School starts tomorrow already. So in an attempt to try to get ahead of the volumes of papers and crafts and appointments and schedule challenges, the girls helped me to put together a "control center" of sorts. In years past, we've managed the important papers by assigning each of the school kids their own magnet and place on the fridge to refer to. This year there are SEVEN school kids though, and even if the fridge did have room for everyone I've taken back it's doors as a place of (mostly clean) white space. No clutter. So where do we put the "important" school stuff now??!!
Here's my answer... with room to change/grow as needed.
We took an unused hallway wall, just off the kitchen, and added dry erase space for lists and shopping needs, my already in use desktop-turned-wall calendar that has plenty of space for all our appointments and comings/goings, as well as a clipboard for each of the school kids to hold important notes, papers, things to be signed/turned in later, artwork, etc. Everything (but the dry erase board) is mounted with the 3m Command strip hooks, so it can easily be moved/changed without damaging my freshly painted walls. (We are still hoping to have the house on the market soon, and didn't want to put dozens of holes in the walls.) We even had some cool sticky back name plates for each of the kids that my dad had made a while back...just waiting for a purpose. They work perfectly now mounted to the hooks holding the clipboards.
It's not too different than our system from years past, just all centrally located. I'm hoping this helps get the year started on the right foot...and helps me to keep my clear countertops/fridge door. We'll see how it goes. Enjoy a peaceful first day of school everyone!
I would LOVE to hear your tips for staying organized!!
