Back To School

It's Back to School time!! I am getting ready to send my baby girl to 6th grade tomorrow!  Holy crap.  When did that happen?  She used to be this little...

Now, she is in 6th grade.  Oh my goodness....where has time gone?

My boys started school last week.  Yikes!!!  :-)  Anyway, with all this back to school talk going on, I wanted to share with you some helpful hints that have helped the mornings go so much smoother, along with teaching our kids to be independent.  

1.  Prepare everything the night before.  Including lunches, clothes, backpacks, coffee (for the parents...or kids....whatever floats your boat!)
2.  Set out all the breakfast stuff on the kitchen table: cereal, spoons, cups.  Pour a small amount of milk into a couple of water bottles.  Put these in the fridge, where the kids can reach them.  
3.  Line up backpacks and shoes in a handy location by the door.
4.  And the best thing that we have started this year is..........preparing a weeks worth of clothes every Sunday night.  What?!  How does that work?  Well, this was my husband, John, genius idea.  First, with the help of the boys, I set up 6 outfits for each of the kids.  That includes socks and underwear.

Then, I put them in plastic grocery bags.  Each boy has a different colored bag. :-)  

Each child's clothes are then put into a drawer.  Now, they are set for the WHOLE week!!!! 

Here's the morning routine:  Get up, get dressed, go potty, eat breakfast, brush teeth, put on shoes, and sit on couch for a well earned TV show.  We practiced the morning school routine a couple of times and the boys now have it down!!!  It works great for our family and it has taught our boys independence!  

Back to school?  Bring it on!

Julie