Notes You Can't Miss

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The trick to reminder notes isn't writing them; it's posting them where you'll see them. My own favorite spots are the bathroom mirror and the back door. Messages for my husband, meanwhile, get pinched in the spout of the teakettle, which he reaches for first thing each morning. Here's a page full of other creative ideas from our Reader Panel.

Prep Time: Under 1 hour
What you need:
	post-it notes clothes pin paper pens markers
Seasons: Year round
Materials: clothespin, paper
Instructions:
1.	In the Zipper Beth Obergh of Wantagh, New York, clips notes to her kids' backpacks with a wooden clothespin. "I always put it on the open part of the zipper so they can't close the backpack with the clothespin on and it's really obvious," Beth says. The notes usually remind Andrew, age eight, and Rachel, six, about items that couldn't be packed the night before, such as oversize school projects or cupcakes for a class party. The child's name is marked on each pin in permanent ink
2.	In the Box In Harlingen, Texas, Jo-Anna Rosser puts reminders in her son's empty lunch box so she'll be sure to see them when she fills the box in the morning. This method was particularly handy last year when Tyler, age five, was in preschool and frequently had to bring in things that began with a specific letter of the alphabet.
3.	On the Pack As for remembering the lunch itself, DawnLyn Litz of Butler, Pennsylvania, says that one large L (for "lunch") on the kids' backpacks does the trick. DawnLyn cut 6-inch L's from cardboard and let her children, Cameron, age six, and Cassandra, three, decorate them and add self-stick Velcro and a small self-stick magnet to the back of each. (The magnet holds the L on the refrigerator door, and the Velcro keeps it on the backpack.) When the kids finish helping make their lunches the night before each school day, they put their lunch bags in the fridge, remove an L from the front of the fridge, and stick it on their backpacks (many backpacks have Velcro on them. If not, simply affix or sew the other half of the Velcro to the pack). "It's helpful and it makes the kids more independent," says DawnLyn.
4.	Top of the Stairs Twelve-year-old Lauren and ten-year-old Michael Foschino of North Massapequa, New York, take their cues from a checklist posted at the top of the stairs. Before heading down for breakfast each morning, they look to be sure they've done everything on the list--including wash up, make their beds, and put dirty clothes in the hamper--all illustrated with magazine pictures. "I'm an early bird, so I'm always downstairs before everybody," says mom Carmen. Prechecklist, "I had to go upstairs and remind both kids, 'Did you do this?' 'Did you do that?'" Now Carmen has to ask only one question: "Have you gone through the checklist?"