GETTING & STAYING ORGANIZED / Nursery Sch. & Kind. Notices

Folders work great for each family member. It is the child's responsibility to "help" me put the papers in their folders & get the info on the calendar. & decorating the folders can be a fun project, too!

Put a big calendar on your refrigerator and take all the other stuff off! I have a magnetic frame and a calendar with daily blocks at least 1 inch square. Mine also has a write on/wipe off section next to it. When every notice comes in, write the info on the calendar - when an event is, when the payment or permission slip is due, etc. You can use a different color for each of you - red for one kid, blue for the other, green for yourself. Then put a magnetic thing on the side of the refrigerator that holds all the papers. When a notice comes home, write in the event on the calendar, and put the paper in the magnetic bin on the side of the fridge. You could have one bin for each kid. (These things are available at Staples or places like The Container Store, also dollar stores. My calendar comes from Staples and I buy a refill every year for the same frame. There are a lot of these things in the stores every December so you are in the right ball park to start getting organized!)

After the kids go to bed and are definitely down for the night, make a cup of tea or pour a glass of wine, and sit down in the kitchen. Do not throw in the laundry or do the dinner dishes - take 10 minutes for yourself. Go thru the backpack and put all the papers in a stack, one for each kid. Go thru the things that are hung up all over the kitchen now, and sort them for stuff that is still coming up and stuff that is past. Toss the "done" notices and don't feel guilty.

Now, pick up your markers and put stuff on the main calendar, and immediately put the notices in the bin on the side of the fridge. Have a few markers right there, and always put them back when you are done. Never let them stay on the counter or migrate to the kitchen table.

When an event is coming up, the necessary form, permission slip, whatever is in the bin on the side. Put a basket or mail rack by the door with your keys so that you grab what is needed when you head out to preschool or whatever. Have a section in your older child's backpack for notes for the teacher, payments, permission slips, whatever. Teach your daughter where it is and make sure she doesn't put anything else in there, like her lunch.

Don't let this affect your self esteem - you are carrying a huge load and it's hard to be everywhere at once. We ALL go thru this brain-drain stuff and we all miss things. All you can do is go forward!

I have found the "basket" system to be effective. I have three baskets in my kitchen right where we drop our keys and cells at the end of the day.
Basket with the red liner: DO IMMEDIATELY (return phone calls, time sensitive bills or required responses. This is also where I keep "quick tasks" like dates on the calendar, etc)
Basket with the yellow liner: DO THIS ON SUNDAY (my day to pay bills, sign permission forms, read newsletters, whatever)
Basket with the green liner: DO THIS WHEN YOU CAN

I also keep a calendar visibly posted on the fridge. As soon as we know a date and/or time, it goes on the calendar. If it gets cancelled or changed, just cross it out.

We have a "bill caddy" in the den. It has a stack of checks, stamps return address labels and envelopes. When I sit down on Sunday afternoon to pay bills, I grab my yellow basket and the bill caddy and get to work.

Grocery list is always on the fridge. As soon as you notice you are running low, add it to the list! This saves a lot of time both on "shopping day" and on mid-week grocery trips.

Have a meal plan for the week and then don't stray from it! I do a menu for the week (including the nights we know we will be out) and write it on an index card. The grocery list is generated from that card and that way whoever gets home first can get started b/c it's right there (including the housekeeper who will often start dinner b/c she knows what we're having).

We both work and I work over an hour from home, so organization is key for us. Without it (and our housekeeper), we would not have time together as a family. There are few things more frustrating than going to pack lunches (which I do the night before) and realizing you are out of bread! Think ahead, plan and always have a plan B.

First, go thru the papers sent home daily. Throw away anything you do not need immediately. Have some kind of system rather a bulletin board, baskets, bins, trays whatever works for you for important papers that need attention. I have a write-on/wipe-off calendar (18x18ish @ Target for 15.00) in my kitchen that I write everything we do on it - this has saved my life! Now everyone sees what the schedule is so it's not all on me to remember.

I have a regular monthly calendar but did not find it appropriate for all the little things we needed to remember. I ended up buying a large weekly dry erase board from an office supply store where I write everything for the week. It also has two extra spaces so in one I write some to-do's and in the other jot down the week or two ahead. Above it I have a bulletin board where I can stick all of those papers I may need or need to reference.

