Type Jaye

A Back-to-School Story in Six Acts Epilogue: the reason that every shoe gets a size label is so that I can throw these in a larger box if I need the boot boxes .  Also the next two sizes-in-waiting don't go in a boot box, they go into a hanging shoe organizer .

In Overnight Camp - Part 1 , I discussed some uber-early organization you can do for overnight camp, not counting the mental preparation involved in sending your kid away for a week and gearing yourself up to stay awake late and press refresh on the pics page until the day's photos are posted and you can thumb through each one, hoping to catch a glimpse of Junior, even if it's just, "I think I recognize his shorts from behind, that's a good sign, right?  HONEY, COME LOOK!  HE'S WEARING CLOTHES!" In this Part, I'd like to take on the actual Drop-off Day apparatus. I mentioned that the facilities at most overnight camps are very bare bones.  A cabinet, a shelf, a bunk bed,  a subtle sense that crawling bugs were around not too long ago and would return shortly. Over the years, I've gathered some bits and bobs that make drop off easier.  Full disclosure: despite the fact that I can get DS set up and abandoned in about 10 minutes, we never, ever get

DS1 (now ten) first went to overnight camp when he was six.  He was always a little mature and/or socially oblivious so he didn't seem to mind that he'd be wee man on campus. I diligently compiled a spreadsheet (Quelle surprise!) based on the packing list that the camp provided, but when we showed up, I was annoyed at myself for not brainstorming accouterments that would make the drop and dash a little less chaotic.  The "cubbies" that the camp provided were literally just cabinets with no doors, no shelves, and two small hooks. The DS1 is a lot of things, but he's not a kid who would be able to keep his bits and bobs organized for 24 hours, much less an entire week.  He's like an anti-Marine.  At six years old, he could recite all sorts of mathematical constants, but he would not be tell you if he had on underpants AT THIS VERY SECOND, much less if there were spare pairs running around.  As an extremely free range parent with an absent-minded professor ki

If you know me at all, you know that I am an ardent fan of Sharon Penman, breakfast tacos, and LISTS. If I can splot something out on a spreadsheet and get it out of my busy brain, everyone wins, especially the part of my mind that really needs more space for catchy music to which I don't always know all the lyrics, but I still can't get out of my head. I make lists for my kids all the time. Then, if they forget something, there's no way they can blame me. Was it on the list? Yes. Was it your responsibility? Yes, but. BUT NOTHING BABY SHARK do-do-do-dooo-do BABY SHARK. If the list were for longer than just one or two weeks, I would add checkboxes on the left and laminate it so that the kids could mark off the entries with dry erase markers every day. This is what I do for their morning chore charts. But tennis camp is just one week and most of the stuff is fairly logical, so naked paper it is. 10yo and I sat down and made a list of the things he would need e

A few years ago, someone I didn't know very well said, "You're oddly confident." He became even more bewildered when I burst out laughing, I was genuinely tickled. To this day, it remains one of my favorite compliments, handily defeating "Based on your emails, I thought you were a guy," and "Is that your real hair?" The fact is, over the years, I HAVE become oddly confident. If I can't change something or fix it, it's really not in my nature to dwell on it. I'm secure in my career, in my marriage, in myself for the most part. And even my hair entertains me in its own erratic way. I'm not a sociopath or a robot, I do have doubts now and again. But never ever ever so many as related to how I am doing as a mother. I am constantly paranoid that I'm doing it wrong. Alllll wrong. Maybe my kids are going to grow up resenting the choices I've made on their behalves. Or one day, when they're adult and independent

I am going to pretend temporarily that I do have an organization blog (oh look!  now I do!) and that I'm some sort of logistics "influencer." Please scroll past if you're looking for nerd-based bon mots. I was organizing my stationery bureau and it reminded me of the things I do to make travel easier. #1 - HAVE A METRIC TON OF BUSINESS CARDS These are business cards printed by Zazzle* on "premium silk" paper which is water- and tear- resistant.  I use plastic-coated key cables to connect them to our luggage like these . If the ring isn't plastic-coated, it may rust. To connect them to our internal packing cubes, I use zip ties. I saw an AskReddit thread directed at baggage handlers: "What can I do to ensure my luggage gets to me?" One of the answers was to have tags INSIDE AND OUTSIDE your luggage. When tags (and custom email domains) are this cheap, it's no great shakes to tag all the things. #2 - ASSIGN EVERY