Back to school sanity saver

I know.....I know. I am a day late but better late than never. So Mischief started school yesterday. I thought I would be a total basket case, but remarkably I was ok. (likely because I cried everyday for a solid week leading up to this day)

I am one of those people who needs to "do" things to help me process things. For example, if I am sad because my baby is growing up too fast and I will blink and she will be driving away to college going back to school, I need to make things so that my mind doesn't sit and dwell on the sadness. 

We have some Back to School traditions in our home. Each year I make the girls' school day outfits. No matter how much or little I have sewn that year I make those outfits if it kills me. It is something really special I started when Mischief began in the MDO program. I don't know how many more years I have of her still thinking it's cool for Mom to make her outfit so I am doing it until she tells me to stop.

Day1-First of K (last year)

 We also have a little chalkboard we rotate drawings on throughout the year. It typically resides on our piano and reflects the season or will remind us of a favorite verse or quotation. But on #bts days it is used as a time marker, a visual cue as to what year it is/was and who the girls' teacher was that year.

Lastly I make a special sign for each girl on the morning of their first day. It is always a surprise and helps them get excited for the day ahead....not to mention helps me process what is happening and how fast they are growing up. I usually have a picture from Meet the Teacher day, their class name, school name and such.

This year we are adding a new tradition. Something that will help Mommy not want to add Kahlua to her coffee.

Mornings are stressful. Period. The end. Read I am not a morning person. So when I have a child who moves at the pace of a tortoise snail sloth it is even more frustrating. All last year we would decide what she was going to wear to school the day before, hang it on her closet door and go to bed. Inevitably in the morning she wouldn't want to wear that so we would argue for 10-15 mins about what she was going to wear NOW! Anyone who has ever sat in carpool knows 10-15 can make or break your morning.

Enter the $15 Target sanity saver

The......wait for it.......HANGING CLOSET ORGANIZER!!

I know not ground breaking but let me elaborate.

Each Sunday we will plan her outfits for the entire week. I let her pick most of them and help her decide based on the anticipated weather or if there is a special happening at school that week.  Then that's it. No changing.....unless we drop 20° over night, which is possible in Alabama I kid you not.

We are 2 days in and there has been no argument. She goes in, gets the next outfit down in the hanger and gets dressed. Maybe it is because she took the lead picking them or that they are all laid out for her so she can't beg to wear something TODAY if she sees it already in the week's rotation.

I have alot of hope for this little experiment and besides anything to keep the peace in the mornings is like GOLD up in here.

So go forth and organize and plan. If your kid is anything like Mischief she thrives on routine. She likes to knows what's happening next so this is a visual reminder to her that "oh yea I get to wear that rock star dress tomorrow so I don't have to throw a fit to wear it today".

Fingers crossed a new school time tradition has been born.

Until next time.