When she was born, people told us time would fly by. I
secretly cursed these people, sure they were just taunting the sleep-deprived
new parents with the impossible promise of a walking, talking, sleeping child right around the
corner, one who would dress herself and handle her own personal hygiene.
Five years later we’re still not sleeping, but otherwise it
was true. She knows more than I do about the ipad, dresses herself, puts
herself in the car, helps herself to a snack, and continues to grow like a weed
– proof that time does indeed fly.
The passage of time isn’t lost on Amelia. In fact, she’s pretty obsessed with it
lately. She counts down days until
birthdays, playdates, trips, even a new episode of Princess Sofia. That songabout the days of the week – sung to the tune of “The Addams Family” - has
become part of my subconscious playlist. I don’t even remember the original
version, it’s all about “there’s Sunday and there’s Monday”…you get the
idea. And if you have an
almost-kindergartener you’re snapping your fingers and cursing at me right now.
Anyway, this last year of preschool is all about getting
ready for kindergarten, and that means the days of the week – and the schedule
they dictate – are very important.
So we made a dry-erase schedule chart.
Really it’s just a fancier version of a dry-erase office
calendar, but instead of the date of the month, this one features the day of
the week. I’ve seen versions of this on pinterest and elsewhere over the years,
so when I came across a 5-opening frame missing some glass in the clearance bin
at Bed Bath and Beyond I knew exactly what to do with it. Buy it, sneak it into the house, and
finish this project before Jeff could question the purchase of a broken frame!
Fixing the frame was easy, I replaced the glass with glass from another one. Next, Amelia and I went through our basket of fabric scraps and picked out five patterns we liked. The key here is to choose patterns that are not too dark or too busy to serve as backgrounds for your dry erase marker. You could do this with paper too, but we have to use all that fabric for something!
We wrapped the backing from each frame with fabric, taping it tightly on the back. And then we re-inserted the fabric-covered backgrounds behind the glass. That’s it! We used sticker letters to add the days of the week (snap, snap!), hung it over the row of hooks that hold all of Amelia’s school bags, and filled it in with her schedule. If we were really fancy, we’d hang the ballet bag under the ballet day. But we’re not that fancy.
So we’re ready. Bring it, kindergarten. What day does school start?
Craving more crafty fun? Check out additional posts of A Crafty Mess over at Charlotte Parent. Or stop by my Etsy store, Made by Mommy. Or better yet, leave a comment here...I'd love to hear from you!
