What are your hacks for being an organized parent during the school year?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've mentioned this before, but with the onslaught of birthday parties for DD's 16 classmates, at the beginning of the year I take DD to Five Below and we pick out about 20 gifts that range from gender specific to gender neutral. We then go to Dollar Tree and buy 20 birthday cards at 2/$1, a few packs of tissue paper, and gift bags. We keep everything in a bin/tote in the closet. When a birthday party comes up, I send DD to the "gift bin" to pick out a gift for her friend, grab a card to sign, and we're good to go.
The whole year costs me about $125 for all of the kids and I save TONS of time shopping.

What kind of gifts are under 5.00?

She’s buying junk at five below

Wow, why are you so bitchy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My husband and I share apps on our phones. We have a shared PW manager that we keep all our passwords in so we can both add money to MySchoolBucks or other kid related stuff. We use ToDoist to track household projects and to-do lists. We have our own lists and shared lists. I use OurGroceries app to keep lists for Costco, Target, Trader Joe’s, Grocery and gift ideas. We have a shared Google Drive with scans of important documents.

Having a spouse who can seamlessly take on part of the mental load of dealing with kid stuff is a huge help.

+ 1

I could have written this post because I use these apps too.

We have recently started to use Amazon Prime to get groceries from Whole Foods too. Very convenient and you get your groceries within an hour.

[Anonymous]

My kids do a lot of projects that require them to use trifold boards for display.

I buy a bunch of them from the dollar store because the price cannot be beat. In all other stores, the tri-fold boards cost anywhere from $5-$8, even during back to school sales!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've mentioned this before, but with the onslaught of birthday parties for DD's 16 classmates, at the beginning of the year I take DD to Five Below and we pick out about 20 gifts that range from gender specific to gender neutral. We then go to Dollar Tree and buy 20 birthday cards at 2/$1, a few packs of tissue paper, and gift bags. We keep everything in a bin/tote in the closet. When a birthday party comes up, I send DD to the "gift bin" to pick out a gift for her friend, grab a card to sign, and we're good to go.
The whole year costs me about $125 for all of the kids and I save TONS of time shopping.

What kind of gifts are under 5.00?

She’s buying junk at five below

Wow, why are you so bitchy?

This is really, really cheap unless you are at a Title I school.

[Anonymous]

Most doctors recommend getting the flu shot in October. August is way too early and won't protect you at the end of the flu season.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, is your family plagued with health issues? Why do you need all doctors' information at your fingertips at all times?

My own biological kids have the usual health check-ups and issues. I am also foster mom to two kids with special needs and I make sure that the few years that they will be under my care they fully use all the medical care they are eligible for. I also work two jobs so I need to be on top of things. Thankfully, I have very understanding employers too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most doctors recommend getting the flu shot in October. August is way too early and won't protect you at the end of the flu season.

No. Not true. Drs. recommend that you should get your flu shot BY October. It takes 2-4 weeks for the flu shot to become effective.

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/why-its-important-to-get-a-flu-shot-now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, is your family plagued with health issues? Why do you need all doctors' information at your fingertips at all times?

This! Including the...dermatologist?! You know what I do? I just look the numbers up online on my smartphone if I need to.

One of my foster kids needs this. She is having skin and hair issues that needs the help of a derm because she did not get the treatment before.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not really a parenting tip but a juggling tip. I have flipped how I do chores to have more time with my kids. Laundry, dishes and minor house straightening happen in the evening when I have least amount of energy and I want to make sure that the kids are sitting down doing their homework. Dinner gets cooked early in the morning along with the breakfast and packing everyones lunch boxes.

This is smart. Since I WOH and couldn't cook a dinner in the morning to save my life, I do a version of this but the cooking is mostly in blocks on weekends.

OP here.
I started cooking in the morning because I have to feed 7 people and I work two jobs. Kids return at different times because they have different schools and schedules. I want them to get home and know that there is food in the fridge for them. I also have to stretch my food dollars because these are growing kids and go through a lot of food and I don't want them to eat junk either when I am not around. Thankfully, no food allergies in our house.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kids do a lot of projects that require them to use trifold boards for display.

I buy a bunch of them from the dollar store because the price cannot be beat. In all other stores, the tri-fold boards cost anywhere from $5-$8, even during back to school sales!

This is a good one. I also like to purchase cheap gift bags and tissue paper at the dollar store or 5 below and always have them on hand, with a few extras in my car.

I also buy packs of birthday and other cards to have on hand. Before that, I was always running to CVS to get wrapping stuff on the way to a party and spending way more money that I should.

[Anonymous]

We are lucky enough to have enrichment classes offered as part of our kids' afterschool program. We keep them there so we don't have to deal with the logistics of shuttling them around. Soccer, dance, art, etc... all done at school.

[Anonymous]

I buy a box of all-occasion greeting cards from Costco. These are beautiful cards with embellishments on them and they work out to around 50 cents per card.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We are lucky enough to have enrichment classes offered as part of our kids' afterschool program. We keep them there so we don't have to deal with the logistics of shuttling them around. Soccer, dance, art, etc... all done at school.

+ 1

If you have great before and after school programs instead of just childcare, it can be a boon to students, parents as well as the school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Back to school derm exams for all the kids? Seems weird. Why not full-on ortho and spinal while you're at it, maybe a full body MRI too?

This CRACKED ME UP. Well done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Back to school derm exams for all the kids? Seems weird. Why not full-on ortho and spinal while you're at it, maybe a full body MRI too?

This CRACKED ME UP. Well done.

Not cool people. PP (8:32) has bio kids plus foster children with medical issues and provides the medical care they need before being placed with an adoption family.

To 8:32 bless you for taking such great care of these kids. It takes a very special person to do this and I bow to you.