Looking for a unique and memorable teacher’s gift to make for your school art or preschool teacher? How about a fun wreath to decorate the door or classroom? My daughter and I had fun putting this wreath together for an art themed party we had but the wreath turned out so nice we gave it to one of her teachers as a gift.

You’ll Need:

• A grapevine wreath
• Colorful ribbon
• Twist tie or floral wire
• Art supplies like crayons, colored pencils, paintbrushes, colorful scissors, and maybe a tiny wooden art easel
• Glue gun

Most of the decorative art supplies were gathered from our own stash so I really only needed to buy the wreath and ribbon.


To assemble:

1. Tie and knot the ribbon around the wreath to start off. Then keep wrapping the ribbon all the way around the wreath to make a diagonal pattern. Cut the ribbon and tie the loose end to the original knot where you started.

2. Create a big bow out of the same ribbon with several ends hanging down. Here’s a great video on how to tie a big, beautiful ribbon bow. Attach it to the wreath with the floral wire. (Or you could use the glue gun to glue it. However you might see the glue if your ribbon is sheer.)

3. Now start decorating with the art supplies. I was able to attach most of the art supplies by inserting them directly into the twisted grapevines or tucking them under the ribbon. For heavier or flatter items we used the glue gun.

Viola! A pretty wreath to give as a homemade end-of-year appreciation gift for your favorite teacher.


Need some more Teacher’s Gift Ideas? Check out:

10 Perfect Teacher’s Gift Ideas

Easy and Inexpensive Teacher’s Gift Ideas

Unique End-of-Year Teacher’s Gift Ideas

Fun, Homemade Teacher’s Gift Ideas

Or, follow my Teacher’s Gift Ideas board on Pinterest.

What gift are you planning to give your child’s teacher this year?

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Mom's Corner

School has started and everyone in the family is back onto a more consistent schedule, which gives me a sigh of relief. However, even though we are back to that school-year routine, new challenges are cropping up. A flood of school papers and kids’ artwork is coming home weekly and piling up. It’s hard to keep track of all of the after school activities and gear. I’m already bored with making lunches for my daughter and need some new ideas. Finally, it’s like pulling teeth to get the kids to talk about their day at the dinner table. It’s impacting my ability to have FUN!!!!

I figured that I wasn’t the only one facing these challenges so I decided to round up some advice to give us busy families some relief. After all, managing the family schedule and keeping the house organized leaves more time for Family Fun and “Chocolate Cake Moments.” What challenges are you facing now that school has started up again? Please leave me a comment. I’d love to hear from you.

• Tips for Stress-Free Volunteering at Your Child’s School or Activities




• 5 Tips to Organize Your Kids’ School Papers




• 8 Ways to Make Your Child’s School Lunch Less Boring




• Managing Your Child’s After-School Activities to Keep Mom Sane




• 6 Ideas to Get Your Kids to Talk More About their Day




• Download my free e-Guide on How to Organize, Store and Display Your Kids Artwork

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

Now that school and after school activities have started, paperwork of all kinds is about to coming flooding into your house. Isn’t it amazing the amount of papers that your kids bring home? Even if your school has gone “paperless” like ours, between my two kids, we still bring home about 10 papers a day that need to be signed, saved, recycled, or kept for an upcoming event. Artwork, homework sheets, phone lists, permission slips, and birthday party invites are already threatening to take over my kitchen. To avoid the piles of clutter in your kitchen, check out these tips on how to organize your kids’ school paperwork so that nothing gets lost and you keep the clutter under control.

1. Designate a place to put all school papers. Do you have a desk or place to set up a few files? If not, claim a place in the kitchen, office or laundry room that is the perfect spot for school papers. Ask the kids to help out and empty the folders in their backpack every night so nothing gets forgotten or misplaced.

2. Create a folder filing system. You’ll need folders for temporary papers, permanent information, and kid’s artwork. In the temporary folders, put the paperwork that you need to hang onto for a few days. This can be field trip forms, notices for school parties, birthday party invitations, or weekly homework packets. At the end of the week, empty the folder into the recycle bin. In the permanent folder, include school phone numbers, schedules, contact numbers for afterschool activities, etc. Finally, throw your kids artwork in a special folder. At the end of the month, go through it and keep the masterpieces you want. Don’t forget to date them first! (Download my FREE eGuide on How to Organize and Showcase Your Kids Artwork for more ideas.) download my free e-Guides Organize the School Paperwork Chaos.

3. Create folders or a holding area for your kids other activities such as Religious Education Classes, Tutor schedules, Boy Scouts, Soccer, Spanish class, piano, etc. We have a few magazine racks sitting on the laundry room counter for this purpose because they can hold papers, phone lists, folders, and any text books the kids need to grab for their weekly classes. I put it in the laundry room so it’s easy to grab as we walk out the door for class.

4. A box for Box Tops. Collecting Box Tops for school? Have an envelope or small box in a kitchen drawer designated to hold the box tops you collect to send in for school fundraising. When it is collection time, they will be easy to find so you can divide them up equally between the kids to send in.

