I am the co-CEO of a small, but influential group. And I have tools of the trade to help me do the job!
Chief among them the big green binder which organizes and helps me keep track of everyone's school day throughout the year.
In the front are photo sleeves which hold wallet size pics of my kids from Pre-K on up. It's what to do with the old photos after you put the new ones in your Dayrunner or on your fridge...I love looking at how they change so much over the years!
Tab dividers help me keep it all together.
Here is the "Allowances" section. Only two of the kids get allowances now. This was very handy when I was keeping up with four...there are columns for how much they get, and how it is divided up - spending money, savings money, and the date they got "Paid". Behind that was the current chore chart which got updated every 3 months.
In the "Mom's Stuff" section there are inspirational things - poems, funny mom e-mails, beautiful artwork - all the things I am inspired by because I want to do my best in this job! And what mother could ever throw away a hand-printed card? All of it is in clear sleeves.
And, ok, there is even a take out "Menu" section - can we have Super China tonight?
Mom needs a kitchen break!
Each of the school-aged kids has a section with class schedules, parent copies of syllabuses, receipts, etc. And there is a separate section for each school and it's general info, including directories. Everything gets reviewed at the end of the school year - some gets tossed, some goes into permanent files.
It is jam-packed with info and I will never have stacks of important school papers on the kitchen counter, losing something crucial. And I can tell you at a moment's notice what the boy's student id's are, which locker and combination they have, which class they are in right now, who their teachers are, and what all the important phone numbers are for their school.
And they all live here so that I can find them when I am here:
My mom notebook is second only to this tool:
The kitchen calendar.
I highly recommend these items for anyone who has school aged kids.
Organization: A very valuable life skill!
Wow! That's awesome. I ran across your blog from the Hope Studios blog. I could sure use some great advice like this. I also have four kids and am struggling with ways to keep my home more organized. This is good advice. Thanks!
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