School is back.

The backpacks are packed. The new sneakers have been purchased. The approximately 847 school supplies have been labeled. Lunch boxes have returned to their rightful place on my kitchen counter.

And somehow, I was actually on top of the school supplies this year.

I know. I’m as surprised as you are.

Other than spending an unreasonable amount of time searching my house for the name labels I knew I had purchased and put in a *safe place*, I entered September feeling suspiciously prepared.

Then I remembered that buying the folders is not the hard part.

The hard part is remembering that one child has music before school, the other has soccer after school, both have jiu-jitsu, someone has a homework log due, there’s a Scout meeting, the soccer game time changed, swim practice is at a different time this week, tomorrow is some sort of school spirit day, and apparently I was supposed to know all of this while also having a job and remembering to buy milk.

Welcome back to school.

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Our Fall Schedule Is…A Lot

This year feels particularly bittersweet because my boys are entering 6th and 4th grade. Somehow, my oldest is already heading into his second year of middle school, while my youngest is starting his last year of elementary school.

I’m not entirely sure when they both got this old, and I’m definitely not emotionally prepared for the fact that after this year, our elementary school days are officially behind us. So naturally, I am coping by organizing calendars.

But school itself is only the beginning.

Both boys do jiu-jitsu three times a week.

My younger son also has soccer about three times a week, including his weekend game. Sometimes that becomes four times a week when there’s an additional clinic. And, of course, there are potentially before- and after-school clubs waiting to enter the chat.

My older son swims two to three times a week—not including future swim meets. He has Boy Scouts once a week, plus additional meetings and activities for badge requirements. He has music four mornings a week before school. And he may also add after-school clubs.

So if you’ve done the math, please don’t tell me.

I don’t want to know.

Add two working parents, homework, school events, appointments, birthdays, family obligations, meals, laundry, commuting, and the occasional desire to sit down for five consecutive minutes, and September starts to feel less like a month and more like a logistical exercise.

Thankfully, my husband works from home, which is an enormous help. We’re very much partners in managing all of this. There are days when I’m handling one kid while he’s handling the other, one of us is driving while the other is making dinner, or we’re texting each other some variation of, “Wait. Where does he need to be tonight?”

Neither one of us could realistically do this schedule alone.

And even with two parents sharing the load, there is still just so much to remember.

The Mental Load Isn’t Just the Big Stuff

I think this is the part of back-to-school season that can be exhausting in a way that’s difficult to explain.

It’s not just remembering that swim is Tuesday at 6:00.

It’s remembering that swim is Tuesday at 6:00, but this week’s practice moved to a different facility.

It’s remembering that the uniform needs to be washed before Saturday.

It’s seeing the email about Picture Day.

It’s knowing the homework log is due Friday.

It’s remembering that Thursday is Wear Your School Colors Day.

It’s noticing the message in the sports app saying Sunday’s game has moved from 10:30 to 11:15.

It’s remembering that someone needs to bring something to Scouts.

It’s checking whether the soccer bag has shin guards before you’re already halfway there. (We learned that the hard way last season…)

It’s the hundreds of tiny pieces of information constantly floating around your brain.

And because apparently my brain has decided it is no longer interested in being used as cloud storage, I’ve learned that I need to get as much of that information out of my head and into an actual system as quickly as possible.

Rule #1: If It Has a Date or Time, It Goes in the Calendar

Immediately.

Not “I’ll remember to do it later.”

Not “I’ll add it when I get home.”

Not “That’s easy enough to remember.”

Because I will not remember.

If I get an email from school with an important date, it goes into our Google Calendar. If a sports notification changes a practice time, I edit the event immediately. If a location changes, I change the location immediately.

This is probably the single biggest thing that keeps our family functioning.

Our Google Calendar is essentially the family command center.

Each family member has a different color, and events involving the entire family have their own color as well. At a glance, I can see who needs to be where without having to open every individual event.

Is the calendar sometimes mildly terrifying to look at?

Absolutely.

But I’d rather be frightened by my calendar than surprised by it.