5. Family Schedules at a Glance. Get a designated Family Calendar. It is essential to have a place where everyone in the family can refer to for upcoming activities, appointments, and social dates. If someone asks your daughter to babysit, she can easily check and see if she is available. If Dad comes home from work and no one is home, he can check the calendar and see that everyone is at soccer practice. There are several Mom or Family Planning Calendar brands on the market, so see which one works best for you, create your own or use an online service like Cozi.com that Mom, Dad, and maybe kids can access with their cell phones.

What other tips do you have for getting the kids’ paperwork organized so you feel more in control?

For even more tips on how to get control of the paperwork chaos in your house, download my free e-guide on download my free e-Guide for Busy Moms to Control the Paperwork Chaos.

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Tags: Back to School Tips

Now that school, scouting and sports activities are underway the need for volunteers for these organizations is in full swing. We all want to help out and get involved in our kids school or extracurricular activities, right? It’s a great way to meet your kids’ friends so you can put faces to their stories. It’s also a nice way to meet other parents in your area. Even when your kids are teens and it may not be cool to be seen with Mom, some readers have assured me that their teens really do appreciate seeing their parents get involved in their world.

However, don’t let volunteering stress you out or become a burden. I want to stay involved in my kids’ schools and they aren’t overbooked with activities, but some days the requests for help seem overwhelming. Or, some Moms tell me that they feel such guilt to contribute that they volunteer, but it adds stress to their lives and they end up resenting it. If that is how you feel, stop!

Sure, schools and organizations need all of the volunteer help they can get. But, everyone is at a different point in their life. If you have the time to volunteer and enjoy it, do so.

You may want to organize the Book Fair this year because you have some great ideas on how to make it better. Great! But, if work is just crazy for you, then cut yourself some slack and only do what you can. The last thing you want to do is commit to a project and not deliver or do it poorly because you resent the time.

Have no fear, there are plenty of different ways to give back and each year you can volunteer at a different level. Here are some tips to help you decide how you want to volunteer.

1. Every year is different.
Some years, my schedule was flexible so I could chaperone field trips, help set up the book fair, and bake for the Holiday Bake Sale. Some years work was all consuming and I had no time, so I sent in supplies or treats and only volunteered for activities in my child’s class, not for the whole school. If you have a tough year ahead, don’t be afraid to say “no”. There will always be opportunities to help the following year.

2. Don’t be afraid to get off the beaten path.
Don’t think that you are limited to the tasks you see on a sign-up sheet. If you work full-time or just have a crazy busy schedule, ask if there are tasks or projects you can do at home to help out, when you have downtime. Cutting projects, sorting, computer research, and a host of easy-but-still time-consuming activities could really help the teacher or scouting leader. There is always work needed to be done, just ask your child’s teacher, coach, or scout leader what you can do to help. You can also do these tasks WITH your child to show them the value of being involved and helping others.

3. Get smart and go to school!
If you signed up to be Room Mom this year, don’t panic. There are some great resources out there to help you with ideas so you don’t have to recreate the wheel. I love RoomMomSpot.com as a site with plenty of ideas for classroom parties, activities, and even a run down of common Room Mom duties. Download their free ebook, the Room Mom’s Survival Guide. It’s offered by the incredibly helpful people at VolunteerSpot.com, a great resource offering online sign-up sheets, scheduling tips, and volunteer management software and that makes coordinating volunteers easier for classroom Moms, scouting leaders, teachers, and coaches.

However you enjoy getting involved in your child’s school or activities is perfectly fine and should be appreciated by the teachers, scout leaders, coaches and your child. Give yourself a break – there’s no guilt needed here. Decide how much you want to give and then enjoy!

How do you fit the time into your schedule to volunteer for your child’s school or other activities?

Read all of our Back-to-School tips and sanity saving ideas here.

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Tags: Back to School Tips

My son is starting middle school this year. (I CAN”T BELIEVE IT! sniff.) This is the first year EVER where he can’t stop asking me when school is going to start. But, while he’s excited to head to a new, bigger school where he’ll have access to more friends, clubs, and social events, he is still a little apprehensive. It’s new and it’s change and that’s always scary.

To us it may not seem like a big deal but yourself in your kids’ shoes this Back-to-School season. Heading back to school is exciting but it can also cause a little fear or anxiety for your kids. Especially if they are starting a new school – jumping up to middle school or high school, moving to a neighborhood, or even taking that big step from kindergarten to all day first grade. Being introduced to a new building, new teachers, new classmates and even a locker with a lock is a big transition. Even if your child is excited and eager to go to their new school, they may be anxious about a few things and it’s helpful to identify their stress and talk it out.

Here are some tips to smooth the transition and start the new school year off right.

Get Them Involved.
Have your kids help you with the back to school shopping. They’ll feel more in control if they can help with the process of choosing their supplies, backpack and even school clothes.

Don’t Miss Orientations.
No matter what grade your kids are entering this year, be sure to attend Back-to-School Nights and Meet the Teacher(s) events before school starts. It makes a huge difference to see a friendly face on the first day of school.

Be relaxed but excited.
Kids can sense any anxiety you may be feeling, so be sure to talk positively about school. Don’t ask them if they are nervous if they haven’t even considered that they need to be nervous yet. (My kids run wild with the power of suggestion, so I try to head it off at the pass.) Talk positively with your child about new experiences and new friends.

