List it!

Carpool time and the kids are piling in! Do they have their lunches or money for lunch? Permission slip for the field trip? Backpack? Gym clothes? Homework? These questions, and more, have plagued moms for years! But how to remember to remind each kid, including your own, that they have to bring it with them into the van? Mostly so you don't have to go back for the forgotten backpack and then are late to school!

Make a list!

Use a 3x5 index card, write out what your own child needs each day and tape it to the radio in the van. Then when each kid comes into the van, just take a minute to read through it out loud so the child has a chance to get it right before you leave their house. My list had the title of "Do you have..." and then the list started: Permission slip, Homework, Backpack, Gym clothes, Lunch/$$.

After having to return home several times for forgotten items, I found that the list virtually eliminated all those trips! And the kids were never late to school again!