Home Preparations For Kindergarten!

There is soooo much to consider when going from getting not just ONE child, but THREE children ready for school, especially when ONE of those children is a little girl.  We received the bus schedule yesterday.  The kids will be catching the bus at 7:15 a.m. and will NOT be returning until 2:40 p.m.  What will that look like every morning?  How exhausted will they be in the afternoon?  Time will tell, but for now, I am making every possible thing happen to make the transition and the morning "chaos" less stressful.

Last year, Ty's morning agenda was as follows:

6:15 a.m. -   Shower/Get Dressed
6:30 a.m. -   Breakfast/Devotional
6:50 a.m. -   Teeth Brushed, Bring Breakfast Dishes To The Sink, Load Bookbag
7:10 a.m. -   Off to the Bus Stop

Totally doable when it's just ONE kiddo and NO HAIR to do.

I assume the agenda will be close to the same.  I WILL have to be a ton more proactive.  Outfits will need to be picked out and ironed the night before.  Breakfast plates and napkins will have to be laid out the night before. Lunches and Snacks MAY have to be packed the night before.  I see a reoccurring theme here.... THE NIGHT BEFORE.  NOOOOOOOOOO! By 9:00 p.m., I am shot.  OR maybe this will just mean I have to get up EVEN EARLIER than I normally do during the school year...4:30 a.m........ NOOOOOOOOOO!  Okay, maybe having all three kids in school will be a lot more strenuous than I thought.  Hehe.  

Anyway, what's the point of this post????  PREPARATION, PREPARATION, PREPARATION.  I have considered everything that I can think of.  

Being the kids will be on a time crunch, I decided to add a toothbrush station which includes: toothbrushes, dental floss picks, and toothpaste, to our half bathroom. I took the kids to the Dollar Tree and allowed them to pick out the toothbrushes and toothpaste of their choice.  They were actually excited. LOL!  

I grabbed a toothbrush holder at Bed, Bath, and Beyond, and while in that section of the store, I spotted these steripods. I had to have them.  I LOVED this idea, although expensive, because I also store my cleaning products and toilet bowl scrubber underneath the sink. I would hate for EITHER items to get onto the toothbrushes.  

What is a steripod? It's a toothbrush sanitizer.  Research shows that your toothbrush can be a hotbed for bacteria.  This steripod ensures that your toothbrush will remain hygienic. Each steripod contains a compound that is proven to reduce the bacteria.  When I opened the package, WOAH! It smelled like listerine x 1,000.

And there it all sits, waiting for the Bolling trio to use on August 25th!!! It's so convenient and enticing too.

  

Finally, HAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!! This is the part that I am NOT looking forward to.  Last year, I was able to bathe Lilah and Jax, BOTH, before school.  I will NOT be able to do that this year.  SO... I will have to learn how to do a tired, little girl's hair that is dry and knotty.  

I bought duplicates of ALL of the hair items, that I use daily, for Lilah and Jax, and will be storing the products underneath our half bathroom sink, as well. This will be a HUGE time saver.  For the last 4 years, I have been running up and down the stairs, every time I do Lilah's hair, on the main level of the house.  OH. MY. GOOOOOODNESSS! WHY didn't I think of this SOOOOONER!?!?!?!?!  Ding bat me. Do you know HOW MANY TIMES I have run up and down the stairs, not to mention HOW MANY TIMES I have had to put hair products away?

Check out the MOST INCREDIBLE INVENTION EVER!!!

It's made by the company Quirky and it's called "Cargo"!! Amazon is selling it at a crazy price of $44.99, but I found it at Target today for $9.99.

"Cargo" isn't your standard shower caddy.  It organizes all of your products with FIVE, flat bungee cords that seperate items and keep bottles from spilling out or toppling over.  Just hook a cord around your items and they will stay put for the ride.

The quirky cargo's bungee cords arrived home, from the store, just like this (see below).

 Secured TIGHT! How appropriate.  LOL!

Upon arriving home, I tried to organize our collection of hair products and attempted to move the basket BEFORE installing the bungees AND LOOK WHAT HAPPENED!!!! ANNOYING! 

After installing the hair products AND the bungee cords, look at how nice everything fits and stays put. My only question is...can extra bungees be purchased?

 I LOVE IT!

Laura Doty, the inventor, is genius.  

What's Inside Our "Cargo" Basket?
Detangler
Hairspray
Hair Mouse
Hair Gel
Hair Paste
Hair Ties
Combs
A Hairbrush
Wipes 
I will use the wipes after the little boogers brush their teeth, getting off their breakfast and the toothpaste off of their faces.

The attachment on the side is supposed to be used for a razor, but Jax's hairbrush conveniently fit in that same spot.

 Don't you just LOVE it when things work out that beautifully?

 I found these adorable boxes, for Lilah's hair rubber bands, for $1.00, in the Target Dollar section.

And there the "cargo" sits!!! All ready to be used on August 25th OR SOONER, if I don't want to run up and down the stairs to do Ms. Thing's hair.

I am NOT sure what else I need to do to prepare for the morning choas, other than to discuss with Darren what our morning devotionals should look like. We typically read an age appropriate devotional or a bible passage and go over it with the kids. Of course, sending the kids off to school, with God's word, is critical for BOTH their day and especially for their  peers/teachers' day, who do not walk with the Lord. We are hoping the kids will be warriors for the Lord and share who He is will ALL.