1. Model Organization - In general, organizing is a learned skill. Just like much in life, children learn how to be organized from their adults. You choosing to model organization works to motivate your child to be organized too. Setting an example demonstrates to your child the significance of organization by revealing how it positively affects life. As a child, a good majority of his life is revolved around education. So organization is significant for your child to learn especially from you. Not only does modeling organization benefit your child's success in the here and now, but it will overflow into his adulthood because it will become a habit. The most effective way you can personally model organization and allow your child to see it's positive affects is regarding your role as parent. One way to model organization is by setting aside a regular time frame to provide assistance with his homework and answer any question your child may have come across throughout their day at school. Another important way is to organize a regular routine in contacting your child’s teacher because successfully teaching a child is a team effort. Both examples show your child the value in organization and how you value him and his education. ​

2. Set Routines - Just as there are set routines in the classroom, it is key for your child to have routines prior to school and after school. 
*Morning Routine -- When it comes to the time to get up, make sure to allow time where your child does not feel rushed. If he takes 20 minutes to get ready, make a point to wake him or set the alarm for him to wake up with 25 minutes to get ready. Have your child get dressed first. ALWAYS organize time into your daily morning routine for a well-balanced breakfast. If your child struggles with the mornings, I encourage having your child and you create a morning routine chart. Having your child be a part of the process gives your child ownership and responsibility. 
(Next school year, make a point to slowly get your child prepared for waking up early BEFORE the school year starts. For example, if your child must wake up at 6:30am in the school year but he is waking up at 7am in the summer, I would suggest a week before school starts to begin waking your him up early. Wake him up 5 minutes earlier than the day before till you reach 6:30am.)
*Afternoon Routine -- As soon as your child gets home, regardless of when your child plans on doing homework, have him get his homework out and ready. If your child prefers a snack, I would encourage you to let him have a snack BEFORE homework rather than during homework. This will provide less distraction while your child is working. If your child has chores, make sure first that they do not interfere with your child's homework time. Some days may be more busier with homework and studying, so I would suggest when deciding chores for your child to make it more of a point of him aiming to complete those chores within the week rather than particular days. 
*Evening Routine -- Make time for your child to set aside the next day’s clothing. Even better and if possible, go ahead and prepare clothing for the week ahead on Sunday evening. I recommend planning ahead what's for breakfast too. Planning ahead always takes the pressure off allowing time not to be wasted. Also, when creating an evening routine it is key to organize evening activities according to what will give your child the appropriate amount of sleep time. Last, make sure backpacks are packed (and in it's home) and lunches are prepared. 
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Food. It truly is as James Beard states: it "is our common ground, a universal experience." We all need it. We all want it. And, it is common for our time with others to be centered around it. However, 40% of it goes uneaten in America. (Natural Resources Defense Council) We actually lead the WORLD in food waste. (The Atlantic) And not only that, but according to Feeding America, "42 million Americans struggle with hunger." 

These statistics sadden me. There are many people -- even in our backyards -- that are hungry. Yet, so many of us are finding ourselves occasionally or even regularly tossing out uneaten food. I am not a regular, but I certainly do find myself at times throwing away food. Let us join together and put this wastefulness to an end! Not just to simply stop being careless about food, but also to stop being careless about our time, our money, and even more importantly so we can help others. Now, you may be asking, "How?" Two words: Be intentional. That's it. We need to be present and deliberate in following the 3 steps below. 

Be intentional. The first and main significant step is to meal plan. If you google the definition of plan you will find that a plan is "an intention or decision about what one is going to do". If you meal plan then you are intentionally preparing those meals therefore intend to use the food you purchased. Now, there are some food items you may find that you don't use all of the item in preparing a meal, which is okay. Those extras, such as sugar and seasonings can be set aside in a specific location. When it is time yet again to meal plan, you can revisit those specific places to see what extras you have that can be used in your next planned meals. I would recommend having a special basket set aside for those extras to help you limit those type of items and to help you continue to use the rest of those extras before buying others. If you're not careful and you continue to allow yourself to purchase more extras on the next grocery shopping trip, you'll soon have a overflowing pantry or fridge. As for the actual process of meal planning, I prefer to do it on a weekly basis; however, there is no magic schedule. I would suggest determining a schedule that best works for you and your family. 

Be intentional. Not just in meal planning, but be intentional in the actual creation of a list. It can be a paper or digital list, but it is necessary to make a grocery list. I highly recommend shopping at Kroger, not just for the good prices and coupons, but also because of their "list" option in their app. I have used it for countless shopping trips thus far and especially in our new Kroger building. It has been extremely helpful to keep me from getting lost in our new big store (not wasting time), but it's list has prevented me from the potential of purchasing impulse items.

