Summer is flying by and before you know it kids will be back to school. For some reason, back to school comes with its fair share of drama. School supply lists are getting longer, there is more pressure on kids to do well on tests and I am already expecting my son to have a good amount of homework. After a few years of this, I am finally to the point where BTS no longer stresses me out. Now we enjoy the summer fully, since I know I’ve got the back to school thing under control. 😉
Here are a few of my favorite tips to help simplify heading back to school:
- Shop for Clothes Early: Retailers hop on the back to school clothes bandwagon really early these days, so take advantage of that. I get all my school clothes shopping done before August since I do NOT like going when the rush is on. I find that many places have unbeatable in-store deals, so this is one time that I prefer heading out to the brick-and-mortar locations versus shopping online. Also, my kids grow so quickly that it is helpful to have them try things on, especially shoes.
- Get School Supplies Online: While I may love hitting the stores to get school clothes shopping out of the way, I am all about online shopping when it comes to school supplies. These days many online retailers make it SO easy. Amazon has thousands of school supply lists readily available, you simply type in the zip code and find your child’s school. One click later, and I have a box of school supplies right at my door. It is AMAZING.
- Start Getting Back to Normal Bedtime: I know, I know. You aren’t supposed to change your kid’s bedtime over the summer, but whatever. I let my kids stay up later over the summer since they get to wake up later. I like the extra time I get to hang out with them. However, it does take some preparation to make sure they will be ready for the early morning wakeup call once school starts. I start having them go to bed earlier a few weeks before, and I wake them a little closer to their school wake-up time each day.
- Clean out your Junk Drawer/Closet: You know you have one. That one area of the house where all the school things go. Papers, forms, artwork… it is the one place you throw it all. We have a hall closet where all paperwork goes to die. Before school starts we like to clean the whole thing out and re-organize it. Grab a Hefty trash bag and toss out everything you know you don’t need. If you aren’t sure, place it into a box and put it away. If you haven’t needed any of the items after 3 months, toss the box. Nothing beats an organized closet! We lie to ourselves and say this is how it will stay all year long, even though we all know it won’t. It is still nice to start with a clean slate.
Time to tackle this hall closet!
- Get Your Meal Prep in Check: We slack over the summer when it comes to meal prep, since the pace is a bit slower. Work is a tiny bit slower over the summer months so we get home a bit earlier and the kids are allowed to stay up later so we aren’t rushing to get dinner on the table. Once school starts, the routine kicks back into high gear so we are sure to be ready! I stock up on all my cooking essentials, like Reynolds Kitchens Parchment Paper and Slow Cooker Liners & Oven Bags to make it easy to get healthy meals on the table quickly! (added bonus: they also have Box Tops on them, which helps bring in money to your child’s school! Winning!)
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Veggies roasted for the week!
There you go, 5 tips to help simplify back to school. Be sure to look for box tops while shopping for back to school items. They make a huge difference for your child’s school! (check out this post I did on box tops, as you can see I am obsessed with the program!) While you’re at it, you should enter the Reynolds Kitchens + Hefty Box Tops for Education sweepstakes! It runs between August 21st and August 29st. With 50 instant winners a day and 5 grand prize winners, there’s no reason not to enter every day. The 5 grand prize winners will each receive $1,000 in Box Tops for their school. Entering is easy, just click here!
I have a two year old, so he’s not quite in full school mode. However, these are amazing tips that I’ll have to remember for when that time comes!! Thanks for the great ideas 🙂
Great information. Thanks!
Great tips! I especially like that one about ordering supplies online. Definitely going to have to look into that. I’ve also learned over the years that I often have supplies still left from last year or some things come home at the end of the year that can be used again, especially folders! So, I try to “shop my stash” first. That helps me a lot!
Great advice!!! Definitely going to be following some of these tips for myself haha
#5. Guilty. :-/ Just this week I’m starting to get back into meal planning/prepping!! School starts in two weeks for us. Eeek….
Love the idea of roasting the veggies for the week, heck all meals ahead! ”Tis the season to get ready for the new school year!:) great tips
great pics and tips!
https://www.midorilinea.com/blogs/midori-linea/midori-linea-style-love-3
xoxoSakura
This is all very smart! It’s tough to get back into a routine after the summer. I go back to work as an assistant principal mid-August. So even though my son isn’t back until Sept it’s important we get back into routine earlier
Congratulations on the new gig! That sounds exciting!
YES! Awesome tips. Thanks so much!
I just checked on Amazon for the School Lists (https://www.amazon.com/gp/school-lists) and found the following:
“Note the School List program is no longer available. If your teacher previously used School List, please ask them to share their newly-created “Idea List” with you directly.”
It’s still a great place to shop for all school supplies. Usually what I do is create a wish list on amazon with all of the school supplies and then the next time I’m shopping for groceries, I check prices of amazon vs. wherever I’m at using amazon’s app.
Oh no! I guess not all schools take part.. good to know!
These are great tips! One thing I would add is to talk to any of your kids that may be feeling anxiety about the coming school year. If s/he feels that s/he has someone to talk to and then you can dispel some of the fears, that will also help to start the school year off on the right foot!