When you’re pregnant or a new mom, there’s no shortage of people willing to give you unsolicited advice. One of the most common phrases you’ll hear is, “Enjoy every moment. It goes so fast.”

And, oh, how true it is!

I’m now the mom of a third-grader, Kindergarten student and preschooler. Though I can get sentimental with the best of them, easily recall the milestones of their first years and vividly remember days when they were cradled in my arms with room to spare, I rarely express those emotions at bus stops or in classrooms. And it doesn’t always hit me on first or last days, at preschool graduations or in the middle of school concerts.

Instead, I’m too busy making sure everyone is organized at those events. Paying attention to the tasks at hand leaves little time for me to reflect while enjoying a cup of tea.

But sentimental moments still find a way to sneak into my day. Last night, it hit me while I was filling out papers for Dimitri’s preschool. An immunization form–of all things–inspired memories of his earliest days. I could see his face and little lips starting to pout as he received some of his first shots. Sometimes, he wouldn’t even cry. He’d just look at me as if to say, “How can you let them do this to me?” And my heart would beat me black and blue.

He’ll be 4 years old in January, and I have no idea how we ended up here already. Surely, those sleepless nights led to longer days, so how have the years passed so quickly?

I’m excited for all of their new beginnings. Their joy is palpable and it keeps me from wanting the “old days” back. My nature is one of forward motion and progress. The relentless optimism inside me instinctively believes what lies ahead is always better than what lies behind.

Even though I’m loosening my embrace and ushering them toward all the new adventures that await, there will never be time I won’t wish they were still in my arms.

August has always been my new year.

The clean slate most folks find in January has always been discovered by me in a new academic calendar.  This time of year has long inspired my love affairs with weekly planners, chore charts, identified goals and myriad to-do lists.

Now that I’m a mother of a third grader, Kindergartener and preschooler, I get to relive my favorite parts of a new school year.  

It’s also an opportunity to take inventory of my organizational skills, test my time management and prepare for months of being a juggler. Work, taking care of my family and our home, helping with homework, driving to practices, remembering to send things to classrooms and keeping track of three kids’ schedules, in addition to my own, force me to stay sharp and on task.

To make easier the juggling act so many of us parents perform, I spent the weekend making sure our home, vehicles and backpacks were organized, meals were planned and school clothes were ready for the week.

And to keep us organized I’ve put into place some practices that have helped us find success throughout the school year:

1.       Baskets and bins have long been friends of mine, and I employ their services this time of year to act as sorters for the important contents of backpacks.

Our 9-year-old daughter Cienna, 5-year-old son Ty and 3-year-old son Dimitri will undoubtedly bring home a copious amount of papers from school. To make sure I don’t miss anything, I’ve designated baskets for graded papers, school mail and things I need to sign, and artwork.

2.       A clean, tidy atmosphere precipitates success, so we’ve designated a work space where homework and projects will be completed.

Colorful bins hold the supplies we’ve stocked up on during back-to-school sales.

Inspirational quotes are posted next to an empty space where artwork will eventually create our own in-home gallery. Having a set space for artwork keeps it from overwhelming the refrigerator or piling up on the dining room table.

3.       We’ve jazzed up the entryway to avoid walking into the door to tons of shoes, coats and backpacks on the floor.

Though there’s a perfectly-great coat closet a few feet from the front door, my children have been known to dump their shoes in front of the closet door, hang their backpacks on the railing of the staircase and leave their coats lying on the floor.

To make that kid clutter a little more organized, I’ve purchased a rectangular, rubber mat with a raised edge to handle the shoes—especially if they’re wet or dirty.

Child-height hooks are also on the wall above it for coats and umbrellas that would otherwise be tossed upon walking in the house.

4.       To keep athletic equipment from getting in the way, we’ve added shelving in the garage.

5.       And my husband and I have synced a family calendar to make sure we know where we’re supposed to be and when we’re supposed to be there.

Feel free to share your organizational tips with me at cwoodall@yorkdispatch.com, and may you and your family have a happy—and organized—new year!

