Cobb Kids Head Back to School

Sorry kids—and maybe hooray for many parents—the winter break comes to a close Tuesday as Cobb schools reopen their doors.

There’s a chance for showers, with thunderstorms possible after 1 p.m., the forecast from the National Weather Service shows. The high is at 65 degrees, while the low tomorrow night is 50.

Parents and students shouldn’t expect anything out of the ordinary at the county level, schools spokesman Doug Goodwin said.

“There’s nothing new,” he said. “We’re just looking forward to a positive start to the second semester.”

Anything that changed from the first semester would be addressed at the local schools, Goodwin said.

If you’re unsure whether you need to arm your child with extra supplies or need to make special arrangements for pick up, you can find your school’s contact information in our directory.

Here are for those busy moms and dads who are looking for a fresh start during the second semester. These have potential to be tied into your list of New Year’s resolutions.

1. Start with a schedule. It doesn't have to be anything fancy—a calendar or even a big piece of paper will do. If you are a parent who loves technology, there are tons on the Web. Just find one that you will use.

So now that you have the schedule, write down everything for the month that doesn't change: sports, dance, PTA meetings, and anything else that happens every month at the same time on the same day. You can even write in when the kids leave for school, and what time they get home. Now write in everything that only happens once in a while: doctor appointments, haircuts, service for your car, etc.

Once you have it all written in, you can figure out when you have "free" time. When the kids come home with papers from school, immediately write in any dates you will need to remember.

2. Pre-plan lunch. If you have a busy life, planning meals and packing lunches can be a huge chore. High school and middle school children should be packing their own lunches. It is an example of responsibility, and if you lay the ground rules, there should be no problems.

One possible rule is having three healthy items and one unhealthy one. Perhaps you could create bins for different types of foods, and the kids need to choose from each bin. Whatever rules your family decides on, just post them in the kitchen and leave them to pack their own lunches.

You will have to decide if your elementary school child is responsible enough to pack their own lunch, but many children are ready by the middle of first grade, with some supervision. You will also have to decide if your children need to pack their own lunches at night or if they will have time in the morning. If you are consistently running late in the morning, or if you or your children are not morning people, then pack the night before and stick it in the fridge.

3. Dinners at night. Deciding what is for dinner every night is another chore that gets families in a bind. If you are the type of family who can decide what is for dinner for a whole month, well then good for you.

Some people can plan a week in advance. For those who don’t like cooking, perhaps the best thing to do is prepare the night before.

4. Keep a clean house together. Cleaning is the last major part of a good schedule. No one likes to clean, but everyone likes a clean house. The secret is to get everyone to participate, and make it fun for the smaller children. Sit down and figure out what needs to be cleaned every week, and how many times.

Families with pets may need to vacuum every day, while families without pets may only need to vacuum once or twice a week. How often does your laundry need to be done? How often do you want your bathroom cleaned? How often do you want to dust, wash your sheets, and clean your mirrors?

Decide what is best for your family. Maybe your daughter has to empty the dishwasher every morning. She might find it takes her four minutes to empty the whole thing, so she makes sure she has enough time in her morning schedule to empty the dishwasher.

If she doesn't do it, she will have to when she gets home, and then load all the gross dishes from all day that would have made it into the dishwasher if she had unloaded it.

Decide what other chores your children can do. Dusting is great for smaller kids. Give then a Swiffer dry cloth or put socks on their hands.

Divide up the chores, and make a list of what needs to be done on which day. Don't forget to enter it all on your master schedule so you don't have time consuming chores on days you won't even be home.

5. What to wear? Lastly, you need to decide what the kids are going to wear. Depending on how often you decided to do laundry, you can decide how many days of clothing the kids need to pick out.

My girls always had to pick out the clothes for a week at a time on Sunday. They would know when they had gym (and needed to wear sneakers) and any other clothing-related activities they needed to plan for ahead of time.

Uniforms and activity outfits were also put together, so there was no last minute, "Mom! I can't find my..." Decide what works best for your family, and plan those outfits.

Starting to become organized is a big undertaking, but totally worth it once the planning is over.

Remember, it takes about three weeks of doing something everyday for it to become a habit, so don't give up if it doesn’t work the first week. At a glance, everyone in the family knows what they have to do the next day, what they need to wear, and what they are going to eat.

Now, if only life's little emergencies could be pre-planned.