The start of a new school year can be stressful for children and parents alike.  It feels like tons of paper are bombarding our home for us to sign, return, keep, reference, toss and whatever else.  Here are some quick and easy tips to streamline the paper and get you organized. 

Examine all paper once it enters your home.  Quickly Toss it, Act on it, File it or Forward it.  If you don’t address paper daily, it can become a nightmare.

Use one calendar for all of you and the kids activities and events.  As papers enter your home with important dates or activities, transfer the information to your master calendar and toss the original document.  If you use mulitiple calendars, it is likely that you will overbook or overlook activities.

Identify how much time and energy you would like to donate to school and extra-curricular activities.  If you don’t identify your limitations first, you may be overwhelmed later.  Make a choice in the beginning by identifying which activities and affiliations will be a gain vs. a drain.

Recognize that although your little one is special, not all of their assignments and artwork are as special.  I can’t think of one reason why you would need to keep every assignment and piece of artwork that your child brings home.  As a rule of thumb, keep those items that mark milestones in their educational or creative career. 

If you have a box of your child’s papers, artwork and other stuff - here’s a suggestion.  Invest in a 3-inch 3 ring binder.  Each year you can place sentimental documents in the binder using sheet protectors.  Use dividers to separate the school years. This could include progress reports, notes from the teachers, papers that mark milestones and sentimental items.  You can place a label on the spine of the binder that reads “Mary’s Elementary Years.“  The good thing about the binder is that there is a limit as to how many “treasures” you can stuff in it.

For more home organizing tips from the Messless Experts, visit us online at http://www.messless.net.
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