Somehow my children are old enough to go to preschool! It is baffling to me because just yesterday they were unable to hold their own heads up. Now they are ready to go to preschool without me. I know that I will have a harder time adjusting than they will, so I am throwing myself into getting all the details sorted out.
One little detail I wanted to sort out was creating a place for Archer and Lyla to hang their backpacks. I am all about every item in our home having a place to live. You know, a place for everything and everything in its place. I wanted it to be somewhere visible and somewhere Archer and Lyla can easily access. That way they can be in charge of keeping track of their backpacks.
I found the perfect spot for their backpacks right by our front door. It was practically begging for some hooks! I threw around the idea of just hanging some hooks directly into the drywall using some drywall anchors. But my kids tend to be a little rough and I had visions of them tearing the hooks out of the wall the first time they picked up their backpacks. So I decided a wood board behind the hooks was in order. That way, the board could be directly screwed into the studs and the hooks could be directly screwed into the board.
Lucky for me, I knew the perfect guy for the job. Just look at how excited he is to have one more task added to his already lengthy to do list.
Adam has lots of scrap wood lying around, so he found a piece of poplar that would do the trick. I told him I just needed it cut down to size and stained, but he wouldn't stand for just that. He had to add his woodworking skills to the job and decided to route the edges to give it some more character.
Once the edges of the board were routed, he stained it using some old stain we already had on hand. It's the same stain (General Finishes Gel Stain in Nutmeg) we used on our DIY growth ruler that we made several years ago. Then he finished off the wood with a satin topcoat. Once the board the was dry, he added the hooks and screwed the board right into the wall. Two sets of screws went directly into the studs. The far set of screws just went into the drywall, so Adam made sure to add some drywall anchors into the drywall before securing it to the wall. To hide the screws, he added some wooden button plugs. It turned out beautifully!
The new set of hooks fits in nicely with the rest of our little makeshift command center. The brass hooks tie in nicely with my thrifted brass mail center. And I'll be sure to take a "First Day of Preschool" picture with the kids holding our letter board sign.
We made sure to hang it at the perfect height for our kids. They can easily hang up and take off their backpacks from the hooks. I asked Adam to include four hooks so they would also have a place to hang a jacket or coat. Having these hooks will help us keep track of the items they'll need to take to preschool and also foster some independence for Archer and Lyla. They'll be in charge of hanging up their backpacks when they get home.
We've got all the supplies we need and are ready to start preschool! We even made sure to get their teacher a little something to let her know how much we appreciate her. Our preschool made it easy for us by including a list of each teacher's favorites on their website. So Archer and Lyla will be bringing their teacher a Target gift card and Snickers bars when they head to preschool. They also each made a little card. Having been a teacher before staying home with Archer and Lyla, I remember how much those small kindnesses are appreciated.
Now we're all set for the start of preschool! And I'll try my very best not to cry as I drop them off.
