The end of the school year is full of excitement, a little bit of sadness, and a whole lot of STUFF! School bags are chocked full of books, scrapbooks, stationery, folders, journals and more. If you’re anything like me, you want the bags put away out of sight ASAP so you can start to enjoy the summer holidays. But before you do, here are a few tips which will...

Last week my children finished another year of schooling: Katie finished Kindy, Fred finished Prep, and Maddy finished Year 2. I really don’t cope well with the end of the year. I think I was in tears pretty much every day, usually over silly little things like peeling off the Name Stickers from the back of the kids chairs in the Prep classroom, or seeing Katie...

At the beginning of the year I almost turned myself inside out from trying to work out the best school shoe options for my big three kidlets. At first, I was totally convinced that a cheaper option was “good enough”, as they seemed to survive OK last year, and could easily be replaced throughout the year. But then we had plenty of discussion on Facebook...

A couple of weeks ago I showed you our chart that helps the children organise themselves for school and extra-curricular activities. This is placed near the door so we can make sure that nothing gets forgotten as we’re heading out the door. However getting to this point is a whole ‘nother story – and a whole different chart! School mornings can be...

Now before I start, can I just say that “Tattoo Your Banana” was going to be my absolute favouritist (yes that’s a word) blog title ever! But the more I looked at it the more odd it looked, so I had to add a few words to try to make it have some kind of meaning! So back to the topic! Our school has fruit break every morning. There is a little basket...

This year I have three children at school. So heading out the door every morning is a flurry of activity while we grab for bags, hats, lunchboxes, homework and more. Add to the mix the sports and extra-curricular activities and it’s been a little chaotic to say the least. There is nothing quite like the feeling of arriving into the school carpark and realising...

It’s finally back – it’s really truly finally back. After the weeks of Christmas parties, and Christmas preparations, and then back to school preparations, and shoe shopping and long days of sunshine, and sand and swimming – school is finally back. This week is all a bit of a hodge-podge. I have a new Kindy Kid and a new Preppy and a big Yr 2...

I realise that many of you are probably well and truly over the Back To School discussions – believe me, I understand! As you read this, I will packing off one little sweetheart to her first day of kindy, before hiring a forklift to deliver the mountain of books and “stuff” that Kid 1 and Kid 2 need for their year ahead. However I feel it is only...

I love planning for the return to school – there is always such a buzz in the air. This week we have talked about name labels, buying new school shoes, drink bottles, and general tips for those starting school for the first time. As our preparations continue, I’d love to share with you these fantastic Sandwich Wraps and Pockets from 4MyEarth. I started...

The summer holidays are nearly over, and our thoughts are slowly moving from plum puddings and Christmas Trees, to lunch box snacks and school books. Last year, we started talking about making preparations for Prep, and we continue this today with help from all the readers who have sent me their suggestions. Every year, thousands of new school-mums bid farewell to...