Practice makes perfect.
Kids will feel more secure if they know what to expect so practice walking to school or the bus stop. Or drive to the school and say, “This is where I’ll park to pick you up or where the bus will drop you off and that is the door you will go into.” Walk through the middle or high school building with your kids so they can find their locker and their class rooms. Practice using a combination lock with your soon-to-be middle school student. I was surprised that this was one of the main anxieties for kids starting middle school.

Talk it out.
Nothing beats just talking about the upcoming school year. Take the opportunity to talk with your kids at the dinner table or while driving in the car to see what they are most excited about or what is making them a little nervous. Tell them how you felt when you started school. One thing that has worked well for us is to find a kid in the neighborhood that is a year or two older and have your child talk to them about what the new school is like.

Here are even more specific tips on how to Get Your Child Ready for Kindergarten, Smoothly Transitioning Your Kid Into Middle School or Preparing for High School. Or, check out all of my Back-to-School Tips for Busy Moms.

Do you have a child starting kindergarten, middle school or high school this year? Are they nervous or excited? How do you help ease their anxieties?

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Tags: Back to School Tips

If your child is bored of the same old lunch ideas, here are 8 fun and easy ideas to make lunch the highlight of your kids’ school day. They’ll be surprised with your creativity and you’ll be surprised how the lunch box comes home empty. See all of our Back-to-School Tips and Sanity-Saving Ideas here.

1. Get ‘em to pitch in.

Getting your child involved with the meal preparation is a great way to help ensure that they eat their lunch, not trade it away. Try filling one of each of three plastic baskets with fruits, vegetables and snacks. Then allow your child to pick one item from each basket for their lunch. Add a sandwich and a drink, and you’re done. They might actually eat all of their lunch if they got to choose what’s in it.

2. Theme of the week.

Your child’s classroom usually has a theme of the week so why not a lunch theme? Surprise your kids by incorporating a new lunch theme every few weeks, such as serving all red foods. Pair a strawberry jelly sandwich with cherry tomatoes and low-fat ranch dressing with cherry Jell-O for dessert. Meals could be all round foods (a bagel with cream cheese sandwich, an orange, and carrot rounds) or a backwards lunch (a sandwich with meat and cheese on the outside and a note written in reverse telling your child to eat dessert first). If you can figure out how to tie their lunch to their actual lesson plan that week, even better.

3. Shake it up.

Prepare the same old food in a new way. Instead of a regular peanut butter and jelly on white bread (ho hum), make Pinwheel PB&Js by rolling up the PB&J in a flour tortilla and slicing it into pinwheels (fun!). Try a peanut butter and raisin or banana sandwich for kicks. Try dark chocolate peanut butter instead of regular peanut butter. While some kids freak out when they see a new “food form,” as kids get older they will be willing to try more things, so don’t be afraid to shake it up.

4. Put it on a stick.

Take a plain old boring sandwich, put it on stick and suddenly you have a party. The Super Healthy Kids blog shows how easy it is to make a sandwich on a stick for your kids lunch box. They might even eat the a tomato with this presentation.

5. Order at the lunch counter.

For siblings who like different foods, make a chart of favorite foods with the child’s name at the top and foods they like and will eat for lunch underneath. This will serve as a menu for your kids. Make sure there are vegetable and fruit choices, as well. On Sunday, ask your kids to put in their order for a week’s worth of lunches in advance. They will feel like they are ordering at a restaurant and you have the plan for the week which makes shopping and prepping easier. For inspiration to include more items, check out FamilyFreshCooking.com’s Project Lunchbox. Your child is bound to find something tasty and healthy from her list.

6. A rose by any other name might be worth eating.

To make those healthy greens more interesting for your boys, label your food with a gross name. Cooked spinach could be “Sea Monster Hair”. Snow peas are “Alien Fingers”. Broccoli are “Mini Trees from the Haunted Forest.” They’ll look forward to your creativity. My son used to love this and helped me come up with gross names.

7. Cookies Cutters are your friends.

Cutting up your kids food is a fun and easy way to add a little surprise to your child’s lunch box. I’ve used cookie cutters to cut out sandwich shapes, fruit, brownies, lunch meat, and cheese. You can surprise your kids or I like to use the cookie cutters with my daughter. I love to see her creativity, and if she helps create the food, she’s more likely to eat it. These two-toned sandwiches from Spoonful.com reminds us of the Kissing Hand, a great book for kids going into kindergarten.

8. Lunch box notes.

Don’t limit your lunch box creativity to just the food. Slip a little note into your child’s lunch box to let them know that you are thinking of them. You can simply say you love them, encourage them on an upcoming test, or tell them a joke. Here’s an article with a ton of ideas for lunch box love notes.

Yes, some of these ideas take a little time and preparation. But remember; planning it on Sunday night for the weekdays will save you precious time on weeknights from trying to think of new lunch ideas. Or, just throw in the fun randomly when you have time. Your kids will never know what they’ll find that way.

What do you do to get your kids to eat their lunch at school?

