When your children have finished their homework after school, ask them to put their folders back into their backpacks so they are ready for the morning.  If your child is allowed to bring a snack to school have them pick out their crackers and put them in the backpack as well.

As your children head up stairs for the night, ask them to “grab” their stuff on the stairs and any items they have left behind downstairs to take up to their rooms.  If they do not “grab” their stuff  you could suggest that it will become your stuff for a couple of days.  This will help for two reasons; it helps them be more responsible for both their belongings and helps our home stay neater and less cluttered.

Before baths or showers ask them pick out their clothes for the next day. I have my children hang their clothes on the doorknobs of their closet door.  Here is where you really know that I am crazy; I do the same thing for myself!

Before you go to bed, try getting out everything you need for breakfast in the morning.  If you are having frozen waffles, get out the toaster, syrup, two plates, two glasses, two forks…you get the picture.  You may also want to get your coffee pot and fill it so it ready to go in the morning including your coffee mug.  If your child takes his lunch to school put his crackers and fruit snack on the counter to put into his lunch box in the morning.

I hang my children’s backpacks on hooks in the coat closet along with their lunch boxes so they are easy to grab in the morning when we leave for school.

Author Michelle Lehman of Organizing Solutions “Clear the Clutter”

Michelle is a Professional Organizer in the Tulsa area. Her articles have been featured in the Tulsa World, The Oklahoman, Chicago Sun-Times, and The Chicago Post-Tribune.  Michelle appears on Tulsa’s Fox23 News DayBreak giving organizing tips and recommendations.
Photo Credit © Nytumbleweeds | Dreamstime.com

Tags: kids, mornings, organizing, school