Goodness Sakes, enough papers already!

Rated G
Originally uploaded by Jean 1.

I have spent much of my time the last week and a half writing. If I were working on a deadline for a novel, I think I would have been able to contribute about 15 chapters in the last few days. But alas, I was filling out school forms. With four children in the school system I have filled out forms for each of the children that gives them the permissions, information, documentation, and maybe even the password to my ATM card. This is not my first experience with this onslaught, so I have developed some tried and true practices to help with the writers cramp.
1. Fill out the paper work minus the name and date and photocopy the paper, put this photocopy in a file. Why? Because you will get these same forms next year and in multiples if you have more than one child in school. If you have a copy on hand, provided you haven't changed their name or address from one year to the next, you can just print out a copy and fill in the name and date and send the form out the door. It's also the time saver if you happen to get a phone call or note home that says "Mrs. Blogger Queen, we didn't get little Blogglet's form, could you please fill it out again and send it in?" HIT PRINT AND BE DONE WITH IT.
2. Go through all backpacks, lunch bags, binders, Walmart bags (or whatever else your child uses to transport papers) and sort all papers into piles of "Return to School", "Save for Posterity" and "File 13". All File 13 papers go directly into the trash/recycle bins. Have your child take the "Save for Posterity" papers and put them into your saving place. My kids have bank boxes that hold file folders personalized with their names on it. That give you a smaller pile of paper with which you must deal. Sign all field trip, enclose lunch money and such and return them immediately to the backpack...no more forgotten items. Anything that can be filled out at leisure can be saved for the car line to relieve boredom and gives you the opportunity to concentrate on it while you wait your turn to pick up your darling....just be sure to put these forms into the backpack when you are dropping them off the next morning.
3. Do not feel like you need to keep everything that your darling creates. Trust me, you will get many, many, many items that you will feel compelled to keep. Let your child pick one favorite paper a week. At the end of the year you can go through and save the ten favorite items and a writing sample from the first of the year and the last of the year to show progression and development.


As my mind allows me to draw a deep breath on this long weekend, I wish a restful goodnight. :)