Bright Ideas Blog Hop: Anti-Chaos Bag

Back to School Must Have To Make Your School Days Easier!

I'm joining up with a whole boatload of bloggers to bring you the Bright Ideas Blog Hop!

If your house is anything like mine, it can be kind of always hectic in the mornings. Although my husband is usually around to help out, being a military man there are plenty of times when he is suddenly called to go do something and I'm left to get all 5 kids and myself ready for school on my own!

The oldest two are fifteen and twelve and you'd think that would make it easier, but you'd be wrong! My twelve year old son is not a morning person and has been known to collapse sobbing if his favorite shirt isn't dry when he goes to get dressed in the morning. The fifteen year old sleeps like the dead and will even talk in her sleep - so waking her up is a 20 minute ordeal - even if she tells you "I'm up! I'm up!" in her best peeved teenager voice, chances are she's sleep-talking and she'll lapse back into unconsciousness the minute you turn your back, thus missing her bus and requiring a last minute ride to school.

The middle two are ten and eight and chances are they might be dressed and ready and you might be thanking the heavens that at least they are on track. Ha! Don't be fooled! The minute it's time to actually get in the car, they suddenly can't find their backpack that they know they brought in the house last night (chances are it's actually hanging in your classroom) or they suddenly remember that they have to bring a canned food item or they left their homework upstairs on their desk - any little thing that delays leaving the house!

The baby is sweet and adorable and never does a thing wrong - unless it's to spit up all over himself the minute you strap him in the carseat, thus necessitating a complete outfit change. If his breakfast does stay down, chances are someone moved the Sharpie so you have to search for one to label his bottles, even though that is the designated bottle-labeling-Sharpie and no one is to touch it under threat of dismemberment, but somehow, it wanders off at least once a week.

In all of this chaos, it is a small miracle that I actually get to work on time and semi-prepared for the day. However, while I might be dressed and ready to teach, there are tons of times I get to school and think "Darn! I forgot ________!" or "I wish I had ______" Like the day when I forgot my sunglasses and got a splitting headache at recess from the glare. Or the day we had a windstorm during recess and my hair looked like a bird's nest afterwards. Or when a kiddo gets sick and I am calm and collected while dealing with it but then wash my hands 20 times in hot water trying to get rid of the germies and my hands get all chapped. Let's not even talk about those days I drag myself to work feeling under the weather because A) even a sick me is 10x better than a sub and B) even coming to work sick is 10x easier than preparing for a sub.

If even a portion of my mornings sounds familiar, then you might want to make yourself an Anti-Chaos Bag this weekend. I'm talking now, today, while you're thinking about it, because if you put it on a to-do list it will get put off and next thing you know you'll be at school on Monday thinking "Oh no! I forgot _____!"

Here's what mine looks like:

 Isn't that a beautiful pattern?? Don't laugh, it was the least garish looking bag I found at Walmart. It's an Anti-Chaos Bag, not a Haute Couture Bag people!

What do you put in an Anti-Chaos Bag?! Everything:

I've got lotion for chapped hands, hair bands so I don't have to resort to rubber bands, floss - not only for teeth but for replacing broken shoelaces in a pinch or at least wrapping around the frayed end so you can get it back thru the hole! Handy wipes and a lint roller (it's always the white cat that rubs up against my black pants legs as I'm trying to get out the door!)

A fuzzy sock filled with rice makes a quick heating pad when tossed in the microwave for a minute or two - great for cramps or muscle aches. Airborne is a must for when a cold is coming on, a tea bag for those stressful days when schedules are changed, tempers are frayed and someone says "Teachers, please remember to be flexible." Which is really code for "Suck it up and don't complain because it won't do you any good anyways!" Antacids and Midol....your students will thank you....'nuff said!

Extra sunglasses for when you forget your regular pair. Microwave popcorn for A) those days you forget your lunch but the cafeteria food is not appealing or B) those days you have to stay late but your stomach is trying claw its way out of your body to go hunt down its own food. An emory board so that snag doesn't become a painfully short nail. Mints because, let's face it, your coworkers will thank you!

You might also consider gloves/hat for winter months because you know the day you forget them is the day you have recess duty and it will be cold! I'm even tossing in $1.25 for those days I need caffiene and don't have any cash for the vending machine....

There you go - an Anti-Chaos Bag that guarantees that, even if your morning starts out stressful, you'll have everything you need to fix it! Stash this somewhere safe in your classroom - the next time you have a hectic morning and forget something you'll be glad you did!

Now head on over and check out other Bright Ideas!

An InLinkz Link-up

Alphabet Freebie!

Hey all! I finally finished my Mega Alphabet Letter Sounds Pack! Wow, I think that was my biggest pack to date! It was worth it though, because I know I'll be using it all year long!

I have some friends who have already turned 5, while some JUST turned 4 (the cutoff is 4 by September 1st and we've already had 6 birthdays - 2 that just turned 4 at the end of August and 4 that turned 5 in the first week of September!) As you can imagine, their skill levels differ wildly! My oldest kiddo knows all of her upper and lowercase letters and is just working on sounds. My youngest kiddos don't know a letter from a number and the kiddos in between are just that - some working on alphabet recognition, others have some letters/sounds already mastered. It's like teaching Pre-K AND K!

(Don't you love it when they say "Can we draw on the back?" and then you see them practicing what they've learned?!)

So when I was making my Alphabet Letter Sounds Pack I knew I needed some simple activities for reinforcing letter sounds, but I also had to think up for my high group. I also wanted a mix of no-prep sheets that I could grab and go (or leave for a sub!) and some fun center activities that we could also do in small group as necessary. Almost every activity is available in black and white too, to help cut back on that ink bill!

We tried out a few of the activities today, and will be incorporating the rest as we progress. We're on Day 23 here and after doing a lot of activities with their names, most of my kiddos are familiar with a handful of letters at this point. I'm doing a little bit of Handwriting Without Tears and introducing letters in their order, just to make it simpler for my pre-k kiddos. Can you believe I have 17/20 with perfect pencil grip?!

Anyways, if you're interested in my Alphabet Letter Sounds Pack it's on sale for 30% off through Friday night. When I wake up Saturday I'll change it back to full price :)

And...here's your freebie! My kiddos were begging me for a chance to use glue, so I made a quick sorting set for them too. We'll use the letters/numbers sheet tomorrow! If you want to grab this little pack, just click the picture!

Dear Future Me...

I'm linking up with Crystal over at Kreative in Kinder for a fun look into the future! So often we forget what the beginning of school is really like! Crystal's idea is to write your future self a note so you remember what back-to-school is really like! Here's mine:

Alright, now head over to Crystal's blog and link up with your own letter!