Yes, it's that time of year again when kids will soon go back to school and your home becomes a drop zone for books and backpacks. Maybe this should be the year that you plan ahead to keep your home more organized throughout the coming school session. A little planning will go a long way to keeping your home organized and free of clutter.
Drop zone
Whether it is in the front hallway or on the dining room table, kids tend to drop what's in their hands the minute they get home from school. To keep your home from becoming a drop zone for the next 10 months, you must plan ahead. Children and teens are more apt to keep their stuff organized if they are each given their own space in which to keep their school items. Just as a locker at school helps keeps kids organized a storage cubby, closet or even a locker at home can have the same outcome. If you have the space, say in a mudroom for example, build an open locker for each child with hooks for backpacks and coats, cubby holes for shoes and boots and shelves for school books. A simple locker-style cabinet is all you need. Paint each locker the favourite colour of each child to personalize their space. If space is at a premium in your house then designate an area for school items and provide each child with their own coat hook and shoe shelf where their items can be stored as soon as they walk in the door. A small frame with each child's name on it hanging above the coat hook will make them feel that this is their special area of the home. You could install these items in the front hall walk-in closet, in an open foyer or even at the bottom of the basement stairs. Make the area inviting so the children will be drawn to use it.
Sports stuff
Larger items, such as hockey bags, need special attention. A large storage trunk (with venting for air circulation) placed in the basement might work, as would a large coat rack or series of hooks where each piece of equipment could hang and air out. A rack to hold hockey sticks will keep them from being underfoot and is a simple item to build. A couple of wooden pegs hung horizontally on a wall where the stick can be placed is all you really need. If you are dealing with several hockey sticks then a large umbrella stand style of container will do the trick. If you have it in your budget to purchase special storage items, you might consider a hockey equipment tree that is made especially to store hockey equipment in an open setting so that it will dry out.
Study time
If your kitchen or dining room table is always covered with school books then you need to consider creating a proper study space for your kids. Many children will study in their bedroom -- fine if you have a proper work station and lighting. You must consider distractions in the bedroom like music, television and computers that might not be conducive to study time. Another option is to create a study area in your home office. Many children will feel special to be in the grown-up space and you can keep an eye on them or help them if you're working at your home computer while they study. This is a 'no fooling around' zone in which study is the focus. If children understand this rule then they are more apt to study.
A large table in the rec room where the kids can study together might be another option. If they don't have to study alone, they'll be more apt to enjoy the experience and assist each other (if they are close in age). Essentially, you're creating a study group that might be helpful depending upon your children's ages. Make it comfortable and well-lit and they just might enjoy spending time there. This idea is also a good solution to help keep school books and paraphernalia in one area of the home. Fill the table with items like calculators, pens, pencils, marker and note paper to help the children in their studies.
Make packing school lunches easier
Packing lunches for hungry kids every day is not an easy task. For the older children, designate a lunch bag for each child and teach them to clean them out and place them on a designated area on the kitchen counter each day so that it's ready in the morning. While you might make the kids sandwiches each day, they can be involved in packing their own fruit, beverage and snacks. Have a bowl of fruit ready on the counter at the beginning of the week that they can choose from, lots of individual juice containers in the fridge and a snack cupboard for snacks such as puddings, fruit cups, dried fruit and nut mixes and so on. While you make sandwiches each child can take their lunch bag and fill it with a juice from the fridge, a piece of fruit and a snack from the snack cupboard. By allowing them some choices, it will make it more likely that they'll actually eat all of the chosen items and will feel somewhat empowered. I know that packing lunches has nothing to do with decorating but it's part of the overall idea of making children responsible.
A little routine and a few ground rules will help everyone feel more organized and less harried during the school year. Get them involved in a positive way and they'll be more apt to help keep your home free of clutter.
