Preparing for School.....

Sniff sniff......

Stella starts kindy in a few weeks. There will be tears, lots of tears.

From me.

She will be fine. Infact , she now says to me " You will get sad Mum, when I go to school, you will cry, but thats ok, I will give you a hug when you pick me up"

Sweet Stella, my friend. I will miss her......

But its the inevitable and I can't keep her home just because I am a sook now can I? Or should I?

This week is all about preparing and organising for the start of the school year, and making our families transition into one with School aged children, a little easier. Not to mention the fact I don't have all the time in the world.

Unfortunately.

At Stella's kindy, they don't have a uniform, so to try and nip any morning fights during dressing time over her outfit in the bud, I have decided she will have seperate clothes just for school. I plan on having them all hanging seperately in the wardrobe so they are easily identified to her , and it should also make dressing a lot quicker in the mornings. ( I plan on choosing her clothes the night before as a part of our night time routine)

Seeing as though they do alot of arts and crafts at Kindy, I didnt want to spend a fortune on the clothes, so  have taken advantage of the sales on at the moment. Unfortunately our town only has a Target and Best and Less as major clothing stores, but they still seemed to come through with the goods again!

The other day we purchased this stack of clothes for a mere $62 !!

4 tops, 2 dresses, 3 skirts and a tights and top set. Thats only $6 an item , which in the long run, a pretty cheap uniform! Not only that , Stella will still look pretty cute too!!

( We also managed to buy the 3 big kids bathers and PJ's for next summer and they will be a part of their Christmas presents, these were only $6-$8 aswell!!)

At the end of winter, I did the same thing, went in at sale time, and spent about $70 on nice pants, groovy knitted jumpers and simple tops , all for school.

I printed off this great Lunch Box Planner from the talented Bianca at "A Little Delightful" , and covered a basic clipboard to hang next to our Meal Planner (also a wonderful Printable that Bianca created, isn't she clever?) I am looking forward to planning Stella's meals and lunch box treats and keeping track of it all here.

Pinterest has been a fantastic inspiration and resource when it comes to organising and printables aswell. I found this cool Photo checklist, to jog the memory as to different things you should photograph of the big first day and the whole event! Available HERE (My ink was a little low at the end, its a brighter red)

This Interview/ Questionaire I hope to complete with Stella before she goes to school and then again at the end of the year, and then we can compare the answers. Available HERE

                                                       Isn't my clipboard Preeetttttyyyyy?

And the last printable a "Back to School Checklist" which has been a great list to have on the bench, some of the things are relavant but most are. Available from The Organised Housewife HERE

Lastly, some time ago , when Purchasing the " Meeting the New baby " books for the Hospital bags , I also came across this book and put it away for this very special time. It has activities and stickers inside, and will be something special that Stella and I can complete together over a few days while the twins are napping.

This is such a special time for us, helping our little girl prepare for school, but also a nerve wrecking and stressful one. The mornings are going to be chaos and I am sure patience will run low and tiredness levels will be high in the first few weeks , so anything I can do to make it easier, the better!!

A post on how I plan to organise her wardrobe with her school clothes is coming soon!!