Check out my Back-to-School Pinterest Board for Back-to-School tips and some additional school lunch ideas.

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Tags: Back to School Tips

Back to school time is here! If you are like me I’m still desperately busy trying to enjoy the last days of summer. However, there’s work to be done to get your kids ready to head back to school. No need to panic though. You can still have your summer fun and get organized at the same time. This checklist will help you stay in control and prepare for the new school season with ease. Whether your child’s school starts next week or next month, with this list you won’t miss a step.

First Steps

• Make sure your child is properly registered for school.
• Schedule any doctor or dental appointments if needed, to meet any immunization requirements before school starts. Get those medical forms signed by your doctor. If you don’t know what immunizations or forms are needed, call your school to ask.
• Order any additional medications that need to be stored at school.
• Make sure your kids have completed their summer reading lists or other homework assignments. If not, set up a schedule to get it done.
• Sit down with your planner and write in the dates for all important back-to-school activities like orientations or school walk-throughs. Include after-school activities on the calendar, as well.
• Go through your kids’ closet to see what fall clothes still fit, create your shopping list for what’s needed, and donate old clothes to make room for the new. Here are some tips on how to save money on school clothes.

3 Weeks Before School Starts

• Go shopping! Get those backpacks, lunch boxes, water bottles, clothes, and school supplies. You can usually get your school supply list online from your school’s website. However, that may not include everything you need. Here’s a Back-to-School Shopping Checklist for busy Moms as well as tips on how to buy the right backpack or lunch box for your child.
• Schedule a hair cut for your child so they look smashing for their annual first day of school photos.

2 Weeks Before School Starts

• Create a landing spot in the house for your kids where they can keep their backpacks, lunch boxes, and other school gear or papers.
• Start to get back into a daily routine for sleeping and eating. Here are some tips for how to get Back into a Back-to-School Routine.
• Talk to your kids about the upcoming school year. See if they are nervous or excited about the new year. If your child is entering kindergarten, middle school or high school this year, they may be nervous. Here are some tips to ease fears when starting a new school.
• Confirm your transportation plans. What time and where is the bus coming? Who is carpooling? Get the kids comfortable with their pick up and drop off locations.
• If needed, confirm any after school care plans. Is the babysitter ready to go? How is your child getting from school to their after school care location?
• Kickstart your kids’ brains. In a fun way, start reviewing some basic skills with your kids like adding or multiplying. Read together at night or play some board games that require math.
• Plan for some last minute family fun before school starts like a weekend getaway, activities to celebrate the last day of summer break, or prepare for any fun, first day of school traditions.

1 or 2 Days Before School Starts

• Attend your meet-the teacher orientation and walk around the school with your kids to make sure they feel comfortable.
• With your kids, pick their first day of school outfit and pack their backpack so there are no panic attacks early in the morning.
• Make sure your camera is ready to go to take those first day of school photos.
• Plan for a healthy first day of school breakfast and prepare their lunch or snacks the night before. Here’s 5 Ways to Pack More Fun into Your Child’s Lunches.

What tips do you have to make the Back-to-School season go more smoothly?

For more on how to make ease the kids back into school, read all of my busy Mom Back-to-School Sanity Saving Tips.

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Tags: Back to School Tips

It’s Back-to-School Central at our house so I was so excited to get this guest post from Sue Becker, a professional organization and productivity consultant I admire. As the founder of From Piles to Smiles, Sue has some great advice for busy Moms trying to get their kids ready to go back to school. Read her tips and keep the Back-to-School madness at bay:

Homework, early morning madness, ignored alarm clocks – they all mean one thing: it’s time for going back to school. Parents of bored children have looked forward to this event all summer, yet can still be overwhelmed at the thought of getting back into a school-year routine. Whether you’re a student or the parent of a student, use the following tips to help make the transition from summer fun to school-ready less frenzied and more enjoyable.

Set up a location for incoming papers. Rather than having them get buried at the bottom of a backpack or spread randomly throughout your home, designate a specific place for your student to deposit school papers until you have time to go through them. Consider putting an inbox on a seldom-used section of your kitchen counter, or near the door through which you typically enter your home. Set up this paperwork depository now, before the paperwork onslaught begins.

Make time each day for school work. Academic homework isn’t the only assignment that will need to be completed each day during the school year– you’ll have to make time to go through that inbox of school papers. They key is to process each paper as you handle it – sign the permission slip, write the check for the field trip, review the school work and decide which papers you’ll keep, etc. Practice being decisive and deliberate with your mail so you’ll be ready to efficiently handle school papers. In addition, put reminders in your planner now to go through the paperwork each day. If you keep up with the inflow, you won’t miss any important deadlines.

Get into a school bedtime routine. Don’t wait for school to start before you begin a bedtime routine. Start now getting your kids (and yourself) to bed at whatever time will allow them (and you) to get adequate sleep. You all need these extra few weeks to get your bodies conditioned to a new sleep pattern. Also, your kids won’t necessarily view an earlier bedtime as a school-related punishment if you start the routine well before the school year has begun.

