Clipboards for Paper Organization

I have to be honest.  When Tomas was born, the paper for 8 people living in this house got the best of me.  It had been a delicate balance for awhile, but he tipped the scales big time.  The medical stuff alone for Tomas and Caleb consumed me.  I also didn't spend as much time making the kid's spring planners as durable as I made their fall ones and they started falling apart leaving lesson plans and practice papers everywhere.  I wasn't finding as much time to go through the calendar each month and week and update them on our events and happenings.

I've been thinking about clipboards for quite awhile for several reasons, but largely because they fit on the wall easily.  I've used binders in the past, but counter space on my kitchen is at a major premium these days!  I love the pretty clipboards that Jen uses over at Wildflowers and Marbles, but when I saw the price tag...yikes!  I decided to hold off and try some other things.

And after trying other things I decided maybe we should go back to clipboards.



I spend quite a bit of time looking around for the most affordable/durable option.  I ended up going with a basic clipboard from Amazon and then having each child pick out a package of scrapbooking stickers with the theme of their choice from Hobby Lobby (went went when scrapbooking stickers were half off- woohoo!).  I'm glad we did it this way because decorating the clipboards generated a lot of excitement before we even started using them.

Amazon did have some *pretty* options, but the reviews for a lot of them made me think they might not stand up as well.  I considered ordering matching plastic colored ones, with a different color for each person but with some premium colors running $8 or more, this worked out to be less expensive even with the scrapbooking stickers.

After our decorating party, we (ok Tim) hung our individual clipboards in the laundry room on an open section of wall.  They are close to our main living spaces and school work areas, but not right in them which I like.  Everyone (except Tomas obviously) can easily see their clipboard at eye level without taking them down.

On each clipboard is a weekly schedule and other paperwork for that child.  Tim's clipboard has a collection of insurance paperwork that needs dealing with.  Aidan's has the summer open workout schedule for the high school track program.  Caleb has his sleep log for an upcoming sleep clinic.  For now the weekly schedule is being done by hand, using a free form I found on Pinterest.  As we use them longer, I anticipate eventually creating my own sheet.  Especially if I think I can get away with putting their weekly lesson plans on the clipboard next year, eliminating the need for separate planners.

But I don't want to get too far ahead of myself!  In any event, I put all of my Pinterest planner finds onto a dedicated Family Organization board, if you want to see some of the other ideas I looked at.  I'm sure I'll be adding more to it in the coming weeks.

Lucie, being a preschool aged girl thinks her picture "chores" telling her to get dressed, brush her hair (curly hair- ack!), and brush her teeth each day is absolutely enchanting.  She keeps running to check if she has anything else to do.  I put "Do Something Kind" on her list so she gave Logan a hug.  Actually first she grabbed him without warning and then yelled at him that she was doing her something nice when he tried to push her back.

It's a start, right?  I made them stage a nice hug for blogging purposes because I'm a cool mom that way.

You may notice that I purchased a 12 pack of clipboards, so where are the other 4?  One is in the office waiting for either Tim or I to claim it for work and/or blogging projects.  One is in the dining room serving as our new family prayer intentions boards.   Two are in the kitchen, one with our meal planning stuff and one with my daily chore/cleaning lists.  Both of which are from Martina at Catholic Sistas' Catholic Through the Year Household Management bundle.  Her 2016-2017 Academic Planner Year products are out and I will look forward to seeing what she has new for us this year.

This post contains affiliate links.  As always buy only what you think you would use, but if you follow our links we stand to have a little extra for our school purchases next year!