My kids go back to school August 4th and while I feel more prepared for the start of the school year than I have in the past, I still feel like we’re going to have to rush to the store this weekend to grab a few things and Monday morning will be hectic. I would like to say that both kids will have their outfits picked out for the first week of school by Sunday, a lunchbox menu will be posted on the refrigerator, and the kids will be excited to do their homework after school. I’m joking about that last one. That couldn’t possibly happen. 😉
My online search for back-to-school organization and preparation ideas led me to Pinterest time and time again today. While I get some of the most interesting ideas from Pinterest I hadn’t considered going to Pinterest to get back-to-school ideas. Silly me!
Pinterest is a great place to get back to school money saving tips, outfit ideas, and homework station ideas. Who’d have thought?
Some of my favorite back to school tips and other back to school related content you will find on my Back-To-School Pinterest board are:
Back to School Routines for Kids & Mom
DIY Homework Caddy
25 Things to sew for back to school
Back To School Organizing: 5 Easy Steps To Packing School Lunches
Back to School Savings Tips and Sale Information
Back to school command center ideas
Kids closet clothing tags for back to school outfits
Crayon bin color labels printable
First day of school photo – printable by grade
School day routine printables
Back To School: Get Organized with an Easy School Planning Wall!
If you don’t have a Pinterest account, you should probably get one.. today! It’s free to sign up for a Pinterest account and you can think of Pinterest as your virtual bulletin board. I look at my Pinterest boards as the bulletin boards I’d like to have on my office and kitchen walls to inspire me, but don’t want the clutter on the walls. You can pin an image from just about any website and once you pin an image, you can go back to it anytime via your Pinterest page.
It’s hard to believe but Spring Break is coming up in less than 3 months and school will be out in about 5 months. With school breaks comes vacation and many, many families travel to Disney World and Disney Land during school breaks each year.
When planning your trip to Disney, keep track of your Disney to-do list in a limited edition Mickey Mouse notebook from Moleskine! Available in 3.5×5 inches and 5×8.25 inches, these notebooks are the perfect size for carrying in your handbag, diaper bag, or backpack during your Disney vacation.
Here are a few ideas on ways to use your Mickey Mouse notebook:
Most importantly, write your Disney packing list
Make a list of what each of your children are most looking forward to doing at Disney (use these stick notes to clearly mark each child’s list page)
Write down everyone’s dining preferences
Write down all important addresses (hotel) and phone number you’ll need during your trip
After your trip, stick a few photos of your Disney trip inside the notebook
Keep the notebook in a safe place after your trip to Disney and pull it out every few years or add it to next time you visit. I guarantee it will be fun to take a look at every so often.
Moleskine, a classic in its own right, meets Disney’s best-loved character, Mickey Mouse. A favorite of all ages, the famed mouse is right at home on a Moleskine notebook, depicted playing and creating with reading and writing tools. Decorated inside and out with Mickey’s iconic image, this notebook includes a drawing guide so you can create your own Mickey Mouse. Black cover with themed debossing; themed flyleaves; inner pocket in black fabric, same color for elastic closure; bookmark ribbon.
If jotting down notes about your upcoming trip to Disney isn’t enough, use the included Mickey Mouse drawing guide to create your own art!
During a fast-paced day, it is easy to forget the countless items on a growing mental to do list much less looming life goals that still cause sleepless nights. Therefore, task manager websites with mobile applications serve as both personal assistants and motivational life coaches. Think of the following sites as anxious applicants vying for the chance to become your favorite organization guru!
42goals.com 42Goals sets itself apart via the icons that you can utilize to plot your accomplishments. The icons serve as a visual record of your progress through smaller goals that lead to a bigger objective. Switch between goal tracking on the site via your Mac or PC, over to their mobile web version at your convenience.
Cost: Free, with upgrades from $5-$30 monthly.
Toodledo.com There is a reason Toodledo landed on Apple’s list of Top Paid Apps last year. Users love the sleek interface that seamlessly syncs from Windows and OS X to any smartphone or iOS device without hassles. This to-do app is a lifesaver for parents with active kids as it serves to remind them of their family’s daily agenda.