Get your calendar back in action. The carefree, less-structured days of summer will soon give way to jam-packed, action-filled school-year mayhem. If you’ve fallen out of the habit, get back into the routine of using your calendar and writing everything on it – your appointments, your kids’ activities, and to-dos that will help you move smoothly through each day. You’ll set a good example for your kids and you won’t have to rely on your memory to keep you on track.

Set up your family activity binder. Set up a binder with sheet protectors where you and your family can find information about all the activities going on in your lives. You can insert schedules for the kids’ sports and activities, maps to various sports venues, team rosters, the school directory, etc. Be sure that all activities are still noted on your calendar – this binder is simply a supporting reference tool.

Check before you shop. Review your stash of school supplies from last year and make note of what you already have so you don’t buy more supplies than you need. Clean out your clothes closets, figure out what does and doesn’t fit, and make a shopping list of what items you’ll need to purchase. Take outgrown clothes to a resale shop or donate them so you can make room for your new purchases.

Plan meals and groceries. Take some time to plan school-year lunches and dinners now. Make a list of two-week’s worth of meals and create a shopping list of groceries. Take advantage of the calm before the school-year storm to have everything planned ahead of time so you can easily pack school lunches and get dinner on the table. Better yet, get your kids to pack their own lunches and help with dinner preparation .Keep up your system throughout the year for more pleasant family time. Here’s a link to a prior article I’ve written on this subject.

I’d love to hear what you do to make going back to school easier on yourself and your family.

Sue Becker, owner of From Piles to Smiles®, is an organizing and productivity consultant who can help you or your student create a supportive study space, effectively use a planner, and create and implement time management techniques. You can reach her or sign up for her newsletter to get more organizational tips at www.PilesToSmiles.com

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Tags: Back to School Tips

The school year is winding down and the last day of school is quickly approaching. I’m not ready! But, there is one big, last homework assignment for Moms and that’s the end-of-year teachers’ gifts. I try to get my kids’ teachers something either really unique or something they could really use, but sometimes it’s hard to come up with ideas.

I live in a neighborhood with a lot of teachers so I asked them what teacher’s gifts they appreciated most. You can read their answers in my post 10 Perfect Teacher’s Gift Ideas.

If you want want to do a little something extra and make a gift with your child for his or her teacher, check out these posts on Fun Homemade Teacher’s Gift Ideas and Easy and Inexpensive DIY Teacher’s Gift Ideas.

Here are two more unique end-of-year Teacher’s Gift ideas that I saw on Pinterest this week. You don’t have to be Martha Stewart to pull these off.

I like this Summer Relaxation Beach Tote gift idea from SkiptoMyLou.org. Mostly because I want to make one for me.

The Homespun with Love blog created a cute bucket full of school supplies for teacher to use next year. Click through to see how easy it was to make.

Do you give gifts to your child’s teacher at the end of the year? Some people do and some don’t. Giving gifts to teachers is even illegal in one state. Read my article Teacher’s Gifts: To Give or Not to Give over at Patch.com to learn where. There are some nice comments from teachers at the end of the article.

What do you normally get your kids’ teachers at the end of the school year? Please share your ideas. Teachers, feel free to weigh in on what you appreciate the most.

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Cool Finds

Want to give your kids a “Chocolate Cake Moment” today? Send them to school or preschool with a lunch box love note. I love throwing a little note, joke, drawing, or something special into our kids’ lunch boxes to remind them that my husband and I are thinking of them. My 6th grade son still likes to find a surprise note. My daughter told me that even though some kids make fun when they see a lunch box note from Mom in a classmate’s lunch box, she says it makes kids smile inside and feel special. It’s such an easy way to add a smile to a kid’s day. (Try it on your husband too. He may love it!)

However, some days it’s just too hard to be creative or author the perfect note. If the coffee hasn’t kicked in it’s hard for me to even write legibly. So, I decided to ask for a little help and inspiration. Last year, we ran a contest asking people for lunch box love note ideas. There were some great ideas on how to send your kids a long distance smile. From words of encouragement to reminders to knock-knock jokes and even funny drawings, there are so many cute ways to say “I Love You.”

We compiled all of your ideas and divided them into categories as inspiration. The list was so long that I’m only going to list some of my favorites here by category but if you want more inspiration, you can see all of the ideas here. Happy note writing!

Declaration of Love: Let me count the ways

• “For my honey … some extra cookies to share with your friends. Love you!”
• “U R My Sunshine!”
• “Mommy loves you to the moon and back!”

Notes of Encouragement

• “You are my shining star, Brighter than any in the sky by far!”
• “Hey Sweets- I know you will ace your test today! You make me proud everyday!”
• “Good Luck on your test! I know you can do it!”
• “Wow Them!”

Missing You

• “No, I miss YOU more”!
• “Thinking of you, anything good going on?”

