Back to School Cleaning Routine |Frugal Front Porch

Back to school season triggers a whirlwind of activity and chaos with the shopping, coordinating childcare and transportation, and generally adapting to a new daily schedule for the next ten months. Back to school generally triggers another round of Spring-like cleaning for me. Here are a few things on my back to school list you might or might not have thought about:

Carpet cleaning. I try to do this twice a year: when school starts and near Spring Break. My living room carpet is a light color so it doesn’t take long before it needs a deep cleaning. (A dirt colored carpet would be AWESOME!)
Closet cleaning. Before we bring in the new back to school wardrobe, we get rid of all the items everyone’s outgrown during the summer (including shoes and winter gear).
Prep for Winter. Our winter is unlike any other part of the country. Our lowest temps are 40 BELOW zero with around 8 feet of snow. Winter usually hits around late October, so I start getting our Winter gear ready right after the kids are back in class.
Organize a homework station. Ours is the dining room table but I also clear a drawer from the buffet to dedicate to papers and progress reports I want to save. I also gather up pencils, sharpeners, erasers, scratch paper, etc in a central location.
Clean out the car. Especially if you plan to transport the kiddos to school everyday, it’s a good idea to make sure it’s free from a summer’s worth debris and trash from trips to the playground, fast food wrappers, loose coins, vacation supplies, and the like.
Clean the computer and printer. Our school communicates electronically so I like to make sure my email is cleaned and organized, pictures from the previous year are placed on a memory card/stick, printed or whatever, and any other unused programs are wiped from the hard drive. I also double check my browser and computer security settings to make sure everything is still set up correctly. I also like to make sure my printer is in optimum functionality and blow out any dust or debris that collects in the nooks and crevices.

This is just a few of the oddball things “back to school” triggers for my household. What unusual things hit your list this time of year??