Getting Ready for Fall & Winter

If you live in an area that sees all the season like I do. September is a reminder that you have some long months coming up. Not only are you getting back to school, but you are thinking about upcoming holidays, colder weather, snow, etc. I have complied a detailed checklist of things to do to help ease those concerns and get ready for the fall and winter months! 

Cold Weather Gear: 

• Get an inventory of your family’s cold weather gear
• Make sure everyone has what they need
• Check sizing on coats, scarves, gloves, and boots for your children
• Discard/donate unwanted or unused items
• Find a central location to keep all items that will make coming in and going out of the house easier 

Tidy the Garage: 

• Put away summer decorations, outdoor activity gear, gardening supplies, grill
• Clean and put away/cover outdoor furniture
• Pull out items needed for fall lawn care- rakes, leaf blowers, etc.
• Pull out items needed for winter weather- shovel, salt, prep snow blower
• Pull out items for winter sports
  • Inventory items
  • Check sizing
  • Make any repairs needed 

Restock First Aid Kits:

• Restock items drained from those summer scrapes
• Restock cold medication- be proactive about making sure you have these items so you don’t have to run out when someone gets sick
• Restock tissues- runny noses and sniffles are coming your way ensure you have tissues for the house and small packets for on-the-go 
• Restock/ wash facemasks (if needed) 

Declutter Toys: 

• Donate toys your children are no longer playing with or have outgrown
• Trash/recycle toys that are broken or missing parts 

​Clothing: 

• Put away summer clothing
• Pull out warmer clothing
• donate/offload items that no longer fit or you no longer want from both summer and warmer clothing
• Go through you child(ren)s clothes, donate/offload any items that no longer fit or will not fit when summer comes around again 

​Lawn Care/ Gardening/ Outdoors: 

• Mow the lawn for the last time and begin leaf cleaning
• Clean gutters
• Move tropical plants indoors (if needed)
• Order and stack firewood
• Cut perennials back for winter
• Plant spring bulbs 

Car: 

• Remove beach, picnic, summer items from trunk
• Deep clean your car
• Make a winter car kit:
  • Small container of salt or cat litter
  • Snow brush
  • Emergency blanket
  • Spare hat & gloves
  • Handwarmers
  • Phone charger
  • Flares
  • Deicer
  • Jumper cables
  • Flashlight & extra batteries
  • Small shovel. 

​Other Household Fall To-Do’s: 

• Have heating systems maintained
• Clean and set up humidifiers
• Put away summer quilts and linens
• Take out warmer, winter quilts and linens
• Test all smoke and carbon monoxide alarms (should be done monthly), replace any batteries needed
• Check flashlights make sure they work, replace batteries if needed, in case of power outages
• Start prepping for holiday season:
  • Restock home bar
  • Inventory spice rack and baking supplies, restock if needed  
  • Organize pots & pans, service ware, baking pans
  • Organize table linens and seasonal dishware
  • Deep-clean the oven 

​Fall Fun for the Whole Family: 

• Go leaf-peeping
• Go apple and pumpkin picking
• Celebrate Oktoberfest by inviting friends & family over for craft beer & bratwurst
• Visit a haunted maze
• Make Halloween costumes & decorations
• Carve pumpkins
• Make Thanksgiving decorations
• Consider volunteering at local food banks or shelters
• Bake spooky cookies for Halloween
•  Bake turkey and leaf themed cookies for Thanksgiving 

Happy Fall Y'all!!
Remember to HAVE FUN too!

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