Reminders: Don’t forget …

• “Please be good…mommy loves you! p.s. remember to eat all your real food before you start on dessert.”
• “Just remember, there’s a kiss in your hand if you need it.”
• “Remember to listen, watch, learn and love…”

Funny Notes: Make ‘em laugh

• “I would take a bite out of a sandwich or snack, then put in a napkin, and on the napkin write:
  “Oh! There was a mouse in your lunch! Hope you don’t miss that bite like the mouse misses you!”
• “Knock Knock, Who’s There? Owl. Owl who? Owl be missing you.”
• “My husband likes to write cute notes to our 6-year-old daughter that pertain to what is in her lunch. For example: if there is an apple, he would write ‘Have an apple of a day my sweetie!’ or if I pack a string cheese he would write ‘Cheese… have a happy day at school!’ … strawberries would get ‘You are so berry sweet!!!! We love you… mommy and daddy’ and so on.”

Visual: When no words are needed

• I would draw a picture of a hand and a heart in the middle of it to represent the “kissing hand
• Stickers or cut a fun picture out of a magazine are easy ways to make a note
• My daughter loves to draw so I draw a few lines on a note and tell her to finish the picture and bring it back to me.

Teasers: Something to look forward to

• 3 more hours until game night! Love you! XOXO
• When your school day is done, Mommy will pick you up and we will have more fun!
• We’re having your favorite – TACOS! – for dinner! Yippee!!

If you still want more visual help, download MakeandTake.com’s free lunch box note printables. Kristen Duke Photography has some fun printable jokes to add some giggles to lunch. Or my favorites are the ones Lori over at FreshPickedWhimsy.com created. They’re super cute!

So, keep it up Moms and give your child a secret “Chocolate Cake Moment” while at school. With all of these great ideas, there’s no excuse not to throw a love note in your kids lunch box tomorrow morning.

Need more inspiration to make your kids lunches fun? Check out these ideas:
5 Ways to Pack More Fun Into Your Kids Lunch Box
Kids Lunch Box Love Notes: Missing You & Reminder Notes
Kids Lunch Box Love Notes: Funny, Visual, or Rewarding Notes
Kids Lunch Box Love Notes: A Plethora of Ways to Say “I Love You!”

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Tags: Back to School Tips

SuperMom Strikes Again

Faster than a travel soccer team practice three nights a week, stronger than two-a-day football practices, able to leap piano lessons and marching band in a single bound, it’s SuperMom!

Do visions of running your children to all of their after school activities have you pulling at your superhero tights and breaking into a cold sweat? (It’s not the itching, but the chafing that bugs me.) Fear not! All it takes is some advanced planning and family guidelines to take the pressure off of you. Enlist your children and your spouse in this planning, and then the burden of organizing all of the after school activities won’t necessarily call for super hero strength–just some flexibility.

Write it down—all of it
Get in the habit now of writing everything down in one place. Keep a master family calendar to keep track of each family member’s activities. There are several Mom or Family Planning Calendar brands on the market, so see which one works best for you or create your own. While it is awesome for Mom and Dad to keep their schedules synched in Google Calendar or using Cozi.com, the kids may not be able to see it so easily and we want them to start taking responsibility for knowing when they have activities.

With a wall calendar, hang it low enough for the kids to reach to write down their own activities. They can keep track of special classes like art or music, activities or sports, or playmates and birthday parties. Have fun with the schedule. Let them add stickers or smiley faces or whatever they like to remind them of important days. Just get into the habit of everybody checking the calendar daily before they go to bed, so everyone knows what’s going on the next day.

Have weekly calendar sessions with the whole family every Sunday night to update the calendar. This helps you keep everyone on the same page and avoids potential scheduling conflicts before they occur. (This way no one in the family can claim … “But, no one told me.”)

Keep it together
Keep all of your kids activity stuff together in a duffle bag or backpack. Have a special duffle bag for soccer with pads, shoes, uniform and a water bottle. Keep all of this gear in the bag hanging in the coat room or garage. After you wash the uniform, throw it in the soccer duffle bag. Don’t take it upstairs and put it away in a dresser. That’s just an extra step. The ready-to-go bag will make life easier when you are late for practice and running out the door. You won’t need to go hunting for all of the gear you need. “Why are my soccer shoes in the pantry?” If you have two sports going on at the same time, get two separate duffle bags.

Same for piano lessons, keep all of the books, folders, etc. in a designated backpack. It’s always ready to go when you are and keeps the clutter in the rest of the house down to a minimum. Invest in hooks for extra backpacks. It’s worth it.

Say NO once in a while
Busy moms and kids get a lot done in part because they are so busy. But remember to schedule in some down time between activities. Don’t pack the schedule so full that all you are doing is running from one thing to the next. Where’s the joy in that?

Step back, and remember that it is OK to say No to some things. The world will still go on, and someone else can run the bake sale this year. It is an important time management lesson to teach your child that you are choosing to do only what is most important to you and your family.

We tell our kids that they can do 1 extra activity per “quarter”. While we insist on things like Spanish, swim lessons, or music at different times to make sure they are getting exposed to different talents, we let them choose something THEY want to do, as well. Whether they want to play soccer, basketball, gymnastics, art classes, Tae Kwon Do or nothing, they start to learn how to choose and set their own priorities, and then you aren’t in the car 24/7. If you are feeling burned out, take a few months off with no activities. The kids will still get into college. In fact, read this New York Times article about Family Happiness and the Overbooked Child, which stresses that children’s activities offer no guarantee of success later in life.

