The chaos of back-to-school is real folks. Goodbye lazy days in the sun. Hello lunch packing, nagging about homework, sport schedules, and rushed mornings getting the kids out the door.
Is there a way to make this change a little easier? Well, we can try. While we can’t help you or your kids emotionally with this transition, we can guide you to get your home in order and hopefully this can take some of the pressure off!
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Drop Zones
As the kids walk in the door, they dump their backpacks, shoes, and coats in the entryway and it becomes a tripping hazard for the rest of the day. (Please tell me that’s not just my family) The best way to combat this is to have a place for everything, and everything in its place. Make sure you have some hooks (Canada) (USA) by the door or garage entrance for backpacks and coats, as well as a shoe rack (Canada) (USA) for shoes. Create a dedicated spot in the kitchen for lunch kits. If your kid is in sports, you will need to figure out a drop zone for all their equipment. Make it a habit to put everything in its dropzone before the evening craziness ensues.
Quick Pack ‘n Go Lunch
Whether you are the uber organized bento box lunch making type, or the throw-it-all-together 10 minutes before the bus type (no shame in that game), there are ways to make your life easier at lunch packing time. Try putting all the similar lunch items together into containers (Canada) (USA) in the pantry and fridge for grab and go. Then it’s a quick selection of one item per container and off you go. Another great way to stay organized is to keep an ongoing grocery list (Canada) (USA) to add to when you run out of things.
Homework Area
Wouldn’t it be amazing if every house had a dedicated homework area right off the kitchen for each child in your family? Unfortunately for most of us that’s not an option. Where do your kids do their homework? At the kitchen counter, dining table, home office, or their bedrooms? This might depend on how old and independent they are, as well as their specific needs. Some kids need a quiet place with few distractions, while others are able to focus amongst the hustle and bustle of the kitchen. Wherever they do it, is there a way you can organize the space to optimize their productivity? Think pen/pencil storage, paper storage, etc (Canada) (USA). Maybe they need a computer or laptop setup to get on google classroom. Evaluate the needs of your child and the spaces you have available, and then do your best to create the space required. If their homework space is in an open shared area like the kitchen, ensure that all their tools are readily available for them, and easy for them to put away after. (See our office faves here → Canada + USA)
Command Centers
Let’s talk about command centers. This can mean different things to different people, but basically it’s an area of your house where you can keep track of all of the things. In my house, I have the cleaning army calendar (of course!), a weekly whiteboard (Canada) (USA) to keep track of the week’s appointments and schedules, and a 3 slot wall file divider (Canada) (USA) (one slot for each kid). I use the file divider to quickly dump the kids’ schoolwork and forms until I have time to file them away into their keepsake box (or recycle when they aren’t looking… shhhh). Keep reading for more on keepsake boxes.
For you, a command center might include a meal planning whiteboard (Canada) (USA), a chalkboard or pegboard or bulletin board (Canada) (USA), a place for your keys (Canada) (USA), somewhere for receipts or coupons (Canada) (USA), a place to store backpacks, etc. Make a list of the things that get left laying around the house or by the door or on the kitchen counter, and try to come up with a plan to contain and organize them. If you don’t have wall space available, there are some great options for desk/counter organization (Canada) (USA).
Keepsake Boxes
If your kids are anything like mine, they come home with a mountain of papers from school. Finding a good way to store the items you want to keep is essential. My go to method is to just recycle it all immediately but that doesn’t always work. An accordion file folder (Canada) (USA) is a great place to store all the papers you want to keep. Each kid gets their own folder, and there are 13 tabs, one for each grade. If you are the type of person who keeps more items than will fit into an accordion file folder, Amazon has some pretty great options for keepsake storage boxes (Canada) (USA). Alternatively, there are some pretty great customizable ones available on Etsy if you’d like to support a small shop.
Find all our our top picks for keepsake folders right here → (Canada) (USA)
While we know that we could never eliminate all the stress of back to school season, our hope is that these tips and tricks can help take some of the pressure off. Remember to go easy on yourself (and the kids) and give everyone some time to adjust to the new routine.
Need a refresher on our methods to keep your whole house in order? Look no further than our Basic Training. The GoCleanCo Basic Training course is a 75-minute interactive resource that shows you how to clean every room in your house from top to bottom. Click here to enroll today!
