filing cabinet in your home office.

Preparing Your Home

Stock up on household items like paper towels, toilet paper and cleaning supplies so you won’t have to run out for trash bags during your baby’s first week home. When cooking, double the recipes and freeze half. It will cut down on grocery shopping and keep you fed during the first few weeks with very little effort. Nothing’s easier than just popping a homemade frozen casserole in the oven.

Transitional Nursery by Brooklyn Kids & Nursery SISSY+MARLEY

Create A Baby Station

Choose a corner of your nursery or living room and create a nook for you and baby. For the first few weeks, you’ll want a designated space to spend time — especially one that has all the items you’ll need close at hand. As soon as you get home, you’ll be able to head over to your nook and relax.

Here are a few items to keep in your Baby Station during the first few weeks:

Water bottles
Snacks for mom
Swaddling blankets
Burp rags
Extra diapers and onesies
Breastfeeding supplies or bottles and formula
Magazines and books (or the TV remote!)
A camera so you never miss a special moment

Organizing the nursery to bring baby home. — {Hello Bee Nursery}

Before You Leave The Hospital

You’ll want a seasonally appropriate outfit for you and your baby when you leave the hospital. Choose comfort over style. Your clothing should be loose and non-constricting. For baby, make sure you have at least one outfit. If your baby is born in winter, pack a warm hat and an extra blanket or two.

Be sure to ask the doctors and nurses any questions you may have. Especially if this is your first baby, it’s perfectly normal to be a little anxious and have lots of questions. Notify your pediatrician of your baby’s birth and schedule your first appointment before you leave the hospital.

The Car Ride Home

The baby’s first car ride can be incredibly nerve-wracking for new parents. Be sure to have your car seat installed and inspected before you head to the hospital. Many hospitals will inspect the car seat before you leave to ensure it’s safe for your baby. Whether you opt for an infant-only car seat or a convertible car seat, consider purchasing head support so your newborn’s head is cradled during his or her early car rides.

Finally, be realistic with your expectations. You can plan, and plan, and plan, but you can’t prepare for everything. Good enough is better than perfect. There will be moments when you feel frustrated, anxious and stressed…amongst other emotions. Accept help from your family and friends. Enjoy each moment. The years pass by so fast!

Kids