Get organized. {Artkive Discount!}

I’m still drowning in and battling papers stacked up in my kitchen. Everyone needs new backpacks and lunch bags. No one knows what they’re wearing the first day… The good news is we’ve been reading and involved in fun activities all summer that’s hopefully kept their brains in gear.

In other words, my kids and I are admittedly not quite ready to head back to the grind. (It’s too hot! I’m too busy trying to figure out how to squeeze in another beach trip before next week — probably not gonna happen…)

So when Hallmark Channel’s “Home & Family” show called me in to share a few organizational apps that might help families kick-start the school year, I figured it was a sign for me to get my act together.

Here’s a few ways to hunker down ahead of back to school, one thought at a time:

Make sure schedules are communicated — this includes getting my husband in on the game. Gone are the days of “Don’t worry babe, you don’t need to know about this — I’ll handle it,” when it comes to parent nights at the school, conferences, kids’ activities, etc. Even thought I was trying to make his life easier, that was stupid of me. From now on, I’m tipping him off about EVERYTHING that involves everyone’s schedule… whether he needs to be there or not.
Everyone helps, every day. Kids: Make your beds, clean up your plates after meals and take them to the sink, pick up your shoes from the kitchen and get that room tidy before bed. No negotiation — it’s the only way to stay organized day-to-day. Chore Monster is a cutesy clever app (that I talked about on “Home & Family” if you’re interested to try it to kickstart the process with little ones…) Just like I said on the show — all kids, starting from age 2, can start doing little things around the house to get into the swing of doing ‘chores’ early on. It HELPS in the long run, trust me.
Get the adorable papers the hell off the counter. My daughters are amazing artists. Yeah, I like to post their work up and show ’em off (it makes my girls happy!) but after so long… they’ve got to be trashed. (We only have so much room! And too many papers make my brain feel nuts.) Artkive is THE app to solve the issue of “What can I do with my kid’s art/assignment that I don’t want to keep a hard copy of, but want to keep.” Get all those sweet drawings off your wall, categorized and into a photo book (or in a calendar or on a mug!) to save your brain from exploding before the school’s Halloween carnival.

VISIT ARTKIVEAPP.COM AND USE THE CODE “FABMOM” FOR 10% OFF ANY PACKAGE YOU ORDER! GOOD UNTIL 9/30/17.

Cheers to smashing it all together for back to school… and cheers to squeezing in one more beach trip if it’s the last thing we do!