Baby Steps

I remember the feelings I had when my daughter took her first steps (I wasn’t in the room when my firstborn took his first steps and I really don’t want to go into the feelings I had about missing that milestone!). We were all so pleased as she carefully placed one foot in front of the other and worked her way across the room. There was much fanfare and encouragement. And while the actual distance she covered was minimal (they aren’t called baby steps for nothing) the promise of what she would soon be doing was enormous.

It is in that vein that I report my baby step of the day. While it may seem to be a nothing move in and of itself, I see this as a start to bigger and more encompassing changes.

The school year started on Tuesday. Each day my children have come home with a slew of papers. Some of the papers are items they worked on during the day. Others are notifications for me and my husband including important dates, new procedures, etc. Some even requiring our immediate attention as they need to be signed and returned to the school.

Up until now the kids return home and either

A)  attempt to hand me the papers (regardless of what I am doing even if it involves having my hands covered in glup while preparing dinner.)

B) put the papers on the dining room table to mingle with all the other debris which has accumulated there.

C) left the papers in their backpacks and forgot to mention that the papers were there until morning as they were running out to the school bus.

I have decided to get a magnetic clip to place on the fridge and have the kids take responsibility for placing any forms, notices or menus that they bring home from school directly onto the fridge. I will take responsibility for checking that clip each night so that I can process whatever is needed prior to the mad morning school bus dash.

As part of this plan I have also gone through all the items which had been hanging on the fridge prior to this. After all, if the fridge is as crowded as the dining room table, I might never notice when something new has been added to the clip!

Here are before and after pictures of the fridge. The difference is huge! Maybe this wasn’t such a baby step after all.