The S word is in the air. School. Are you ready to get back in the routine?

Michelle Hurst is much more prepared this year for the chaos and activities that ramp up when the school starts. Last August, Michelle, a South Florida mother of four, found herself overwhelmed by the papers that came home in her kids' backpacks, the assignments that needed to be completed and the schedule of kids' activities that required tag-team parenting.

The Hursts have made some major changes since I visited them last August with a professional organizer. At the time, Michelle was juggling parenting duties, her full-time college workload, her retail business and her marriage to an elementary school teacher.

Her lack of organizational skills led to miscommunication with her business partner and a visual nightmare in her kitchen with school papers piled all over her counters and taped to walls. This school year, her three sons -- ages 7, 8 and 10 -- return to elementary. Her daughter, 22, will begin her last year of college.

Today, the inside of her home shows some of the clutter has been tamed. A black binder sits on her kitchen shelf, just as organizer Diane Hatcher had recommended. Inside the binder in pockets and plastic sleeves, Michelle keeps birthday party invitations, school lunch menus, her sons' football schedules and anything else she might need to refer to at a later time. ``That has worked extremely well,'' she says.

With the start of school approaching, the busy mother is getting ready to re-hang an oversized calendar in the kitchen where she and her husband will write children's doctors appointments, sports practices and early release days. Both Michelle and her husband, John, say they plan to be even more diligent about putting dates on the calendar this school year. ``Jacob had a doctor's appointment and looking at the calendar reminded me to take him,'' John says. Yet, John, a fifth-grade teacher, says he also realizes he needs to get his own paper calendar for his work schedule and personal appointments. ``My students have agendas but I don't have one. My agenda has been my e-mails.''

Hatcher had advised both parents to also keep individual calendars that incorporate personal and work schedules. She wanted them to check their calendar at the end of each day to know what's ahead for tomorrow -- particularly if there are any supplies or snacks that need to be purchased. Michelle says she now works some evenings so combining all her calendars will help her know ahead of time when she has a conflict.

As most working parents know, the daily school routine often requires coordination between mom and dad. Michelle says with Hatcher's prodding, she and John started talking more about their schedules for the upcoming week. ``Planning together is some of the fun,'' Michelle explains. ``It makes us take the time to talk about what we have to do for the upcoming week and get motivated.'' Hatcher suggests this is a crucial back-to-school organization tip that parents tend to ignore. ``There's a lack of communication in families these days,'' Hatcher says. ``That's really where schedule conflicts come from.''

When the discussion turns to backpack clutter, Michelle chuckles and admits she's still perfecting the sorting process. This is a battle for many parents. Hatcher had advised Michelle to go through her three sons' backpacks the minute they arrive home, tossing notes and putting keepsakes in a bin for each child. ``That routine made life a lot easier,'' Michelle says. But deciding what to keep, she admits, was tricky. ``I knew it was going to be difficult to throw away their school papers.''

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