Your Get-Real Guide to Getting Organized

Neatness doesn't always count!

By S.C. Torrington 
 

Getting your family organized for Back to School doesn’t mean devising some complicated color-coded filing system or arranging your books like the Library of Congress. Nor is it about running your family’s lives by a stopwatch with an inflexible timetable. But it would be nice to be able to find a glue stick when you need it.  
 

The goal is to create time, space and stuff management techniques that make everybody’s life happier and more comfortable. These systems must be easy enough to actually use. Come up with ideas that fit your family’s lifestyle and personalities. Ask for your kid’s opinion and help. 
 

Here are some simple suggestions you can do with your child: 
 

Search Out Supplies
School supplies spread throughout the house? Turn your inventory-taking into a scavenger hunt. Get your child to search out everything he uses, make a big pile on the floor, and then start sorting. Don’t count paper clips, but take stock (you may be surprised by how much stuff you have already, and how many duplicates). Not only does this get things organized--it can save you some money, too.
 


Use a plastic tote basket as a portable toolbox. Put in a few of everything your child needs while doing homework. Regardless of whether he’s working in the living room, on the bed, or outdoors; the tote can go with him. Remove items from their original containers, combine similar objects into tins, baggies or small boxes. Store those extra materials away in larger, labeled boxes. Restock as needed.
 

Weed Out the Old
Do you plan to keep every scrap of paper, science experiment, dead bug, and art project forever? Work on the “in with the new, out with the old” principle. During winter and summer breaks, pick a few projects to display or give as gifts. Then squirrel away some favorite representations of that grade’s work. (Editor's note: any accordion file will work well for this purpose (one pocket for each grade), but the Stephen Britt's School Years family keepsake book (Chronicle Books, 2006) is an extra-cute way to preserve those extra-special grade school mementos.) Everything else winds up in the recycling bin.

Stack Those Shelves
Are your children’s books at your child’s height? Rotate reading material from room to room just to make it interesting. If your child references certain books or objects frequently, keep them where he uses them. It sounds so simple, but notice where books pile up, and put a small bookcase or basket there. Sell, swap, or give away books your family has outgrown. (Why not give to the First Lady's Reach Out and Read program?)

Do the Math
Here’s an easy math problem. Your family has an appointment 15 miles away at 11am, and you need to go to the bank, get gas and buy some snacks. What time do you have to leave your home? No, not 10:30am.

Be realistic about how long anything actually takes, especially with the little kiddos. Don’t become too dependent on the travel time calculated by a map search engine or GPS. Prep for special events, field trips, or after-school activities the night before.
 

Get Organized
Let your child pick his own day planner and teach him how to use it. Record homework assignments, long-term projects, test grades, even birthdays, and other important events. Learn to set simple goals, even if only in terms of sometime this week or month. Review and plan often. Keep a "To Do" list that your kids can do anytime. Encourage everyone to write down everything. 
 

Be Messy
Stop wasting time by putting away stuff today that your kid is just going to pull out tomorrow. I use gallon-size, plastic zipper bags to hold works-in-progress and can toss them into stackable crates when we actually want to use our dining table for dining. Sprinkle hands-on items throughout your house to pique your child’s curious nature. Remember--neatness doesn’t always count!

S.C. Torrington writes about what she knows: kids, being a mom and having fun as a family.