I have been reading so many great articles about how to get organized for back-to-school!  This year my family is preparing for our older son to enter pre-school. 3-year-olds look so cute with those big turtle-like back-packs on their little shoulders! The pre-school we chose is a cooperative school, meaning that parents assist in the classroom, serve as coordinators for different activities (we are the social-committee co-chairs) and participate a number of hours in other areas such as fundraising, cleaning and maintenance, and field-trips. I was feeling pretty overwhelmed when the e-mails starting coming fast and furious last week and all of a sudden I needed 6+ days of morning week-day child care for my daughter this fall. I guess it isn’t just kids who need a schedule adjustment, but do parents too! As a parent, how am I going to manage all of these obligations and everything else? Here is how I am planing my back-to-school schedule.

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:: Write in obligatory or mandatory events first. I have scheduled the days I am required to assist in my son’s class, holiday gatherings, birthdays, holy days of obligation, and our Cancun vacation. I like to plan at least 6 months in advance. Or, in this case, my BIL is getting married in January and is also having a separate important reception, so we need to have our January schedule plan outlined now as well. Planning ahead especially around the holiday season, helps you know what you need to do to prepare, and what you need to acquire to be prepared. This way you can catch sales along the way instead of paying full price in a panic the week before.

:: Make a list of other seasonal activities you would like to do with your family or friends. I am planning to go apple picking with my family, and then spend the rest of the weekend making apple sauce, dried apples, and can apple pie filling. I also hope to visit the fall farm festivals we have in our area so the kids can see the farm animals and I can pick up some pumpkins.

:: Schedule these seasonal activities in your calendar, with the “weather permitting” caveat of course.

:: I try to schedule a “home-project” weekend each month as well. Sometimes this varies with the weather conditions, but I feel if I don’t schedule it in with all the other things we need to do, that crown moulding that has been sitting in my basement for a year will never get hung!

Although it may seem silly, make it a point to write down the fun stuff in your calendar too and don’t forget to schedule a day to relax!

:: Don’t forget a do-nothing-weekend. I always schedule a do-nothing weekend every other month or so, when I put aside the work and we just hang-out as a family, cook together, play together, and do what ever we feel like.

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How are you coming along preparing for the new school year? A while back I designed a few planning pages, you can find the monthly planner here, and the weekly planner here. (Be sure to read the posts to learn how to utilize these planning tools.) Do you have tips you rely upon to help you schedule all of your parental obligations, both academic, athletic, and otherwise? Leave a comment here, I’d love to hear from you and I am sure readers would like to hear your tips too! Happy Organizing!