Blessing #217 - School Command Center

When B came home from his first day of school, I almost broke out into hives when I opened up his folder filled with school papers. School papers make me nervous.  Why?

One day last year, I dropped B off at school only to see every other kid carrying a stuffed animal.  I had forgotten it was "stuffed animal day" and I had to rush home and get B's monkey. I must have misplaced that paper.

Last year during parent teacher conferences, I walked in for my conference only to find out I was five hours early! Fortunately, B's teacher was very understanding, and just laughed and worked me into the schedule.  I don't know what happened to the paper with my appointment date.

On the first day of school this year, I had to send a note to let his teacher know that I was picking B up from school. I couldn't find a single sheet of paper so I sent the note on a paper towel.  That's right! I was trying to set her expectations low.

For all those reasons, I kind of freaked out at the sight of the first school papers.  I knew I had to do something different this year.

Determined to change, I decided to turn this little corner into a school command center.

Yes, my poor little "it's August but my calendar says March" corner would be perfect for a school command center.

Here is the finished corner....

I love, LoOoOoVe, LOOOVE it!

Here is the breakdown.

1. I have had this L for forever, and finally found just the right spot for it!

2. The most important thing I wanted in the school command center was a place for school papers. After the success of clip boards for my kid's art display, I decided to try them for school papers too.

This clip board is where I put papers that I can't sign immediately or paper with important dates on them.

3. This clip board is for store coupons that we are always losing. Guess who is going to get a free mini candle from Bath and Body Works this weekend? Me! Because I didn't lose the coupon!

4. I used a pocket just like the one I used for lunch box notes for notes to the teacher.  B's school sends home forms to speak with the teacher, and now I'll actually know where they are! No more paper towel stationary! I added a little vinyl to the clip boards and the pocket just to make things clear.

Wait! While I'm on the subject of my labeling obsession, you have to see this.  Because Shad drinks sweet tea and I drink unsweet tea, our fridge can get a little confusing.  So I labeled the tea pitchers.

I know that was random, but I just had to share.

Back to the school command center.

5. I knew I wanted to put a sign in that spot, but I didn't know just what I wanted to say.  With this being right as you walk out of the house, I thought "Be Awesome Today" was perfect.

6. My calendar says September now! I don't quite know how I want to work that calendar yet.  I'm thinking about using washi tape.

7. A command hook holds our library bag.  That is a thirty-one bag that I painted using this method.

It turned out great.

8. B's book bag is not heavy with books so a command hook is perfect to hold it on the wall.

The corner is a little crowded, and if it was in my main living space, I probably wouldn't like it.  However, this is in the mud room, and we mainly walk right through the mud room.

So far, the little school command center is working great for us. I haven't broken out into school paper hives, and I haven't missed an important day yet. A few hooks and command strips have brought a lot of peace to our school day mornings.

Note: I am sharing this project with A Bowl Full of Lemons. and I Heart Organizing.