Although the truly hectic part of fall doesn’t really start until the end of October for most people, you don’t want to be tripping over summer over the next couple of months. So, take this time to store, put away or organize your summer items and clothing, souvenirs, photos, etc. It’s also a good time to shift some of your habits and those of your family from “vacation" mode to “normal" mode.



Summer Items and Clothing

Once the summer is over, is it really necessary to keep the beach towels, inflatable rafts, and water slides out? If you are one of those people who live where the weather and lifestyle accommodates these things year-round, then this section does not apply to you. For the rest of us, who have distinct seasons, we really need to clean up and pack away these things until next year. The same goes for summer clothing. Ask yourself before storing it if you intend to wear the clothes next year. Also, check to see if the children’s things will even fit them by the time next summer comes around. If not, why take up the storage space? Donate it or get rid of it now.

Souvenirs and Photos

People often come back from summer holidays with mementoes of their days away. Who wants to deal with undeveloped rolls of film, jars filled with beach sand and shells, and numerous brochures, ticket stubs and receipts from summer’s attractions in October? Don’t put it off.

Back to “Normal"

During the summer, many of us tend to get lazy on a variety of fronts. Chanting the mantra “I’m on VACATION!", we eat less healthy, we stay up later and sleep in later, we put off chores, we dress more casually, we exercise less (except for kids who probably exercise more!), and we spend much more time on entertainment (DVD rentals, movies, video games, shopping, Internet, etc.) than we normally do.

While some of these things may translate into our everyday lives without any visible problem, many of these habits are not healthy ones to carry over into the fall. In fact, several of the ones I’ve mentioned have a horrible circular effect. We eat less healthy foods so we have less energy. So, we don’t exercise as much and we watch more TV. Because of the sugar and caffeine, we end up staying up later and have trouble getting up in the morning. We feel sluggish, slow and not up to par during the day, so we consume more caffeine and sugar and put off doing more of what needs to be done and so on.

It’s a dangerous cycle to get into. The next thing you know, your home is a total wreck and you have become a couch potato with little to no desire to do anything and experiencing little joy in the process. It’s perfectly OK to “take a vacation". The key is not to take it to excess.

Prepare to “fall" into the next season

Even as you are packing away the summer, it’s a great time to start prepping what you’ll need for fall. You don’t want to get caught off guard by the first bad storm of the season or the first really cool day. Start making arrangements now to turn off the air conditioning and turn on the furnace or heater. Make sure that your car is ready for autumn. Things like windshield wipers may have dried out with the summer heat and may crumble during the first downpour leaving you struggling to see out of your front windshield. Begin unpacking, airing out and cleaning your fall clothing items and linens, checking at the same time to see if any are obsolete or unusable. Just doing some of these things ahead of time can save you a lot of scrambling later, allowing you the time instead to fully enjoy the season.