Hey mamas, how are you? This time of year, the end of August, is a weird transitional time where I simultaneously mourn the end of summer and lazy schedules, and start to get just a little bit excited about new starts, new routines and the upcoming fall season. How about you? The kids go back to school on Monday, so we are trying to soak up their last few days of “freedom” while also trying to wrap our brains around getting ready for back to school.
The kids are not at all excited about going back (shocker!), and while I’m looking forward to getting back into more of a routine, I’m definitely less excited about the hectic pace things seem to inevitably take once school starts. So I’ve got a couple things to share with you to help with your back to school organization and take some of the stress off your plate.
The first is a new(!) printable I created to help with planning school lunches, and the second is the school supply station we created for keeping everything organized. With all the busyness that back to school brings, it’s nice to have some organizational tools to help keep us sane!
Weekly School Lunch Planner
The School Lunch Planner is my newest printable creation, just in time for back to school! It’s four pages and includes a weekly schedule for planning school lunches and snacks, a list of lunch ideas, and adorable lunch box notes! Prepping and planning the kids lunches for the week was always my least favorite activity, so this helpful planner not only helps you stay organized but it also has handy list of different lunch ideas for when you get stuck in a rut. And the cute lunch box notes just adds that extra bit of sweetness your kids need during the busy school day. ❤
The great thing about the weekly planner is you can print it out as many times as needed, or laminate it and write notes using a dry-erase marker so you can wipe it off and use again!
It also includes two pages of lunch ideas (mains, sides/snacks and drinks) so you have an easy-to-reference list when deciding what to make (and to avoid making the same lunch every day!) For more school lunch ideas, check out this blog post.
How cute are these lunch box notes? It’s so fun to add that little extra touch to brighten their day, and now it’s super easy with at-the-ready printables!
For more details about the School Lunch Planner and to order, click on the link to my Etsy shop here!
School Organization Station
I bought this rolling cart a while back during Covid, but it has been so handy at corralling all the school things that it has still been serving us well for a few years now.
It has three different shelves for containing all kinds of school supplies. On the first tier, we keep crayons, sharpened pencils, colored pencils, markers, glue, erasers, rulers etc. I added a few mason jars and pencil cups to keep everything neat and organized and now the kids are easily able to find and grab what they need when doing their homework.
The second tier acts as the charging station for the kids’ school laptops. We plug them in to a nearby outlet so they can charge overnight and be ready for the next day.
On the third tier, we keep things like extra binders, notebooks, paper, dry erase boards, and pencil boxes with extra crayons and markers.
It’s been so handy to have this little “homework station” set up for the kids to use. And, the great thing about the rolling cart is that you can move it from room to room as needed–or store it away in a closet when not in use. Wherever it goes, everything is kept together and organized in one (mobile) space!
I hope you enjoyed these back to school organization tips! Let me know if you find them useful or have ideas for other products or topics you’d like to see. Wishing you a smooth–and QUIET–transition back to school! ????
All my love,
