Eliana on her first day of 4th Grade 2009-2010 school year

10 TIPS TO MAKE BACK-TO-SCHOOL COOL
By Dianne de Las Casas

On Eliana’s first day of 4th grade, she dashed out the door like Hare but looked more like Tortoise with her backpack strapped to her back like a turtle’s shell. And so, the morning races have begun. Your family is probably no different from our family. Everyone’s in a mad dash to change, eat breakfast, and get to school on time. Here are some tips to ease the transition from summer’s loose schedule to the fall’s regular school routine.

Get into the Groove with Early Bedtimes
The kids have been staying up late and getting up later because it’s summer. But it’s not too early to start readjusting their circadian rhythms to their regular school routines. One week before school starts, implement a strict bedtime. Do “practice runs,” in which the children get up as early as they do for school. This will help their bodies adjust to the back-to-school schedule. There is nothing worse than grouchy, grumpy kids who didn’t get enough sleep!

Pack It Up, Pack It In!
Whether you are organized and ordered pre-packaged school supplies or whether you like to catch those back-to-school sales, have all the school supplies ready to go one week before school starts. Pre-sharpen the pencils. Put all the supplies in one place, fitting as much as you can into your child’s backpack (without overloading them). On the big day, you’ll have everything you need at hand.

Label, Label, Label
Invest a few dollars and purchase a labeler like Dymo. I love my Letra Tag labeler. It beats handwriting your child’s name on every notebook, folder, and binder. With my labeler, I just press “Print” and the label with my child’s name magically appears – 50 times, if I want!

Wash, Iron & Set Out Clothes
If your child wears a uniform, wash and iron all the uniform pieces. Check for missing buttons and make any necessary repairs. If your child wears regular clothes, pick out each day’s outfit and have it ready for the first couple days of school. This will make it easier as your child transitions into the routine.

Lunch & Snacks
No matter what your children’s age, have them prepare or help you prepare lunch and snacks. This will enable them to have a say in what they eat (which means they are more likely to eat it) and give them responsibility by allowing them to pitch in. It’s fun to have Little Debbie’s or Hostess snacks but balance your child’s meals with fruit and veggies too. Plus, you can plan energy-boosting snacks like raisins, granola bars, and peanut butter and celery sticks. I like giving “Surprise Snacks” after school. I put the snack in a pretty paper bag and staple it closed. It’s like getting a present or one of those cool grab bags at the dollar store.

Prepare a Special “Welcome Back” Basket
Make a teacher’s day and send a “Welcome Back-to-School” basket or bag filled with supplies teachers need, cool books, or a gift certificate to an office supply store, book store, or education store. If your budget does not allow a basket, write a “Welcome Back-to-School” note and let the teacher know how much you look forward to working with him/her this school year. This sets the stage for a great teacher-parent relationship and shows your interest in your child’s education.

Picture Perfect First Day
Your child will never have another first day at school in this grade. Take a picture in the morning before everyone dashes out the door. You will love looking back and these first days and seeing how much your child has grown.

Note from You
Tuck a little note into your child’s snack, lunch or backpack. You can say:

* School is cool but you are cooler! Hope you’re enjoying your first day!
* You are a back-to-school super star!
* Happy Back-To-School! I’m proud of you!
* Roses are red. Violets are blue. School is cool and so are you!

Back to School Sign
Make a sign that says “Happy Back-to-School! I love you!” and hang it on the front door. Your kids will love the greeting just before they leave the house for school. What a great way to start the day.

Sweet Surprises – A Spoonful of Kisses
This makes a super sweet surprise for your kids. Take a plastic spoon and draw a funny face on it. Grab a small handful of Hershey Kisses. Place the kisses inside the spoon and wrap a small plastic bag or piece of cellophane around it. Tie a ribbon around and attach a little note: “A Spoonful of Kisses for You on Your First Day of School.” Then reward yourself and eat the rest of the bag. You deserve it. You made it through the first day of school!

ORGANIZED AND ENERGIZED! PART 4 – THE KITCHEN AND THE DINING AREA
By Dianne de Las Casas

The Kitchen
The hearth has always been the heart of the home. People gather where food lives. This room probably gets the most traffic each day, especially if you have children. The kitchen is also a room that needs constant maintenance or it gets out of hand.

