WFMW: Back To School Edition

Javier is back to school in less than a month. (Whew - we made it!)

But with the return of the school year comes the return of the school year routine... and we have one that's been honed to near perfection after three years of early mornings and uneaten lunches. Here are a few of our tried-and-trued tips:

Tip #1: Create a "workflow" for getting dressed. Javi lays his clothes out the night before, but not just in a pile in the kitchen. He puts clean socks on at night (don't ask), strips out of jammies and into his uniform in the living room, and then puts on his belt right after breakfast while heading into the bathroom. It's streamlined and nothing gets forgotten. Shoes are next to the door to throw on as he leaves the house. Backpack is ready and waiting for him by his shoes. Easy peasy.

Tip #2: Hold off on those back-to-school supplies. Everyone loves a great bargain -- and who can beat $.25 glue sticks or $.15 notebooks? But if you have a house teeming with stuff, the last think you need is to add more unnecessary clutter. Unless you have a great place to store all the cheap supplies, don't buy them.

Why not? Invariably, you won't need half of what you buy at those rock-bottom sales. I've learned (in all my infinite wisdom) to ignore the supply sheets schools post online and in stores and just wait for a list to come home from the teacher. Sure, the first grade pod will need tissues and sanitizer, but they won't need tabbed dividers ... despite what that supplies list tells you.

So just wait until the first day of school when you get the real list. Otherwise, you'll find yourself headed right back to the store, and letting all the unused stuff take up valuable storage space. (Until your kid starts filching the paper to draw on. You know, one teeny tiny drawing per page.)

So what works for you when it's time to get the kids (or yourself) ready to go back to school? Head over to WFMW to share your tips!