I am 4 years into my School Mum journey with 2 kids at school to manage. It has taken me a while to get my systems and processes together to keep myself sane and know where things are when I need to find them.
Below are my top essential items I cherish daily that help me maintain my sanity as a school mum and keep on top of the never ending to do or to find list.
1) Homework Folder and Station
Our children do their homework at our main dining table as it is near our kitchen and it means I can get other things done while watching them do their homework. They are able to ask me questions and I can help them when I need to and cook dinner at the same time. I set up a little homework book folder and stationary station on the table as it makes it feel more inviting. The other benefit is we all know where the homework books are and where to put them back when we are finished. This has eliminated the 20 mins a week I was spending trying to find the homework books and readers on the day they were due to go back to school.
2) School Bag Hooks
After a year of tripping over school bags at the front door I decided we needed a better solution. I purchased a few cute looking cloud hooks, attached them to the front door storage shelves and they became the school bag station. It is great as my kids can put their own bags on the rack once they get home and we always know where the bags are.
3) School Uniform Chair
One day I started throwing my kids clean school uniforms onto this chair. And then I just kept doing that lol. It has become the official school uniform chair in our house. My kids know where it is and they know theor clean uniform is on it. I never have to help them find their uniform of a morning and they can put it on themselves so it’s kind of awesome. Not the most visually appealing solution but it saves my sanity so it is a win for me.
4) Mox Shoes
These shoes have been a lifesaver for me. I have my pile sitting at the front door ready to go when I am already 2 mins late picking up the kids haha. They are waterproof so it doesn’t matter what the weather is like on school pick up I can always wear then. They go with everything it doesn’t matter what I am wearing. They take a total of 2 seconds to get on my feet and get out the door.
5) School Document Trays
I have a document tray for each of my kids at school that I put their letters from school in every afternoon. I don’t always have time to read the school correspondence when we walk in the door after school but I know exactly where to put it and exactly where it will be when I have the time to read it. This has seriously saved me hours of searching for lost notes and is one of my favourite systems I have set up to date.
6) Library Books and Other School Stuff
This is the place I put the library books and “other school stuff” that needs a home. Spare lunch bags, stationary, spare books, folders etc. If it is somewhat school related and I don’t want to throw it away and I don’t know where to put it, I put it here.
7) Yearly Wall Planner
This thing is awesome. It is on our wall for the family to see and it helps hubby and I track everything that is happening in one place for the year. As things pop up we add it to the calender. My kids even love looking at it and know what is happening and coming up when. I recommend every household have something like this. P.s we got it from Officeworks and I only say because people always ask.
8) Weekly Planner
This is our weekly planner we have on the fridge so I can remember what is happening on what day for each of the kids so we all remember what we need for that day. It is nothing fancy but it works and I love it. Every morning before we leave the house we have a look and make sure we have everything we need and we never miss a thing. Well 99% of the time lol.
So this is how I maintain my sanity as a School Mum haha.
When I wrote this post I approached the lovely folk at Mox Shoes to see if it was possible to get a special offer for you lovely mums if any of you were interested in getting a pair of Mox to try as they are my favourite.
So if you were keen to get some go to www.moxonline.com.au and check out the deets below.
