Back to School Prep

Today makes the start of the 7 day countdown til school starts!  I get just as excited about back to school as the kids do – I fully embrace the return to a set schedule and an increase in brain-expanding activities for everyone.  But, there’s much to be done before the big day comes.  I thought I would share my back-to-school to-do list here.

• Purchase and pack up school supplies – I live in Wal-Mart country, but I refuse to shop at Wal-Mart.  A friend who was surprised when I told her this asked, “Where do you get stuff you need, like school supplies?”  This year I did all my school supply shopping at the grocery store (Dillons/Kroger) and Staples.  By using coupons and buying the items that were on sale each week, I saved a ton of money.  Another shopper even handed me a coupon for the anti-bac wipes I had to buy! *grin* I love coupon fairies.
• Purchase a new outfit and shoes for each kiddo –
  

  The Backpack Station

  I get most of my kids’ clothes from consignment sales and stores and hand-me-downs, but today we’re going to go shopping for a brand new outfit for each of them. After the wet muddy mess of the summer, both of them will get a new pair of “school shoes” (sneakers) too.

• Get back on a normal sleeping schedule – We’re lucky in that school doesn’t start until 8:45, but as I write this it is 8:15 and both of my children are still asleep. Tonight we’ll return to our 7:30p bedtime and I’ll start waking them up a little earlier each morning if needed until we get to our 7:20a wake-up time.  I actually started re-training myself first about a week ago so that we wouldn’t all be groggy and crabby at the same time.
• Schedule Doctor/Dental appointments – Both kids are due for 6 month dental checkups and Carina will be due for her yearly well-child check in September. I want to get these scheduled in now, before time slips away from me and we miss the target time frame.  And, now that my days will be more kid-free, I need to schedule these appointments for myself as well, plus a visit to the eye doctor.
• Make Plans for Pick Day – Last year I wrote about Pick Day, which we created at the last minute – each kiddo got a day where they got to pick everything we did that day.  I need to figure out when those will be for each child and get them to start thinking about what we will do.
• Get the Backpack Station Ready – Last year’s big back-to-school project was creating a “launchpad” for all the kids’ school things and extracurricular activities.  Now that it’s been languishing all summer, it’s time to get it back up and running. I need to clean out their folders, reset the calendars, and label the new backpacks, lunch boxes, jackets, etc.
• Streamline the Lunch-Packing Process – I’m mining Pinterest and chatting with other moms about ways to make the lunch packing process more inventive, efficient, cost-effective, and consistent.  The kids ate way too many school lunches last year, so this is my big focus for this year. Let me know if you have tips or ideas!
• Set a Schedule for Myself – Now that the kids are going to be at the same school on the same schedule, I want to make a solid schedule for myself.  I have 5 main “jobs” that I need to compartmentalize – our family business, my freelance and consulting work, blogging, PTA (I’m the volunteer coordinator this year!), and my domestic duties around the house (bleh).
• Plan the Big Purge – It’s hard to clean out toys when the kids are around, so I’m going to pick a day to devote to cleaning out their over-flowing toy boxes when they’re in school.  Yes, I am an evil mommy.

So, that’s my back-to-school to-do list.  What’s on your list?

Related posts:

Back to School: Our New Backpack Station Getting Ready for Back to School! Back to School: Calendar Keeping School Drop-off Limbo