School Prep — Tips & Tricks for making mom life easier

Open house is tomorrow for our bigs and school starts on Thursday. We already know who they got as teachers (perks of small town living) but of course, the kids are pumped to take their supplies and see their new classrooms. I can’t believe that summer is over. It’s went by so fast. It makes me sad how quickly time goes. We finished school supply shopping this past week and spent roughly $250 total for all three kids. That’s not including their back packs our school clothes. 

The list for us was: 

12 - glue sticks

12 - 24 count crayola crayons

3 - 10 count crayola markers 

3 - blunt tip fiskar scissors

30 - black expo markers (low odor)

6 - boxes of Kleenex 

5 - packages of Clorox wipes 

3 - Ticonderoga pencils 

3 - pencil boxes

8 - soft pink erasers

2 - spiral notebooks

2 - 100 count note cards

3 - packages of cardstock 

2 - sets of ear buds 

6 - plastic pocket folders with brads 

1 - bottle of hand sanitizer 

1 - package of play dough (no rose art) 

(Note cards, hand sanitizer, the glue sticks, and a package of expos aren’t pictured. I left that bag in Brian’s truck by accident and he’s not home.) 

As far as clothes go, i get asked SO much about where i get my kids clothes. Specifically the girls clothes. I addressed that in { this post } last year but i do have a few new favorites. Little Rancher is a local business but you can find her on Facebook or Etsy. Silcox in Gentry, AR is also local and that’s where we get most of our big bows. They are cheap there. I stock up regularly because you can never have too many bows ha. If you’re local, check them out. I also get home decor and clothes for myself there. Little Loper is where i get a lot of Eilee’s bows. You can find her online. Sparkle in Pink is awesome for kids under a size 8. Flower Sak is my top favorite currently. You can find them online too. 

Here are a few of my favs: 

This year i bought the kids clothes over a few months period rather than all at once so I’m not digging it all out just to lay it out for a picture only to have to put it all right back 60 seconds later but their clothes came from the places listed above and in last years post. It’s a large variety. I hit sales 99% of the time. Kids regularly ruin clothes in one wear when they are in school. Don’t by expensive things. I bought nice personalized first day shirts but that’s pretty much it. The rest were under $15 a piece (aside from some of the dresses). 

This is my 4th year with children in school (Charlee did a headstart program at the school four years ago) so I’ve definitely learned tricks to help my life be easier. 

A weekly changing station is huge for us. { click here for my post last year about it } We pick their clothes out a week in advance and you talk about convenient. It makes mornings go a million times smoother. It’ll be especially helpful for Brian once i start school since he will have to get the kids ready for their day. My school is an hour from me so I’ll have to leave before the kids finish breakfast. 

We’ve had a command center since we were foster parents, many years ago. It’s pictured below:

Now our command center looks like this:

It’s a must for organization and keeping things simple. We use ours for bill paying, scheduling, menu plans, storage for documents, internet access, photography editing, dog breeding info (Ginny is in full blow standing heat so fingers crossed for babies soon. They’d be due mid October and ready to go in time for Christmas. YAY!), and just basic house hold running. I highly recommend setting one up if you don’t already have one. 

We’ve always had a habit of coming in after school and doing homework before snacks. The kids had hooks in their rooms for their back packs to go but this year i wanted to try something new. I wanted the kids to have one designated area for hanging up their bags and doing their homework. A place for them to go to every day the moment that they get home. Somewhere to take their shoes off and do their work. We call it our hang it & homework it station. I’m in love with how it turned it and so are the kids. I go through their bags in the car after i pick them up to get out the papers for me then hand them back their bags to take into the house themselves. 

Our nightly routine is my last trick for easer mornings. We have had the same routine for seven years. I swear by it. We eat dinner, have family time, shower/bath, pjs, tuck in, story, sleep. We do this by 8 pm at the very latest every night. It gives the kids plenty of time to sleep which in return makes waking them up go peacefully since they are well rested. 

I hope that these tips help you guys out and i hope that you’re family has a wonderful first week back to school.