Both are in a highly visible place where the whole family can see it. It helps to keep everyone in sync and on the same page without too many questions.

HTH!

What i do is ask the girls to check the book bag everyday and disiginated at spot in the kitchen for them to put all notices then i grab them and record all outing and dates on the small 8/11 clendar we keep on the fridge.
In the office i have a tray that holds about 5 folders so i labeled the folders..

1.Up coming appiontments paperwork folder
, it put flyers (from school), invites with addresses, presecription needed for doc apptments or paper work that had to be filed out in that folder and when the appt time comes up i just grab the paper work from the folder and it's works great because the hubby will not have to ask where my paper work for my doc appt. I make sure to throw out or file any past paper work that was not needed.
2. Second folder is bills to be paid folder
3.To follow up folder-usually is stuff that i printed and want to read later, or paper work that does not have to be addressed right away.

I think the calendar on the fridge is something i will never do without for get the computer age, when i go to get something to eat it is right in my face what i have to do for the month.

I also do the grocery list on the side of fridge so when i find we are runiing out of something i write it down, yu can also use stickey notes for that.

I would get a big calendar and put all those dates that come home on the calendar. After you have recorded the necessary information, recycle the paper. You can also have a whiteboard/corkboard to put some of those misc. papers, etc.

I really like Google Calendar. You can input important information from the notices and then set up reminders to be sent to your cell phone as a text. I keep the text messages as a reminder and once the task is done, voilà I discard. You can also set up email reminders or pop up reminders whatever works for you. Its very simple to set up a google account if you don't have one already. Good luck and do the best you can.

Get a family calendar and post it in a highly visible area. Everything you need to schedule (all notices with special events, deadlines, etc. included) should be posted on it as soon as you get the notice. Don't forget to mark days off from school/nursery and doctor appointments too.

Throw away notices to reduce the clutter but first write everything in one big calendar. I actually use Outlook because I can set up reminders for that day or the day before so I remeber to pack things or hav emy daughter dress appropriately or remind me to leave work early or whatever.

I have felt and do feel the same way! I have two kids and have struggled with this issue for a few years now. I do not have a solution, but I can share with you what I do. Each day when the kids come home, I go through the back pack and take out all the papers for both kids. I go through the "work" they have done and try to make a quick decision on "keep" or "Trash". The keep papers go into a container with a lid and at the end of the week I go through them again and only keep my favorites. It is hard to choose but you can't keep everything. Also after taking the papers out of the backpack, I toss out any duplicate notices. Once that is out of the way, I can focus on upcoming events etc. I have a cork board that I pin things to, like the lunch menu, daily activities, school calendar along with any Birthday party invitations. All other important information I add right to my phone calendar, for safe keeping. If it's on my phone I am not likely to loose it as I can set an alert to remind me. This has worked for me, but you have to keep on top of it every day, no matter what. I do still miss things but not nearly as often as I used to.
Good Luck and I will be watching your responses for more good ideas.

Hi. I didn't read through the responses, but I have to say that I really feel for you. Give yourself a break--you've got a lot going on, and are doing the best you can. That said, I just purchased an online "organizer" developed by a busy mom of 6. It was cheap, just cost me $9--check out some sample pages here... http://lifeasmom.com/organizing-life-as-mom-the-ebook
Good luck to you.
P.S. I don't get any kind of commission, and don't know the author personally. I'm just a satisfied customer.

Hi B.,
The first thing I'd suggest is making 5-10 minutes a day to go through the papers as soon as they come home. Then, tackle whatever it is, don't let it sit in a pile, or hang on the fridge and have one of the girls pin up a drawing over it. If it's a birthday party invite, call to rsvp right then and mark it on the calendar, if it's a school trip, sign the permission slip and put the money in an envelope and put it on your calendar right away. Mark your calendar with deadlines too - or set up one of those big standing folders with 1-31 sections, and put whatever is due in the correct date, so if fundraiser money is due on the 12th, make sure you have the envelope for it in the 12th slot. Also, be very on top of ditching whatever papers are NOT needed.