Okay, so I don't know if you caught the "C" word I just briefly mentioned above or not. Coupons! They truly are great things. I especially enjoy the digital ones. I mean, why wouldn't someone enjoy saving money and NOT even having to clip and hold onto coupons? But, coupons can be dangerous. Sure, you can plan meals based on coupons. I have. However, first I know I like the actual food or I already was interested in trying it out sometime prior to getting the coupon. Secondly, I would suggest making sure if you choose that item to make sure it's included in your meal plan, not just a random item.

Be intentional. The final step is organizing your actual food. More obvious, managing organization in your pantry, cabinets, and fridge will allow you to prepare a meal with ease,  but you will also find yourself not wasting food therefore not wasting money too. Whether you use a pantry and/or cabinets, I recommend having baskets set aside to organize in one of two ways: (1) a basket per type of food item or (2) a basket per meal. As a one person household, I prefer a basket per type of food item. For example, when I look in my pantry at this exact moment, I will find one basket for grains: 2 different types of rice as well as pasta. If you are someone who prefers to buy items in large quantity, say maybe you're a Sam's Club or Costco member or maybe you're just someone who prefers to take advantage of a good sale on an item you or your family loves, I first would say that most sales will be on a cycle. It's best to check the weekly sales to catch how soon the next sale will be for that item, so you have a good idea on how much you realistically should purchase in one shopping trip. If you still decide to purchase a certain number of the sale items, I would suggest to have a designated place in the pantry or refrigerator to place that particular item and clearly label when they will expire. This way, if the expiration date is approaching, you can decide whether to use the item or donate the extras to a local food bank. If you have more than 2 of the food items and it's 2 weeks till they are to expire, I would make a point to decide what meals they are to be used for and if by then you don't decide when to use at home, go ahead and donate the food. As for refrigerated items, if you use the bottom drawers for fruits and vegetables, clearly label what is in there and the date purchased/expiration date, so as to not forget since those drawers tend to be hidden and forgotten. Also, a helpful tip with other "hidden" food items is to make sure the food as well as their expiration date are clearly visible, especially if it is an item you don't use often. For example, eggs are a "hidden" food item. As a one person household who does not particularly like eggs, I always first just buy the half dozen, but even then I had a bad habit of finding myself throwing away eggs. What helped me was purchasing a cheap but cute looking basket to allow my fridge to not only look pretty, but allows me to easily see what I still have available to use. You may ask, "How do you know when the eggs will expire since you do not keep the carton?" I have a chalkboard on the wall directly on the other side wall to jot down important things and the expiration date is just one of those things! I do this for other "food" items, such as milk, shredded cheese, and butter. When organizing your food, it's also important to not forget your left overs. Once you finish a meal, if you have left overs, make sure to LABEL them with what it is and with the date it was prepared. If you and your family are people who don't like eating the same meal back to back, I suggest beginning to set aside your leftovers in the proper ziplock bags and labeled and placed in the freezer. With information at the tip of our fingers, you can easily and quickly search how long your leftovers will remain good to eat at a later date. 

If you want to be REALLY organized when it comes to your food, you can go as far as including meal prepping. Determine a day of the week or a day of the month to meal plan, create a grocery list for your meal planning, and then meal prep as the way you choose to organize your actual food. I'll be honest. I haven't reached this step just yet. Mainly because being a one person household who doesn't mind eating leftovers, it's not real important to me. Following the 3 steps mentioned above including organizing by types of food in my pantry, I don't find myself wasting food nor do I find myself wasting time. However, for families with busy people I can certainly see the benefit and I certainly plan on implementing meal planning into my 3rd step when I have a family.

If you follow these 3 steps, you should find yourself not wasting food, time, or money, which all around can allow us to help others. So. Are you ready to be intentional in following these 3 steps so we can come side by side to wipe out these statistics and help others? We can take a portion of that saved time and/or money and find a way to give back to others. We can volunteer at a local food bank. We can prepare blessing bags or purchase gift cards to give to those we see with hungry signs. And, for those who do buy in bulk, if you still find yourself with more than enough food to prepare, might I suggest you still deciding to cook the meal but invite those family members or friends you haven't seen in awhile or ask a local church if they have a family in need who could use the food. 

Let us know how these 3 steps help you and please share with us any tips and suggestions you have in regards to meal planning, creating a grocery list, organizing your actual food, and how you'd like to help others by giving your time and/or money.