• ACT on your kitchen. Assess what you need and what you don’t (get rid of anything you have multiples of – who needs two juicers?). Clear the surface clutter. Take control by grouping and containerizing. Remember the “Like with Like” rule. Put the knives near your prep area. Pots and pans should be near the stove. Utensils, dishes, and glassware should be in the same area for ease in setting the table at dinnertime. This is my breakfast bar. Coffee, fruit, bread and the toaster live in this area. It makes mornings more efficient.

• Store the largest, least used items in the back of the deepest cabinets (bread machine, rotisserie, ice cream maker, bulky mixers, etc.). Large serving platters, chocolate fountains, drink fountains, chafing dishes and items that you only use for occasional parties can find a home elsewhere (attic, basement, garage).

• Make the most of cabinet space by using shelf spacers and dividers.

• Tidy up the junk drawer by purchasing a pre-labeled and containerized junk drawer organizer. I got mine at Wal-Mart and LOVE it.

• In the pantry, use risers for canned goods. If your pantry is small, like mine, maximize the use of the space with a back-of-the-door organizer.

• Spices should be stored in a dry, cool place away from the moisture of the sink and the heat of the stove. If you are re-doing your kitchen, consider a pull-out spice rack. This one is a 3 inch filler (with spices alphabetized courtesy of my 7 year old) and make a dead space a useful space. There are also spice drawer inserts to make use of a large kitchen drawer. If you have a lot of cabinet space, store your spices in a basket so that when you are cooking, you can pull out the whole basket instead of pulling out all the spices to find the one in the back. Also, label the top of the spice bottles so you can easily access your spices.

• Bring life into the kitchen with plants. Even if you have a black thumb, a jade tree, bamboo, and cactus are virtually care-free and add greenery and oxygen. If you really can’t keep plants alive, jazz up the space with a realistic silk plant. I have a combination of both in my kitchen. Real plants on the window sill, where there is light. A silk plant in the corner where it is darker.

• Clean as you cook. Have the children pitch in to make meals.

• Wash, dry, and put away the dishes before you go to bed. Or load the dishes in the dishwasher before you go to bed and put them away in the morning before you go to work.

The Dining Area
If you only use your dining room for family gatherings once or twice a year, think about converting it into something you would use more often such as an office, an exercise room, a meditation room or a library. My husband and I converted our formal dining room into an office/guest room. Of course, our breakfast area is huge and accommodates a table that seats eight.

• Purchase an appropriate-sized table. If you do a lot of entertaining, consider getting a dining room table in which leaves can be removed to make it more compact.

This is a formal dining room I organized and designed for the M Family. They entertain quite a bit so a formal dining room is appropriate for their home. The walls which were once white are now painted a burgundy below the chair rail and a deep gold above the chair rail. Mrs. M collects angels and her china cabinet was overrun with them. You couldn’t see any of her china! We edited the angel collection, keeping the most valuable and most sentimental pieces. The rest were donated or stored for rotation. I created a beautiful floral arrangement for the middle of the dining room table. The rug underneath is a valuable oriental rug that was moved from the living room. It has the burgundy hues of the wall. The dining room is now an exquisite jewel yet still warm and inviting.

Next, you will see the M’s dining room table transformed into a centerpiece for a wine and cheese party. I took the color cues for the party’s theme from the rich color palette of the dining room. The dining room, as well as the rest of the house, was a showstopper. They went from not wanting to have anyone over because they were overrun with clutter to having lavish parties on a regular basis.

• If the kids must do their homework on the dining room table, require that they clean it up immediately, putting everything away when they are finished.

• Put a beautiful arrangement and candles in the middle of the dining table – this will inspire you to keep the surface clutter-free.

• Eat at your dining table every day. Bring the family together for meal times. Not only will you need to clear space for this important ritual; it is valuable, quality time for everyone in the household. Set the table with beautiful linens and place mats. Use good dishware. Meal time is sacred family time. Take the time to talk and listen to each other.

There is a Shaker saying that a friend of mine taught me, “If it can be put down, it can be put up.” Put up the clutter; don’t put up with the clutter! This is your year to get organized and energized. Here’s to beautiful spaces. Here’s to beautiful you!