Well, it’s back to school again. It seems the summer just began, and it wasn’t much of a summer. The Midwest was hit with rainy days and cool nights. Ugh! I always seem to lose focus during the summer, kids sleeping in late and going to be bed even later, but to get everybody back on track, I have a couple of hacks that help my life run smoother.
[su_heading]CREATE A NO ELECTRONICS ZONE[/su_heading]
📵 Living in a digital age, it can become alluring as a parent to just put our kids in front of a tablet so that we can go and tackle another task, but according to the American Academy of Pediatrics, too much screen time can have a positive and negative effect on healthy development. Kids need to learn to interact with others, have family time and playtime. But limiting screen time can be a pain for parents because let’s face it, kids are crazy about their electronic devices. It’s a tough job, but I have the responsibility of monitoring all my kids’ cellphones and tablets. Yippee for me! So, what I have done is created a deadline. All electronic devices go into the electronics bin an hour and a half before bedtime. No exceptions!
[su_heading]CREATE A HOMEWORK ZONE[/su_heading]
Organize their homework space before school starts. It helps get the school year off to a great start. It doesn’t take a ton of money. I found many items at my local Goodwill store for under 30 bucks. Cha-ching💲
[su_heading]CREATE A SNACK BAR ZONE[/su_heading]
This is something you can do all year-round, but I tend to do it only during the school year. Why frustrate yourself with kids pleading to snack all day? Out of sight, out of mind. But when the school year starts, I just buy in bulk healthy items and a few nonhealthy items and then I organize and put them in a bin. One snack before dinnertime, please.
[su_heading]CREATE LUNCHES THEY WILL LOVE[/su_heading]
There’s only so many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches a kid can take! I invested in a couple of thermoses. They’re great for chicken nuggets, chilly, soup, mac and cheese and pizza rolls, anything that you want to keep warm, and your kid will think you are the best mom in the world for it. 💕
[su_heading]CREATE A CHALKBOARD WALL[/su_heading]
Buy or make a chalkboard wall. This helps me out so much. It alleviates the stress of having to assign daily assignments because it’s right there. Everyone knows what they’re supposed to do. This is where I write out daily chores, the dinner menu, love notes, scriptures, or just doodles and all it cost was a can of chalkboard spray paint from local home improvement store.
[su_heading]CREATE A BACK TO SCHOOL DINNER[/su_heading]
I used to do this every year but haven’t done it in the last two years because of, like, LIFE. Make your kids favorite dinner! Seafood is my children’s favorite. Pricey, right? They haven’t gone back to school yet, so I don’t have any pictures, but this year, I think I am going to try a seafood boil. Upload pictures soon. 😋
Let me know some of your back to school tricks. Please, comment below.
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As always, health and happiness. . .
Hi there! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone
3gs! Just wanted to say I love reading through
your blog and look forward to all your posts! Keep up the great work!
Thanks so much! Please, come back and visit.