Being organised for kids after school activities

Somehow I don't remember being this busy as a kid. At least not at age 5.

Since I often work right up until school pick up time, it is important for me to be ready for any after school activity and not have to run around looking for lost swimmers, goggles, shoes etc.

For each activity Miss E does I have a suitable bag. These hang on the inside of her wardrobe. As soon as she gets home from ballet or swimming, she puts her clothes in the wash and I repack goggles, ballet shoes, hair things etc into the appropriate bag. As soon as the clothes or togs are dry they go back into the bag, and then the bag is rehung in her bedroom.

The night before any activity day, I grab the bag, add a snack and water and put it in the car so we are ready to go.

This works really well for us, and saves that last minute scrambling for a forgotten item (or two!)

Stations.

In organising my new kitchen I am trying to utilise stations as much as possible.

Previously - I worked by putting like with like - plastics together, pantry items together, crockery togehter.

Now I am trying to think through the activities we do, and put all the things I need to do that activity in a logical place.

For example - this is my coffee and hot drink making station.

It is in a high cupboard, above the kettle. So the placing makes sense.

In the past, I would have put the tea, coffee, sugar etc in the pantry, cups with the plates, travel mugs with the picnic things, tea pots etc in another cupboard for the rarely used items.

Now I have everything I need in one cupboard. If you want a cup of tea you go to the cupboard and the cups, tea, coffee, sugar, teapots, travel mugs etc are all together. The most frequently used things are at eye level, least frequently at the top.

It is a whole new way of thinking for me, and I know it will take a long time for me to get all my stations right, but I think it makes sense and will make my kitchen more functional.

Plus - the added bonus is that if an item is stored in a cupboard that is not a station, it means I have to think good and hard about whether it has a use, or I am keeping it "just cause". I'm hoping it will help me reveal those things that I keep but don't use and love so I can let them go.