She was the first person who said hello to me when I walked through the doors of my new school.

I was in seventh grade and should’ve been nervous about navigating my new world, but her kindness made sure I didn’t have time for trepidation.

As the years passed, Brianne became one of my dear friends–always ready with a smile, laugh and ever-expanding heart.

She’s one of the good ones. If she had one cracker, she’d figure out how to divide it among all of those she loved. Hers wouldn’t be the biggest piece, but it would probably be bedazzled.

I had the pleasure  of riding alongside her during many adventures while we came of age. During moments we needed each other most, we were inseparable. And, at other times, we were only a few words away. She supplied my life with myriad antics and advice, and we spent our first two years of college exchanging frequent cards, letters and gifts.

One of those gifts was “A Friendship Journey Through the Seasons” by Janet Baker, with adorable illustrations by Debi Hron. The book combines some of my favorite things–crafts, quotes, poetry and art.

During story time last night, my 3-year-old son Dimitri brought the book to me, inspiring smiles as we looked over potential projects and remembered my dear friend.

Brianne and I  are both mothers and professionals now–she’s a college professor and owner of Mitchell’s Cafe in historic Brownsville, Pa.–and our lives are busy and full. But we’re still friends, and her gifts on my bookshelves are lighthouses guiding some of the best parts of my past into moments I continue to share with my children.

This weekend, using T-shirts they have grown out of, we are repurposing some of their favorite clothes into memory pillows.

To make them, simple things are needed: an old shirt, scissors, needle, sewing thread, pillow stuffing and other accessories, if desired.

The memory pillows are made with the following tips, according to the book.

-Turn the shirt inside out and, using a running stitch, sew up the arms and bottom.

-Leaving the neck open, turn the shirt right side out again.

-Stuff the shirt will pillow stuffing full enough to keep its shape. And then stitch up the neck, again using a running stitch.

One the opposite page of the craft is a poem by Louise Driscoll. It’s not only good advice for creating a comfy spot with a pillow, it’s good advice anytime:

“Hold fast your dreams within your heart

Keep one still, secret spot

Where dreams may go and sheltered so,

May thrive and grow where doubt and fear are not.

Oh, keep a place

Apart within your heart

For little dreams to go.”

There comes a time in every girl’s life when she learns there’s such a thing as too much leopard.

For my 8-year-old daughter Cienna, that time was Saturday.

She burst from a dressing room and proudly said, “Look at this outfit!” Leopard-print leggings had been tragically paired with a leopard-print blouse, and my eyes grew large with pain.

I didn’t want to break her proud heart, but there was no way I could or would ever let her leave the house like that.

“Isn’t it cool, Mom?” she said.

Um, no.

“I can see you like this, but I think we should make another choice,” I said.

She didn’t like my response and looked at me like I knew nothing about fashion.

“But, Mom, this matches! The top and the bottom are the same color!” she said.

I shook my head in disapproval, and she marched back into the dressing room.

“This is just like when you made me change because I had two different kinds of black on,” she said.

The dressing room door became a barrier between right and wrong, and I suddenly envisioned a future of similar, unpleasant, back-to-school shopping sessions. In all of these imaginings, she was aging like wine, and I was aging like beer.

A nearby rack of clothes seemed like a great place to hide for the next 10 years, carefully trying to avoid discussions of what matches, what’s appropriate, what’s overpriced and what stores land on a list of places I will never spend my money.

She’s only going to third grade. How can this possibly be starting already?

“Cienna, please don’t be upset. You are right that it’s the same color. But it’s too much of the same color. It’s OK to wear some leopard print, but it’s not OK to look like a leopard,” I said.

Though her top and bottom had matching hues of brown, black, camel and rust tones, they provided a teaching moment entitled, “Good Leopard vs. Bad Leopard.”

“I want to clarify leopard print involves big spots. The smaller ones are cheetah prints. In the course of your life, you will meet both. And you’ll meet zebras and giraffes, but let’s not involve them today,” I said.

