Great reader tips on getting organized for the first week of school

It's the last week of summer — as in the last week before school. It's a bittersweet week for many moms and dads: the last week for late-night mint chocolate-chip cone runs, for early evening soccer games, long days at the cottage and more.

I can assure you that many moms are now in gear-up mode for next Tuesday, the first day back at school after a sweaty, fun-filled summer break. And if you’re anything like me, you’re muttering to yourself: This year I will get it together. This will be the year I’m uber-organized. This year will run smoothly.

To do so, we embark on our annual pre-school rituals — around here, it’s clothes shopping. That’s the pay-off for all the other organization already taken care: sorting containers for lunch making, putting up a school calendar, and clearing summer camp registrations and soccer schedules off of their magnetic boards. I’m working on backing up bedtimes so we don’t have any grouchy-bear mornings, as I’ve dubbed them. And I’ll get around to shopping for school supplies once a list comes home. But the fun part of all the pre-school prep is the little shopping spree my mini-shopaholic and I tackle.

A wise woman would probably go through her daughter’s closet first and sort out what doesn’t fit, what’s dirty and stained, what she really didn’t wear this year. Again, that would be a wise woman. This woman and this woman’s daughter get overexcited at the thought of shopping and practically sprint to Old Navy and The Children’s Place to pick pieces for the upcoming school year.

So what about you? What’s your pre-school gear up schedule like? Here are a few great ideas from fellow moms to steal for the school year:

“My son and I made an ‘I will eat these foods for lunch’ list and posted it on the fridge.” — DianeEPeters, via Twitter

“I’ve cleaned out our craft cupboard and donated all the old broken crayons/half-finished crafts to make room for this year’s broken crayons and half-finished crafts. And I’m planning to go through the Tupperware cupboard to throw out all the stuff missing lids and create a spot for lunchboxes as well as replace whatever I need with shiny new Tupperware — hopefully this year I'll keep the lids!” — Dana Dougherty Reinke

“Gradually get the kids back to a normal sleep routine and search for new creative lunch ideas!” — al_grady, via Twitter

“I had the boys make lists of what they needed, and what they already have. When I’ve replenished their supplies, I label everything with their names (Mabel's Labels rock!) to make sure nothing goes astray in the classroom.” — Shannon Carroll-Wiedener

“I pull out the big calendar we keep on the fridge, and write down everything for September and October such as skating, swimming, birthdays, pizza lunches, etc. I'm in summer mode and it's jarring to get back on such a rigid schedule, so I need all the help I can get. The calendar makes it real again. It lays it all out and I feel better about not forgetting important things.” — Amreen Omar

What about you? Got any great prep tips to share?

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