Advice for Surviving the School Year

Hello again readers!

After quite a long hiatus I'm back.

Its been quite a task getting back into the swing of this northern California, for one thing, I have been adding LOTS more veggies into my diet, and the pizza weight I gained during my 'farewell to CT and delicious pizza' combined with my two week road trip full of Sonic.. had left me feeling less then in shape.. but more on that in a future post.

For now I'm talking back to school, I know seems early, but get ready though because September is almost a month away. In the coming months the best thing that we can do is get ready to put those little ones back on the bus, and getting them back into a routine is important, the earlier you start the earlier everyone can get back in the routine.

Tips on Surviving the School Year

1. Start the day off right: A good breakfast is not only important, its easy. Eggs are most often one pan meals, throw in a side of yogurt or fruit, a muffin or whole grain toast and some Orange Juice a great meal. Or cook up some pancakes with fresh blueberries and serve with a side of yogurt. If you're in a rush, throw some precut frozen fruit in a blender with some juice, yogurt, and serve it up with a muffin. You'll quickly learn that its easy to have a healthy breakfast, and feel the results in your days.
2. Get involved: I feel this is especially important when your kids are younger. Some kids have a bit of separation anxiety (especially if you are a stay at home mom) Of course, some mommies suffer the same. Join your kids classroom and help out at parties, or just help out during the day, see what your school has to offer.
3. If your kids are young go for quality: Kids wear stuff out at school, they eat in it, play in it, cook in it, paint in it, get wet in it, get dirty in it. Chances are if you buy cheap products you're going to be buying a lot. So make sure that you get quality clothes and shoes. 
4. If you're kids are older go for cheap: Lets face it fads change like crazy after about fifth grade. So to avoid fights, go to  Walmart or Target and don't spend a ton, because chances are next month they're gonna want new clothes.
5. Agree on healthy choices: Making healthy choices for lunch are important so agree with your kid (and yourself) to pack healthy lunches.  The Laptop Lunchbox is my favorite a bento style lunchbox for the school year, It comes with reusable containers, and a cookbook filled with healthy recipes for lunches.
6. Do something for you: while your kids are at school do something during the day for yourself, whether it be , going for a walk, reading a book, a club, a craft, or just a new television show. Find something you can indulge in, some me-time is great, if you have younger kids, see if you're local gym offers daycare, I joined mine and I spend at least 2 hours a day there.
7. Get into a routine: and start early. Decide on a order of events both before and after school so that things run smoothly for all involved and so that everything that needs to be done gets done everyday! If this is hard for your little one, write it down, and award stickers for good days! Prizes for a whole month or week of great behavior!

Try some of these out and your school year is sure to run a bit more smoothly! Good luck!

This post was written by me in a contest sponsored by MasterLock, for a back to school prize pack

Check out http://www.facebook.com/masterlock for more info about their locks.