5 Things To Do At The End Of Summer For The Best Back To School Start
This short list of projects to do at the end of summer can help you and your household recover and transition back into the swing of things for Back to School.
by Jolene Tang, Contributing Writer
Quick. What comes to mind when you think about summer?
Pool time and weekend BBQs? Special trips to see family out of state? Hiking adventures in nature, along with the inevitable sunburns and mosquito bites?
The summer season is full of exciting possibilities and sweet memories, but often it is over too quickly and can leave you feeling drained and exhausted.
So today, I’ve compiled a short list of projects to help you and your household recover from the summer and transition back into the swing of things this fall.
5 Things To Do At The End Of Summer
1. Organize your Summer Memories
Scrapbooking can be a fun way for you to commemorate your family’s experiences. I love scrapbooking, but it’s very easy for me to fall behind in putting it all together. I’m going on six years and counting!
I recommend spending an afternoon collecting all of your pictures, postcards, tickets, programs, and menus from your summer activities before too much time passes. Use one envelope or Ziploc bag per trip and label it, so that regardless of whether or not you decide to scrapbook right then and there, everything will be easy to find later.
You might even enjoy spending a few minutes jotting down highlights from each trip on index cards which, in turn, can be kept with the envelopes and/or bags for later reference.
2. Look through your Summertime essentials
Once summer vacation is over, I sort through our warm-weather staples to see if we really need to put them in storage or if they can be thrown out.
Inspect your sunscreen, aloe vera, and bug repellent to see if they’ll be expiring any time soon.
Keep in mind that if you’re using more natural and organic products, they will typically have an even shorter shelf life than their name-brand counterparts.
When it comes to other items, such as summertime toys or camping gear, browse through them to see if anything is broken and/or needs to be repaired.
3. Sort through your wardrobe
Back-to-School shopping is upon us. This is a great time to take a look at which seasonal clothes might not last your family another year and repurpose them into rags or crafting clothes (goodness knows I have a lot of those!). It could also be the right time to look at which lightly-used clothes might be good candidates for the donation pile.
I love the feeling of paring down my closet to just the things I enjoy wearing, and this habit has even helped curb my impulse spending on clothes I’m not 100% sure about.
When those irresistible end-of-season discounts come around, be intentional with your purchases and rest easy knowing that you’ve already freed up some space in your wardrobe for them.
4. Deep clean your house
Summer is tough for me when it comes to household cleaning because not only does everything get dustier and dirtier, but I straight up do not enjoy doing dishes or moving around and putting things away when the weather is hot. We live ten minutes from the beach and do not have central air conditioning, so when it’s hot outside, it’s hot inside.
My advice is to take advantage of the weather turning cooler and give your house a deep cleaning. I make my cleaning tasks more enjoyable by listening to an audiobook, some lovely music, or a TV show. Treat yourself to something you like and try getting to those places you missed during your weekly wipe-downs!
4. Plan a staycation
Need a vacation from your vacation? How about planning a staycation with your family instead? Honestly, I probably like staycations way more than vacations. There’s just something so relaxing to me about having a nice dinner at home and playing games, or putting on a movie and making homemade popcorn.
You could even use this time to watch home videos of your summer trips or share your favorite pictures and memories with each other. I think this is a wonderful way to wind down and prepare for the next season.
What are your typical end-of-summer routines? When was the last time you took a vacation or planned a staycation, and what did you do?
Jolene is a wife, DIY addict & cat lover who writes from her home in Los Angeles. She adores everything historical & vintage, and could happily wander through a used bookstore for hours without even buying anything. Grab a cup of tea & feel free to visit her blog, which features unique home decor ideas, DIY project tutorials, and tips on budget living.