Think about how taking on another activity or group or commitment will affect the entire family, and say no to ones that you or your kids don’t love. Kids also need an appropriate amount of time to do homework. Make sure they get it. Children and adults all need down time to just hang out and relax. Don’t overbook so you can use that new found time to create more “Chocolate Cake Moments”!

Roll with the changes
These days, everyone seems to have a jam packed schedule. Know that sometimes it won’t always be perfect. You can’t be SuperMom (even though you may come very close). Try your best to be organized, but stay flexible. When the schedule gets messed up, have back up plans in place for quick, easy dinners or a carpool driver on speed dial. If you miss an appointment, don’t beat yourself up. If you signed up for an activity where the coach insists on holding practice during church or important family times, quit and choose another program. You and your family are all in this together, and you will get through it in flying colors. The goal is to remember that nothing is more important than having time to spend together as a family.

How do you keep the family schedule and your kids’ activities organized?

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Tags: Back to School Tips

Does going back to school mean plying your child out of bed with a crowbar? Does every morning bring a fight between them, you and the covers? Funny how on Saturdays and during the summer they can get up at the crack of dawn, but once school starts it’s game over. Try these tips to make rising and shining a little easier.

1. Wake up, Little Susie
Some kids need time to come awake while others snap to it. You may need to set the alarms early enough to accommodate some sitting-and-staring-into-space time. Another idea to get them out of bed is to set two alarms, one on the opposite side of the room. The fact of having to physically get up and turn it off means your child is that much closer to being awake. There are some fun Talking Kids Alarm Clocks that can ease your child awake with kiss noises or snap them awake with a dinosaur roar. See if setting an alarm to a radio station works better than just a buzzer. Or you can try tuning it to loud radio static to encourage them to get up and turn it off.

2. Rise and Shine
Try to wake them with their nose. Use favorite smells to lure them out of bed, such as cinnamon-raisin toast, or crispy bacon frying or coffee brewing for teens.

While I’m not this dedicated, we found one suggestion that on cold winter mornings, you can throw their clothes into the dryer for a few minutes. Pulling on warm clothes may help inspire them to leave their warm bed. (Honestly, if you do that, you are my SuperMom hero.)

3. Early to bed, early to rise
Tell your child that you will keep pushing bedtime earlier and earlier until they are able to wake up earlier. The thought of having to go to bed at 7:30 p.m. may be just the thing to motivate them to wake up in the morning. Getting a good night’s sleep, as simple as it sounds, may solve the problem, too. We all know that we do best on a routine.

4. Eliminate distractions
Your kids need to wind down and relax so they can fall asleep and feel rested. This will help with getting them up in the morning. So, give your kids the opportunity to relax and unclutter their mind before bed. When they are young, read a goodnight story together. As they get older, have them read chapter books to you or read on their own. Don’t schedule activities too late in the evening. For tweens and teens, have them plug their cell phones into the charger in the kitchen before going to bed and leave it there! No texting until all hours late at night. Sleep deprivation is dangerous for teens according to this article by the Mayo Clinic.

Same thing is true in the morning. Once they are up, no TV, no computers, no cell phones until they are dressed, have eaten breakfast, prepared their lunch, or packed up their backpack. Eliminating distractions before their chores are done can help keep the morning moving smoothly.

5. Desperate times call for desperate measures
If all else fails, march into your child’s room, bang on a pan with a wooden spoon, singing “The Wheels on the Bus” at the top of your lungs. (While this might be a little cruel, I tend to look at it as payback for all the times they woke me up in the middle of the night.)

Hopefully these tips will help get your kids up and out the door in time for the bus. Now go have a cup of coffee and a deep breath!

Grab one of our Talking Kids Alarm Clocks to make it easier to for your kids to wake up on their own and with a smile.

What tips do you have for getting your kids up and out of bed in the morning?

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Tags: Back to School Tips

I have to admit, I’m not a labeler. Every year around Back-to-School time I would read about how Moms should label their kids’ preschool and school items but I never got around to it. Maybe I would write their initials on a tag with a Sharpie pen, but that really wasn’t going to do much to get an item back if it was lost.

So, when Name Bubbles contacted me to try their back-to-school name labels, I jumped at the chance to see what I was missing or doing wrong all these years. If you have ever had to rummage through the school’s lost and found box, you’ll understand why I was very interested in changing my family’s organizational habits. Now that I’ve tried them, I have to admit I’m hooked!

Name Bubbles Labels come in a variety of sizes and styles that are – get this – waterproof, dishwasher, laundry, and microwave safe. That’s perfect for labeling all of the items your kids use when they leave the house. Cool! The labels are made of a vinyl material with a non-toxic, eco-solvent ink to provide fun color and durability. There are custom name label packs for School, Childcare, Sports, and Camp, depending on what you need. They even have labels to put in your kids shoes! If you have every been to a birthday party with 20 kids’ shoes lying by the front door and several of them the same style, you’ll be so thankful that you can find your kids shoes before their next birthday party rolls around.

In addition, once you are hooked on labeling they have packs for other aspects of your life like Elder Care, College, and Luggage. They even have a Party Pack where you can order personalized labels to give as party favors at your kids’ birthday party. The party guests go home with a set of labels personalized with their name. Cool! I’m always on the look out for unique kids’ birthday party favors and this is one of the most useful I’ve seen yet.

