Chrissy’s Top Back to School To-Dos

Another school year is here, and you’re scrambling to make sure all your ducks are in a row and your kids

are fully equipped to succeed. Every year presents a new slate of challenges, ups and downs, highs and lows, and as daunting as it seems, you’ll be able to get through it intact, just like last year and the year before.

But you don’t have to do it alone…

Chrissy the #DentonRealtor is here to give you a little inspo and a few helpful tips to make sure you’re

thriving throughout the school year — not just surviving.

So buckle up, the #DentonRealtor summer express is barreling toward the finish line!

Keep Your House Organized

Now that the school year is in full swing, it’s super important to keep things organized. Create a station for the kids’ backpacks, shoes, and lunch boxes to make the mornings easier. By having a centralized location that everyone in the house can rely on for their bare necessities, you’ll be able to breeze through your morning rituals consistently and quickly.

Create a meal plan each week. Trying to wing it every morning and just trusting you’ll have all the supplies for tasty and nutritious lunches will backfire in a big way. Have a plan for each week and make sure everything is ready before you go to bed the night before.

Back-to-school shopping doesn’t just need to be for the kids. Give your office a little love by adding new organization items or a signature furniture piece like a fun chair or mirror. Everything flows from the top down, so if you want the kids to be organized, you’ll have to do it first.

Keep Bedtime Routines as Regular as Possible

Kids are going to do their best to fight bedtime every night, but we all know the importance of sleep. If they’re up too late, they’re going to regret it tomorrow — and so are you! What you might not know is that your kids need way more sleep than you do. That’s right, tykes can still be tuckered even with 10+ hours of sleep!

Those growing bodies need time to grow — and that mostly happens at night. Here are some amounts of

sleep to keep in mind.

● Kids 3-5 years need 10-13 hours of sleep for optimal performance, bedtime between 6:00 and

9:00 pm

● Kids 6-12 years need 9-12 hours of sleep for optimal performance, bedtime between 7:00 and

10:00 pm

● Teens 13-18 need 8-10 hours of sleep for optimal performance, bedtime between 9:00 and

11:00pm

Run some sleep experiments (if you haven’t already) to see where your children fall on this spectrum and adjust their sleep schedules accordingly. They’ll thank you for it later.

Well, maybe not, but you get the idea.

Declutter

If you’re thinking you’re going to buy or sell in the next year, use this time to really declutter before the school year really gets out of hand. Those morning hours, getting everyone from “out the bed” to “out the door” are chaotic even in the best circumstances. Having excess clutter around the house is only going to make things crazier. Keep only what you’ve used in the last year. If all four seasons have come and gone — a full school year, winter AND summer vacation — and you haven’t found a use for certain items in your home, there’s a solid chance they’re redundant and you can live without them.

Take some time and rummage through all your knick-knacks, and use this metric to determine what’s useful and what’s just garbage. Donate toys and clothes. You’ve spent a decent amount of money on some of those, but let’s face it, those dusty old things are making your kid's closet smell like a crypt. Nobody’s going to miss them, and you might just make another child’s day by donating.

Clean out the garage, and maybe even have a garage sale. You’ll open up some space and have a little extra cash on hand to treat yourself for all the hard work you’ve been putting in preparing for the new school year.

Tips From One Mom to Another:

If you’re like me, balancing everything can be challenging, so getting the dates that matter on the calendar now allows for much more freedom later on since you won’t be caught off guard.

Plan something fun to look forward to after the first few weeks of school. Getting back into the swing of things can be hard, but planning a little fun can be just what the family needs to de-stress and take on the next week, month, and year with a little extra energy.

Having a bulletin board or message center is essential to staying on the same page. As your kids get older and become more self-sufficient, you’ll see them less throughout the day. Text messages can be forgotten, but having a center where all the most important notes are posted can ensure that everyone takes care of their errands

Give yourself grace. It can be chaotic getting back to school, but you will find your groove like you always do.

What’s a tip that is your go-to back-to-school trick of the trade?

Get to Know Chrissy the #DentonRealtor

Chrissy Mallouf has lived in Denton community for over 32 years and has become an integral part of Denton’s fabric. Chrissy obtained her real estate license in 2008 after spending over 16 years in the banking industry in roles ranging from consumer, commercial banking, and director of sales. She was recognized as the #1 buyer’s agent at Keller Williams Realty Denton in 2015, 2016, and 2017, has won the Denton Record Chronicles’ Best of Denton for the past 8 years and was awarded Best of Denton County since 2019. Chrissy is extremely passionate about mentoring and helping other achieve things they did not think were possible. In 2001, she was voted one of Denton’s most influential people. Chrissy graduated from the Texas Association of Realtors Leadership Program and serves on the 2020 Greater Denton/Wise County Association of Realtors Board of Directors. She is married to John Mallouf and has two beautiful children, Madison and Holden. Chrissy loves to spend time traveling with her family and making memories, supporting her kiddos in their various activities, volunteering, and cheering on her favorite football teams.

When she’s not being a super mom or a top-producing realtor, you will find Chrissy giving back to the community by serving on several non-profit boards. She serves on the Denton Parks Foundation Board, is involved in Denton ISD, is a member of Denton Benefit League supports major community events like Denton Holiday Lighting, Kiwanis Fireworks Show and Arts & Jazz. She is a member of the Denton Chamber of Commerce and serves on the Keller Williams Agent Leadership Council. She is your #DentonRealtor!