Luckily, some smart teachers came up with a great solution: pizza boxes. Pizza boxes are a great vehicle to store your lil’ one’s (and your) favorite items from that year of school without taking up too much space everywhere. They also are fairly flat and can stack easily under beds, in closets, above cabinets, or behind couches when they’re not being used. If a pizza box is too big for the projects you saved or the storage space in your home, you can always do shoeboxes as well.

Decorate your pizza or shoe box on the outside to personalize it

First, have your lil’ ones decorate the box on the outside and inside with their favorite memories from the year, their handprints, signatures from friends and classmates, or any other creative way to help them remember that year in school.

Next, it’s time to fill your pizza box with projects and memories. Pick out your favorite art projects, papers, worksheets, and letters from the year and fill the box. Take the rest and throw it all out (your cluttered house will thank you later). If you choose items carefully, you won’t regret getting rid of the rest of the clutter.

Lastly, close it up with a piece of tape on the front so it can’t fly open when being carried around. Voila! Now you have a creative, cute, and efficient way of saving your lil’ ones memories and projects without taking over your home.

-Lauren grew up babysitting her neighbors and the kids down the street and now works in-house at BFC at the Creative & Social Media Coordinator. She loves creative, crafty projects… and pizza too

My husband has lived his entire life in the tri-state area and I have been here for fifteen years, so it’s a BIG change for both of us. Yet, somehow I don’t feel as scared as one might expect. No, I don’t have a job lined up. No, I’ve never seen the townhome in which we’ll be spending our first year. No, I haven’t driven a car regularly in more than a decade. None of that scares me though, because this move is different than any other I’ve made before. This is not for my benefit; it’s for my daughter’s. It’s so she can grow up near family and in a house with a yard. It’s so we can give her the quality of life that we had as children.

Happy family ready for a change!

Of course I’m nervous about moving to a new city and starting over. But I’m also excited! We get to explore a great new place, meet new people, have new adventures and create a new home. We get to do all of this together!! If there’s one thing I’ve learned in my first five months of motherhood, it’s that children are a fantastic way to meet people. I plan to find every fun family event, class and location in the Washington, D.C. area!! We are going to have a great summer getting to know our new home.

And, yes, I will admit that I am SUPER excited to have a dishwasher and washer/dryer….just think of all the extra time I’ll have now that I won’t need to hand wash every bottle, binky and breast pump accessory!!

Yes change can feel scary, but if we let it, change can feel exciting. I’m ready, bring it on!

-Jolynn Baca Jaekel has been a fitness professional for more than a decade and just had her first child with husband Rob in January. She and her family just relocated from NYC to Washington D.C.