Cost: Free, with Pro and Pro Plus annual memberships ranging from $14.95 and $29.95 respectively.
43things.com Ideal for sharing the overarching goals in your life, 43Things connects your goals to a network of other people’s goals. Do you want to lose weight? Have you had a life-long desire to conquer Mt. Everest? This site’s uncluttered format links you to other like-minded folks. It is available on RSS feed and the iPhone.
Cost: Free.
Rememberthemilk.com This straightforward daily reminder site provides cross browser capabilities. Sync from web to iPhone, smartphone, or Android supported device. Bloggers can manage blog posts or meetings and will benefit from the myriad of options for sharing lists and appointments across platforms. Parents can also send reminder lists about groceries, upcoming PTA meetings, etc., via email or text.
Cost: Free, with Pro membership for $25 annually.
Producteev.com A little competition goes a long way with Producteev. Perfect for business teams, Producteev provides incentives for completing tasks. You can prioritize tasks in order of importance and award badges for different levels of completion. It is ideal for business owners trying to get and keep their teams motivated. Use Producteev on PC, Mac or mobile devices.
Cost: Free for a two-member team, $20 per month for larger teams.
Do you have a favorite to-do or goal tracking app? Share in the comments below!
I am having surgery next week and I swear I am going through a ‘nesting phase’ just like I did when I was pregnant with both of my kids. I am cleaning and organizing like no one’s business. If you don’t already know what the pregnancy nesting phase is, you can learn more about the nesting phase of pregnancy, here. I’m scrubbing baseboards, cleaning the grout in the bathrooms, painting scuff marks on the walls, and more!
I am trying to get the kids closets organized before my surgery because besides my husband being in charge of getting the kids dressed for school in the morning, my mother and sister will be here to help with the kids in which case they will most likely be exposed to the chaos that is my kid’s closet’s and I’d prefer to know that their closets are clean and organized.
When not cleaning today, I have been looking at closet organizational products at The Organized Parent and below are a few that I love!
You can get 15% off these products and anything else at The Organized Parent by using promo code: OP069!
Closet Dividers Set by O.R.E. Originals
Cost: $5.99 – $11.99 for a pack of 5
What is if for?Seperateing clothes by size or by season, or you can even use them to seperate clothes to giveaway from clothes to keep.
A fun, award-winning way to keep your child’s closet organized by age range, clothing type, or day of the week. Set of 5.
Joey & Jane Days of the Week Organizer by Kangaroom
Cost: $20.95
What is if for?
Help your kids get ready faster in the morning. These unique hanging shelves hang from any size closet rod and have five separate compartments for outfits for every day of the school week, after school activities and sports uniforms. They also have elastic side pockets for shoes, socks, underwear and accessories. Pre-printed days of the week labels, activity labels, and blank activity labels are included so each unit can be customized to fit your needs.
John Classic Filebox 6 Hanging Files by Bigso Box of Sweden
Cost: $25.95
What is if for?
You know, all the art and class work your child brings home for the first few years of her schooling career? You keep it all! I interviewed Lisa Loeb and asked her how she chooses which of her daughter’s art pieces to keep and she said that she keeps the pieces that are most original. So, sort through your child’s school and art work after school every day and keep those that you feel your child will enjoy seeing the most when she’s older, slide them into this box and get them out years later. You and your child will share smiles and laughs when you look back at her Kindergarten art work.
10-Shelf Hanging Bamboo Organizer by Honey Can Do
Cost: $27.95
What is if for?
Organize your child’s shoes!
This organizer has 10 reinforced shelves for great capacity and hangs easily from your child’s closet rod using two steel hooks.
This hanging organizer can also be used for small bags and accessories.
Large Laundry Bag by Buckhead Betties
Cost: $12.59 – sale!
What is it for?