The Paper Planner Is Still Very Much Alive

For all the technology I use, I still love a paper planner.

There’s something about physically writing out the week that makes everything click differently in my brain.

My Google Calendar holds the official logistics—times, locations, practices, games, appointments—but my planner lets me look at the whole week.

Work obligations. Things I need to accomplish. School deadlines. Personal appointments. Things I need to buy. Random notes I don’t want disappearing into the Notes app abyss.

And yes, sometimes I am writing down something that’s already in my phone.

That’s not redundant.

That’s reinforcement.

At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

My favorite planner supplies (at least for this school year):
A5 Planner – bigger than what I’ve used in the past, but still fits in my work bag!
Daily To-Do Inserts – because every day of the week has its own combination of things going on
Bullet Journal Insert – when you need a creative outlet and want to create your own sleep tracker, book tracker, everything tracker…
A5 Dividers
Washi Tape – when you want to decorate with more than just markers or colorful pens
“Today” Page Marker
Colorful ERASABLE Pens – so you’re not CONSTANTLY scratching off events or change in times
Fountain Pen – when you want to feel fancy
Fountain Pen Ink – available in so many pretty colors

The Wall Calendar: Because Everyone Lives Here

We also keep a wall calendar.

Could we technically survive with just Google Calendar? Probably.

But I like having something the entire family can physically see.

Kids are getting older, which means I don’t want to be the sole keeper of everyone’s schedule forever. If you want to know what’s happening Saturday, you can look at the calendar too.

We’re raising children, not tiny executives who require personal assistants.

Although judging by the number of activities they’re involved in, their calendars would suggest otherwise.

A visible family calendar also gives everyone a sense of what’s coming up. Busy weekend? They can see it. Swim meet coming? It’s there. Family plans? Right there.

The goal is slowly shifting from “Mom and Dad remember everything” to “we all know how to keep track of our responsibilities.”

Wall Calendar – I had purchased this one for 2026 and will definitely be buying it again for 2027. It’s pretty and has lots of space to write in!

School Apps + Sports Apps: Check Them, Then Get the Information OUT

There are approximately seventeen thousand apps required to raise a child now.

School communication app.

Parent portal.

Soccer app.

Swim app.

Scout communication.

Email.

And somewhere, someone is probably developing another one as I type this.

I don’t rely on these apps as my calendar because then I would have to remember which app contains which information—which feels like creating another problem.

Instead, I use them as information sources.

Notification comes in?

I check it.

If there’s a date or schedule change, it goes into Google Calendar.

If I get a school email that contains something I need to add to the calendar but can’t do it immediately, I leave the email unread.

This is important.

Because the second I open it and think, “I’ll remember that later,” that information has left this earth.

Unread means unfinished.

Once I’ve handled whatever was in the email, then I can mark it read.

Reminders Are Your Friend

I don’t just put events in the calendar. I use reminders for the little things surrounding the event.

Because knowing that Spirit Day is Friday does not help me when my child informs me at 7:04 Friday morning.

So I’ll set reminders for things like:

• Spirit days
• Homework logs
• Project deadlines
• Games
• Competitions
• Swim meets
• School events
• Anything requiring a special outfit or item
• Anything I know Future Me will be annoyed that Past Me didn’t remind her about

Sometimes I’ll set more than one reminder.

There is no prize for remembering everything without assistance.

Use the technology.

Alexa, Please Remember This So I Don’t Have To

Alexa is another underrated member of our household management team.

When my hands are full, I’m cooking dinner, or someone tells me something while I’m in the middle of another task, being able to verbally create a reminder is incredibly helpful.

Because children have an uncanny ability to give you important information at the exact moment you’re least capable of doing anything with it.

“Mom, I need—”

Alexa, remind me.

We’ll discuss whatever this is afterward.

Sports Gear Needs a Home

With multiple sports happening simultaneously, the gear situation could very quickly become its own form of chaos.

Both boys have sports cubbies in their rooms.

