The month of May means so many things in Indiana. Not only do we have the Indy 500 and the opening of pools Memorial weekend, but the end of another school year. Here is what you can do to stay on top of the month ahead.
Update Your Calendar: Most schools have posted the next school year (or more) calendar. Do yourself a solid and update your calendar. An online calendar like Google allows you to color code and turn off and on schedules for an easy view. Anything you’ve signed your kids up for goes right into the calendar as soon as you get the schedule. This will help you stay on top of the chaos. This includes summer camp, preschool, the start of school in the fall, back-to-school schedule, middle school tryouts, and all the other things happening between now and next fall. It goes quickly, trust me!
Clean Out the Backpack: Stay on top of the papers, notices, crumbs, chewed-up pencils, broken erasures, and little toys stuffed into tiny corners. Give it a good wash at the end of the school year and store it for the fall or donate it.
And speaking of the fall, prepare for next year by creating a paper dump box. My sister gave me this advice before my daughter started middle school, which was golden. I kept a box in her bedroom closet, and any time she cleaned out her backpack, all her papers went into that box. The box of papers assured a missing homework assignment, a mismarked grade, a missing permission slip, etc., could always be found. At the end of the school year, after final grades were posted and school officially ended, the contents could be recycled, and the box was ready for the following year. Note paper or bank boxes are a perfect size.
Graduation is right around the corner. Snatch up graduation cards now. If you have a senior, gift certificates are a perfect gift for the many open houses you will be invited to. And speaking of great graduation gifts, a t-shirt, sweatshirt, lanyard, or notebook to the college your favorite graduate is headed to makes a great gift.
When my daughter graduated high school, I gave her a summer survival kit. It was filled with gift cards for gas and her favorite places to eat. I wrapped them all up with a whiteboard, desk mirror, and other dorm essentials and added some gum, candy, mints, and chapstick.
Spending the next few weeks preparing for the next big thing will help you and your kids transition like the champs you are!
Happy planning!!!