Please.

“You need to keep your animal to one thing–wear it on the top or bottom or as an accent, but never all together,” I said.

“Then why do you let us dress up as animals and things at home? Why do we get to play dress up and wear old Halloween costumes,” she said.

Now, Cienna, you know the way our family acts at home is rarely how one should act in public.

“Because that’s creative play. I wouldn’t send my daughter to school in a Minnie Mouse costume, unless it was Halloween, and I won’t send my daughter to school in head-to-toe leopard ever,” I said.

You will have plenty of days when you’re 70 in a casino to do that.

“It’s a much better idea if you’re wearing a bold print like leopard to understate everything else. Likewise, if you’re wearing a plain, understated color, it can be nice to add a bold accessory like a leopard bracelet or earrings or scarf,” I said.

“Hey, can I get a leopard bracelet and scarf?” she said.

How does my advice always end up costing me more?

We left the store with both leopard pieces and an understanding they will never be worn together.

And our drive home offered a confession, supplemented by a visual aid at home, of what I wore when I was bound for third grade. It was a tragic combination of spandex pants, a cotton sweatshirt, jelly bracelets, lace gloves inspired by Madonna and really big hair.

“Wow. What is that, Mom?” Cienna said.

“Aqua Net and the ’8Os.”

Cienna climbed into the salon chair like a natural.

Ready for her back-to-school trim, my 8-year-old daughter was eager to be pampered on Friday by a very kind and patient stylist named Lisa at Hair Cuttery in Springettsbury Township.

Cienna sits under a hair dryer at Hair Cuttery in Springettsbury Township, reading a style magazine as a deep-conditioning treatment takes hold.

It was our first time at a Hair Cuttery, and we chose it after reading a business brief in the York Dispatch that explained, for every hair cut purchased, the salon chain would donate a free cut to a disadvantaged child. So, for a little more than $30, I bought three hair cuts that day–for Cienna and my sons Ty and Dimitri–and three were donated.

With a shorter-styled ‘do, Ty is ready for Kindergarten.

Before they left, my were happy to receive stickers that said, “I shared a haircut today.”

They left looking good and feeling good, which is among the best combinations in life.

Our back-to-school savings continued that evening as we found $5 raincoats and matching umbrellas at Five Below, also in Springetts.

Thanks to a storm that rolled through York on Sunday, Dimitri was able to test out his $5 raincoat.

After stopping at Five Below, we made our way to Kohl’s next to the York Galleria.

With the help of a 20 percent off coupon, I was able to buy three cardigans, a long-sleeve knit top, a layering camisole, two pairs of earrings, three five-packs of underwear for the kids, three pajama sets and a pair of dress shoes for Cienna for a little more than $100.

As an added bonus, I earned $20 Kohl’s Cash, which I can redeem between Aug. 8 and 18.  (And I plan to redeem it on athletic shoes.)

From there, we visited The Children’s Place in the galleria, where we purchased $10 jeans, using a 15 percent off coupon.

After that, we called it a night.

Though I felt accomplished, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to test my bargain shopping skills Saturday morning. Cienna and I visited the community yard sales in the nearby Logan’s Reserve, a fairly-new cul-de-sac of high-end homes in the Dallastown School District.

We weren’t looking for anything specific and didn’t intend to buy any back-to-school clothes there, but we did find and fall in love with a never-used, girl’s bedding set. Part of Pottery Barn Kids’ Sophie line of quilted bedding that normally retails for about $200, I got for $10 with a lamp included.

When the five of us shopped on Sunday, we were armed with savings passes for Bon-Ton, where we purchased Angry Birds T-shirts and Adidas active wear for Ty. Because of a Bon-Ton coupon good for $10 off a single purchase of $25, we paid less than $20.

We still have much more shopping to do, and this blog will keep you posted about where to find back-to-school deals.

In the meantime, take advantage of the York Dispatch’s gift card giveaway. Like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/YorkDispatch , and you will be entered to win a $50 Visa gift card for your back-to-school shopping needs!