Sports gear gets washed frequently and then goes right back into its designated area rather than being mixed into regular clothes and disappearing into whatever dimension children’s athletic socks apparently enter.

Before every practice or game, we check the appropriate bag.

Uniform?

Check.

Water bottle?

Check.

Equipment?

Check.

Whatever incredibly important item my child definitely would not have remembered until we pulled into the parking lot?

Hopefully check.

I love the idea of keeping bags permanently ready, but with things constantly being used and washed, I’ve found that the pre-departure check is still necessary.

Speaking of name labels, I would also suggest putting them somewhere you can actually find them next September.

This advice is directed specifically at myself.

Do a Weekly Family Schedule Check

This doesn’t need to be a formal family meeting with agendas and PowerPoint presentations.

Although at this rate, give us another activity and we may need one.

At the beginning of the week—or over the weekend—my husband and I need to know what we’re dealing with.

Who has late meetings?

Who can handle which practice?

Are there overlapping activities?

Does anyone need to be somewhere before school?

Are there games or events this weekend?

Do we need to divide and conquer?

Are there nights when dinner needs to be something particularly quick?

Because our schedules don’t exist independently of each other.

A 6:00 soccer practice affects dinner.

A before-school music commitment affects the morning routine.

A swim meet or soccer tournament affects the entire weekend.

Seeing the week as a whole makes it much easier for us to work together instead of figuring everything out five minutes before someone needs to leave.

Stop Trying to Create the Perfect Pinterest Command Center

I love beautiful organization.

Obviously.

Give me matching baskets, a beautiful planner, coordinated labels and a perfectly styled command center and I am extremely happy.

But here’s the thing:

It still has to work.

The goal isn’t to create a family organization system worthy of Pinterest.

The goal is to know where your children are supposed to be.

If a beautiful acrylic calendar works for you, amazing.

If it’s a $7 paper calendar covered in crossed-out soccer times, also amazing.

If your Google Calendar looks like someone dumped a box of crayons onto your phone because every family member has their own color?

Hi. Welcome. You’re among friends.

A system only works if you’ll actually use it.

Don’t Make Your Brain the Family Calendar

This is probably the biggest lesson I’m learning as our kids get older and their schedules get more complicated.

You cannot hold everything in your head.

And you shouldn’t have to.

The mental load of parenting is already enormous, especially when both parents are working and kids are involved in multiple activities.

The answer isn’t necessarily becoming better at remembering things.

It’s building systems so you don’t have to remember everything.

Put it in the calendar.

Set the reminder.

Write it in the planner.

Leave the email unread.

Put the equipment in the cubby.

Check the bag.

Ask your partner.

Ask your kids.

Ask Alexa.

Use whatever combination works for your family.

And when something inevitably slips through the cracks?

Because something will.

It doesn’t mean your system failed.

It means you’re a human being managing work, school, sports, activities, a household, relationships and approximately 9,000 notifications.

We’re All on the Same Team

As chaotic as this season of life can feel, I’m also incredibly aware that it’s exactly that—a season.

One child is starting a new sport.

The other is entering his final year of elementary school.

Our afternoons and evenings are filled with soccer fields, pools, jiu-jitsu mats, Scout meetings, music rehearsals and whatever new club someone inevitably decides to join.

It’s exhausting.

It’s a lot.

And, if I’m being completely truthful, I also love watching them find the things they love.

I’m grateful that my husband and I can tag-team this life together. That when one of us can’t be somewhere, the other steps in. That we’re both looking at the same ridiculously colorful calendar trying to figure out how to make it all work.

So no, my goal this school year isn’t to become the perfectly organized mom.

My goal is to create enough structure that our family can enjoy this incredibly busy season without the logistics completely consuming us.

Will I still forget something?

Almost certainly.

Will someone announce at bedtime that they need something for school tomorrow?

The odds are extremely high.

Will a sports schedule change approximately four seconds after I finally get everything organized?

Obviously.

But it will go straight into the calendar.

Immediately.

Because if there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s this:

I cannot control the chaos.

But I can color-code it.

xx Valerie