This is is a crazy time of year for all of the families out there. There are lunchboxes to pack, books to buy, new clothes to get washed, paperwork to fill out …. and the list goes on! We checked in with some of our NEAT owners to see what their #1 tip is for making this school year less chaotic than the prior years and here what they had to say ….
Britt Dignan (Westchester, NY): Bento boxes are wonderful for organizing school lunches ahead of time. I make a list of meals for each day of the week (ie: turkey sandwich and apples on Mondays, hummus and pretzels on Tuesdays, etc), and then prep most of the containers the night before.
Jennifer Ferriso & Erika Downes (Morristown, NJ): Start prepping for back-to-school early and store what you buy far away from the kids :).
Katie Koentje (San Diego, CA): Purge and go through clothes so that you know everything fits and everything is school appropriate. This will make the mornings more efficient and hopefully drama free!
Sarah Edelman (Atlanta, GA): On Sunday evenings, I have my daughters lay out all of their clothes for the week and place them in a hanging organizer in their closet. Then when the alarm goes off, there is no searching for a pair of shorts or socks-it is all there and ready to put on!
Emmaley Otis (Scottsdale, AZ): My tip to is to build a school wardrobe that is mix and match (we stick to mostly stripes, khaki and navy). My son’s school does not wear uniforms, so we have kind of created our own. Any combination of tops and bottoms is an automatic (matching!) outfit. I guess it’s kind of like a capsule wardrobe for kids? 😉 One less thing to have to think about each morning!
Liz Girsch (MIlkwaukee, WI): Own your calendar; don’t let the calendar and activities own you. I love using Cozi.com as it is tailored to families and school/sports/club activities. This way everyone in the family can download the app and access the calendar.
Laura Fraser (Tampa, FL): Making lunches may be my most dreaded chore. I’ve got two shelves in my pantry that are dedicated to the kids. And they know it! If their missing something, they’ll give me a heads up.
Melanie Walker (Las Vegas, NV): Set up a homework station. Something mobile that you can store away and pull out where your kids do their homework. It can have all the things they might need i.e. crayons, makers, glue sticks etc. and keep it stocked.
Lisa Ruff (San Francisco, CA): It may seem a little odd, but it works for us. If your refrigerator has the space, put the backpack in fully packed the night before. I put the lunch, water bottle and any paperwork that needs to be returned in their backpack and then put the entire thing in our fridge. In the morning, the last thing we grab is the backpacks from the fridge before we run out the door. We’ve never forgotten a lunch this way!
April Chalk (San Antonio, TX): My #1 tip is to create a system to handle all of the crazy piles of papers that kiddos bring home every day (so they don’t end up in piles on the kitchen counter).
Well there you have it from the professionals! Happy 2017-2018 school year to you and all your kiddies!
xx,
the NEAT team
