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lori316_gw

Organizing schedules/paperwork in a busy house

lori316
12 years ago

We are parents to six busy kids. They are all involved in some sort of after-school activity (gymnastics, soccer, cross country/track, tutoring, etc.). DH and I both work full time, and they are all school aged.

I need to be more organized with schedules, kids' paperwork, school forms, etc. I'd love to see how you organize these things, plus the mail mess, if you use a chalkboard/dry erase board/cork board system. Can anybody post pictures of your "system" or message area?

TIA! :)

Comments (4)

  • bahacca
    12 years ago

    No pictures, but for mail, I get it each day when I KNOW I'll have time to sort. I sort into 2 piles-keep and toss. Toss goes IMMEDIATELY into the recycle bin. Keep then gets put into 2 piles-'to be done'-like bills, if I need to call someone(like dentist appointment reminds) and 'to be filed'.
    I have found that doing autopay and e-mail notifications for bills has helped SOOO much. Only bills I do not get online are insurance, dog tags, and vehicle registration, so they are not monthly. All others I've linked to be autopaid out of my bank account or on my credit card(credit card earns points, so all bills where I can pay by CC are on the card. The card is then set to autopay, so I'm never charged late fees or interest).
    As for the kids-I'd buy something like what is in the link below. GIve each kid a color file and that is theirs for schedules, paperwork, school, etc. Maybe give each kid 2 of the same color-1 labeled 'to do' for things that need signed, etc and the other 'to keep'

    Here is a link that might be useful: file sorter

  • livebetter
    12 years ago

    There are a couple blogs I've been reading lately which have been hugely inspiring! I just loved a few of their ideas and have already started setting up similar systems in my house.

    These ladies are truly inspiring - hope you find something useful - good luck!

    I'll post several links here for you:

    http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/2011/01/weekly-challenge-1-home-management.html

    http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/2011/03/week-8-challenge-organize-your-schedule.html

    http://iheartorganizing.blogspot.com/search/label/Household%20Binder

    Here is a link that might be useful: Bowl Full of Lemons - mail

  • rjvt
    12 years ago

    Hi - I only had 2 kids (and we had enough paper with them - I can't imagine 3 x that!) and my kids are now in college, so no pictures. But when they were in school, I finally worked out a system where I had a calendar by the door with everything marked (you could even color code by child - I did this for a while, but it wasn't really necessary for us). Then below that I had 2 of those plastic office file holders hanging on the wall for each child. The papers went in 1 when they came home and when things were signed and ready for the kids to take they would go in the other one for them to check before going to school/practice.

    That seemed to work pretty well for us.

  • Adella Bedella
    12 years ago

    I go through the mail each day when it comes in. Anything I don't want like ads or junk mail gets thrown away. Bills go to dh's desk and magazines go to a specific spot for the person who reads it. For instance some go in the bathroom and the kids go on their beds.

    We have a mudroom so the kids are supposed to drop off coats, backpacks and shoes there. We are transitioning from summer to fall/winter right now so it's a mess. It works when we are in season.

    I just bought new furniture last week so now each child has their own desk for homework. That sort of works. We are still developing the system. I may need to buy a lamp or two. The kids have always gravitated to wherever I am (like the kitchen)for big school projects. We may have a playdoh structure of the zoo or ancient Egypt on the bar for a few days. The desk gives them a place to keep the less messy projects.

    I bought some office type "in trays" for tracking each child and papers. So far this is working. It allows us to have a place for all of those papers. I don't throw away homework that I didn't recognize as homework. I also have a tray for special event papers that are always coming in like class trips, birthday parties, weekly spelling words, etc. These are usually a time related event so I can find them on quick notice and then trow them away after the date has passed.

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