Children’s clothes are shorter than average. So why do we use a traditional laundry basket that takes up so much floor space on the floor of our kids closets? I’d rather have room for my daughter’s toy organizer, stuffed animals, etc than just one laundry basket. Even large loads of laundry can fit in this bag. This durable cotton canvas tote protects your delicates from the elements with a coated interior.
This is not a sponsored post. I just love The Organized Parent and want to share some of their great closet organizing products with you!
Do you find yourself forgetting important dates like your child’s school Meet-and-Greet or Open House? What about your 6th grader’s first band concert? No, I’m not speaking from experience, silly.
When you have multiple family members, it can difficult to remember important school dates, doctor appointments, what day each child’s extra-curricular activities are on, when the kids are supposed to bring their report cards home, when you need to renew your car tag, your best friend’s wedding, and tons of other important things.
Think about it. Many of the dates that we need to remember, we think of months before hand, but because traditional calendars show only a month at a time, we aren’t able to plan ahead efficiently.
For example, my husband knew that a friend of his was getting married September 1st didn’t tell me. I’m speaking hypothetically of course. 😉 Meanwhile, I planned on having my father in town to celebrate my son’s 13th birthday August 31st-September 3rd. I had the date marked on the calendar in July but because only July shows on our traditional wall calendar, my husband didn’t see that my family was going to be in town and therefor, accepted the wedding invitation for all four of us. If in July he would have been able to see August’s important dates/notes, he would have known that my family was going to be in town and would not have RSVP’d for the four of us to go to the wedding.
With the NeuYear wall calendar, we can see literally every day of the year right in front of us. BAM! It’s all there!
My NeuYear calendar is on my office wall, right smack dab in front of my face. My husband and son have one as well. I’m on it this year!
There’s something not so sexy about constantly having to remind your husband about important school events, doctor’s appointments, and other important dates. It’s not very wifely, I say. I’d love for my husband to say to me one day “Alicia, Sebastian’s band concert is tomorrow night” or “the lawn service is coming this Wednesday”. Whoa! That would be so awesome. I just feel like always having to remind someone of what’s going on is a motherly function, not a wifely function. Do you agree?
So, help yourself and/or your significant other get on the ball and have no more excuses for forgetting school events, dr appointments, etc..
NeuYear Wall Poster Size Academic Year Calendar - Vertical
Go get a Neu Year calendar or two, put them on your kitchen wall, bathroom wall, and office wall and everyone in your house will know what’s up today, tomorrow, next week, and next month, without having to flip a page!
Mark these important dates on your child’s NeuYear calendar:
Important school events
Sports games and practices
School tests (CRCT’s, etc)
Doctor appointments
Spring Break
Winter Break
School vacation days
Mark these important dates or yours and your significant other’s NeuYear calendar:
School events
Sports games and practices
Doctor appointments
School vacation days
Tentative or potential family vacation dates
Family & friend birthdays
Spring Break
Winter Break
When his/her and your car tags are due
and more!
The Neu Year calendar is poster size. There is a vertical calendar on one side and a horizontal calendar on the other side. So, once you get your calendar(s) take your pick. The Academic Neu Year calendar spans 12 months, August 2012 to July 2013.
The day boxes are larger than most calendars so there is plenty of room to write in them. You’ll want to pick up a few colored fine-tip dry erase markers before your calendar arrives.
Oh, did I mention that you can get a laminated version of the calendar, so you can write on it with a dry-erase marker? When your next annual checkup gets pushed back, just wipe it off and mark the new date.
Or, you can buy the uncoated version and use a pencil or a pen. It’s up to you! Decisions, decisions!
A NeuYear calendar is a product that I consider a must-have for families. With our increasingly busy schedules, it’s nice to know that everyone is on the same page when it comes to what’s going on and when.
NeuYear is offering our readers a coupon code for 30% off!
Get 30% off your order at NeuYear.net when you use coupon code MOMMYINSIDER. This code expires December 31st, 2012.
We are giving 5 lucky readers a NeuYear calendar!
Entries accepted through September 15, 2012. Entrants must be 18+ and live in the U.S. No PO Boxes. The company may send winners a laminated or uncoated calendar.