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gocleanco
Sep 22
It’s Kitchen week of the Fall Cleaning Challenge and I can finally share my new kitchen sink from BLANCO that everyone has been asking about. I am very excited to be working with @blancoamerica1 they are THE kitchen experts and a global brand with over 95 years of experience. Head to my stories to see how I care for this beauty on the daily and how easy it is to treat stains. BLANCO is more than just sinks; they also have faucets and organizational systems (like the BOTTON) that work together as an integrated UNIT. #ad
gocleanco
Sep 19
We kicked off the Fall Cleaning Challenge by flying to Burnaby, British Columbia and cleaning our Spring Cleaning Challenge (2023) winners house! We had so much fun doing this clean. Lots of team work, planning and love was poured into this project! Getting cheered on by you folks makes it all worth it! Being able to pay our good fortune forward to our followers makes us all warm and fuzzy. Big thanks to our brand partners who generously hooked us up with so much gifted stuff for the winner. We all need to go nap for 3 days now 😂 Did you enter the Fall Cleaning Challenge so that this can be you Spring 2024?! Link in our bio or head to our website to enter. #cleaning Special thanks to @ruggable @bollandbranch @oceansalesltd @proctergamble @amazoninfluencerprogram 💕
gocleanco
Sep 15
Want to open your front door and see our smiling faces coming to clean your house? Then you better get over to bleachpraylove.com on Monday, September 18th and join the Fall Cleaning Challenge! That’s right, the Grand Prize is a house clean by yours truly and my crew. We fly to you and give your house a top to bottom clean like only we can. How does the Fall Cleaning Challenge work? Each week for four weeks follow along and clean your house with me! Plus we have soooo cool many prizes! Each week we will be giving away some of my favorite things like @bollandbranch @ruggable @sharkbeauty blow dryers, and my personal fav cold hard 💰 to help you catch up on bills, buy a new vacuum or hire someone to help you with your looming House Work if you can’t get caught up! If you want to see more of our adventure at the Spring Cleaning Challenge winners house stay tuned in stories for the next few days PLUS we are filming it all for YouTube and you can watch it all the behind the scenes dirty laundry…The good, the bad…the filthy. Love you folks. For reals. 💕 Thank you for making our job so fun! #cleaningmotivation
gocleanco
Aug 25
No visit from @hellohairhouse is complete without a kitchen haircut! #fallhairtrends
gocleanco
Aug 24
The Fall Cleaning Challenge starts on Monday Sept 18th, 2023. Y’all ready? The download will be available on September 18th and the grand prize is a house clean by yours truly! We also have some new vacuum testing coming your way 😈 My garage is FULL of suckers baby and I’m not mad about it. #fallcleaning
gocleanco
Aug 19
Update: It’s a damn ice box in here and I’ve been sleeping like a baby. #airconditioning
gocleanco
Aug 8
Perfect example that cleaning 👏🏻 is 👏🏻 home 👏🏻 maintenance 👏🏻 Take care of your stuff and it will last longer. This little handy-dandy-doo-dad scrubber is linked in my Amazon Storefront. #cleaningtips
gocleanco
Aug 3
Had fun in the angels’ city chasing fortune and fame 😎 Thanks @amazoninfluencerprogram for #hosting me. And no I didn’t get tickets to any shows this weekend but for the rest of you—take the moment and taste it. 🫶🏼
gocleanco
Jul 19
To the Salon!!!!!! (Or in this case, the laundry room.) Saved these fabulous scuffed up pumps with some @tidelaundrystainremover a cloth and some patience. Just in time for @barbiethemovie premiere! Have fun @lauren_lally always happy to be of service 🫡 #barbiethemovie
gocleanco
Jul 12
Bathroom organization top picks! Everything is in my storefront to 🛍️ #amazonfinds
gocleanco
Jul 11
Summer is here! Clean up your space so you actually want to hangout in it. That hot tub…it’s not mine…k🤦🏼♀️ Link in bio for these products, some are on sale for Prime Day, just check the albums for your country.
gocleanco
Jul 11
Robot Vacuum Fight Club! 💪🏻 Things we threw on the floor: Shreddies, Powdered Tide, (clean) Cat Litter, A crumbled up loaf of sourdough and good old dirt! Stay tuned for the results. 🧐 #thiswasmorefunthaniexpected
gocleanco
Jul 8
Spent my morning making a very aesthetically pleasing Raspberry Pie Reel for y’all but it ended up being a Raspberry Scramble 🥴💀 Wasn’t gonna post it BUT when life feels like a scramble it can still be delicious. 🤌🏼🤌🏼🤌🏼 Please consider this my official petition to bring @jello back as a dessert staple.
gocleanco
Jul 7
Shower tracked destroyed with built up hard water minerals? Here’s an easy solution with a simple house hold ingredient and elbow grease. Still gonna take some scrubbing friends, good results take work. #cleaningtips
gocleanco
Jul 6
Is pressure washing considered a form of therapy? Asking for a friend. #backupvocalsduuuuuuuuupe
gocleanco
Jun 29
Years in the making…it’s FINALLY here…and it’s a masterpiece. Over the years I have received thousands of DM’s asking what to pick when renovating your home. What is the easiest to clean? What will survive the test of time? So I compiled it all here in our Home Renovation Guide. Apologies for taking so long but we kept adding and it kept getting longer and longer. This has been a labour of love. Link in bio to purchase or tap to shop! #itsbeenalongtimecoming
gocleanco
Jun 21
Sounds like a lot of you have slime problems. Here’s how we got it out! Sprinkle baking soda on the slime and smush it down into the carpet fibres so it gets in deep. Add straight vinegar and let it sit for about 30 mins. Scrub it with a brush. Repeat until it’s gone! When you repeat, you need to let it sit each time for 30 mins so it starts to break down the slime. We scrubbed for 30 mins too, don’t give up! Think about how expensive the damn carpet is to replace and that will give you lots of energy! As always: It is a good idea to test an inconspicuous spot first (like in a closet) before try you so this because all carpets are different. Try at your own risk but also if you have dried slime all over your carpet I think you are screwed anyways. GOOD LUCK and report back. #slime #slimetoturial
gocleanco
Jun 18
I’m a simple creature. Here’s the haul I promised from the viral sweater set. Yellow usually isn’t my colour but I’m feeling it the most! Wearing a medium, it’s machine washable but I have been laying it flat to dry. Everything is linked in my bio and up in my stories. #amazonfinds
gocleanco
Jun 17
If you thought I was going to miss an opportunity to use this bop, you were wrong. Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads out there, reminder that a clean tractor is a sexy tractor. @kubotacanada if you wanna detail this thing next year LMK. 🚜 🧽 🫧😎
gocleanco
Jun 16
5 days left to get in that spring clean!! 😂💪🏻 Here’s a round up of all the stuff we’ve cleaned with @mrclean if you need some inspiration! It’s been quite the journey 😵💫🤢What else do y’all use @mrclean for? #mrcleanpartner #sponsored