FROM THE SUPERINTENDENT’S SEAT
An Organized 2008
By Dr. Carole G. Hankin with Randi T. Sachs
How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions? It’s not too late to add another one to the list, and this is one in which you can easily succeed. It’s not willpower you need, it’s just a commitment to get your lives and your childrens’ schedules organized—and we’ll give you some concrete ways to help.
Become a planner. A friend of mine has listed on her refrigerator the menus for dinners for the week. Imagine knowing in advance what you were going to make for dinner and actually having all the ingredients in the house at the time you need them. You can even make some meals ahead of time and freeze them. Even better, this same plan can be used for school lunches! Remember also, that take-out counts. Plan it for an evening that you’re all too busy to sit down together.
Now imagine extending this planning to what your children will wear. Of course, this will work best with young children. But even if you can convince your older children to do this planning and laying out of clothes on the night before, it will be a major time-saver in the morning. Longer term wardrobe planning can also be used for special attire days such as assemblies, scout uniform days, choral or band concerts, and on weekends, parties, sports events, and everything else that requires specific clothing to be worn. The idea is not to be caught on concert day all your son’s white shirts crumpled in the bottom of the clothes hamper.
Are you and/or your children forgetful? Designate a location that all books, papers, homework assignments, and anything else needed for school or work are placed the night before. If you can’t think of anyplace appropriate, take a trip to a container/home organization store and purchase something specifically for this purpose. A small shelf unit could work well. Make certain there is a separate space for each member of the family, and that you place it where everyone can reach it.
Nothing works quite as well in organizing as a large calendar. If you have not done so already, buy one of those big calendars with the spaces you can write in. Now, sit down with all your individual school calendars, organization agendas, work agendas, sports schedules…and write in all events that you and your family members will be attending. If it’s something that you need to prepare for, such as bringing in a homemade dessert for a school function, place a reminder a few days ahead of the event so that you have the task accomplished in time. Include family and friends birthdays, too.
Now that you’ve taken the initiative to make 2008 an organized year, and the winter is at its coldest, it’s also time to start planning ahead for what’s around the corner: summer. Start researching summer programs for your children now. It will be time to make that decision before you know it. #