Since my son camps a lot with Boy Scouts, I’m digging the Camp Label pack since he had a fiasco last camp out with someone accidentally taking his new sleeping bag. We had written his name on the bag but it wasn’t prominent enough, I guess. These labels will help going forward. The large square bubble labels in the Camp Pack are perfect for big ticket items like a camera, iPod, or cell phone that you really want to come home from camping trips.

At summer camp, my kids lost their towel and swimsuit practically every day. I wish I had these labels two summers ago! A waterproof label on their swim gear would have made searching through the lost and found box a lot easier.

I remember when my kids were in day care and we were just labeling the bottles with masking tape and a pen. I wish I had the labels from Name Bubble’s Childcare Pack way back when. It would have made life easier, let along made the bottle look a little nicer too.

Applying the Name Bubble Labels is pretty easy, too. Stick the labels on and wait 24 hours before getting them wet. The company claims the adhesive will stay put in extreme conditions and so far I’ve seen that to be true. The packages are affordable – $20 to $43 dollars depending on which pack you are ordering. Now that I am hooked, I definitely see how the cost is small compared to how easy they are to apply and how nice the label looks.

Another great product that Name Bubbles offers is the Allergy, Medical or Special Needs Alert stickers that you can apply to your child’s lunch boxes, bottles, food containers, diaper bag, and even favorite toys. You can customize the labels to list your emergency contact information or indicate that your child is Autistic and doesn’t like to be touched.

Disclaimer: Name Bubbles did send me a free press kit with sample labels to review. All opinions expressed are mine, though. I’m stubborn that way.

What are some of your tips for labeling your kids’ school, camp and day care gear?

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Cool Finds

The start of a new school year is always a big deal. I used to love getting a new outfit, crisp new school supplies, and even a new haircut some years. While my son is excited to go back to school and my daughter is not, I’m celebrating because the start of a new school year means new opportunities, new friends, and new milestones for my kids. Whether your kids look forward to going back to school or not, do take the time to celebrate and start some new family traditions to create some fun memories.

1. Throw a party. You’ll find some great inspiration for decorations or treats for a Back-to-School party from Dawn at the Not Just a Mommy blog. Her party ideas are AWESOME!

Or keep it simple with an impromptu, neighborhood firepit party either the weekend before or after school starts. Our neighborhood is pretty friendly so if you build a firepit, they will come to the party. If that won’t work, type up a quick flyer and have the kids hand it out to the neighbors or spread the word as you walk the dog around the block. Tell everyone to bring their own drinks and bring some munchies to share. The parents talk about who got which teacher, who’s going to be at the bus stop, and what to look forward to this school year. If your child is going into kindergarten, it’s a perfect time to pair him or her up with an older kid to help them on the bus. The kids can compare notes on which teacher they like or who they have a crush on so far this year!



2. Breakfast for Champions. Start the day off with a celebration by going out as a family to one of your favorite breakfast places. Or get up a little early and make the kids their favorite breakfast foods.



3. Bring Treats for classmates – Start the school year off with a gift to the rest of the class with these Back to School Treats from the Blackberry vine blog.



4. Countdown the Days – The East Coast Mommy Blog created a super cute tradition of counting down the days to school or preschool with her kids using candy and a jar. Your kids can have one candy a day until school starts or you could put in a candy every day and then after their first day of school they get to eat them all as a special treat. Your choice!

5. Capture the Moment – Pick a location in your house and every year take a picture of your child with their backpack or holding a Back-to-School sign with their grade on it so you can compare how your kids have grown. Rebecca Cooper offers some great tips on taking First Day of School photos on her blog. I definitely need help with my photos!

Building on the idea of capturing the moment, the Art Projects for Kids has a great idea of having the kids draw a self-portrait on the first day of school. Then you can see how their art skill and self-awareness grow over time.


6. Survey Says! – Here’s a fun idea from one of our readers, Debby B. –

We used to take surveys. I’d write down their answers for favorite subject, color, shape, number, book, band/song–whatever. It’s fun to see year to year what their favorites are.

7. Gifts from Fun Sources. – Over at Make and Takes, read their post on the First Day of School Fairy.

Then, at the Mother Huddle, read about the German tradition of giving kids “>Schultuete School Cones on their first day of school.

8. Boo Hoo Breakfast. This tradition from the Roots & Wings Blog is for Moms only, and it involves breakfasty treats. Yes! Grab your family and friends and organize a Boo Hoo breakfast where you meet after dropping the kids off on the first day of school to laugh, cry and have fun talking about the kids going off for another year of school. I’m in!


9. Snack & Chat. I like to make a special after school snack for the kids so we can munch and chat all about their first day. We usually make Chocolate Fondue as our first day of school treat. You can grab my recipe from my Beat the Back-to-School Blues post.

What traditions do you have to celebrate the first day of school?

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Traditions

Now that school has started, I’m sure you’ve started greeting the kids at the door with “How was school today?” Are you getting the famous one word reply– “Fine”? Or my favorite, “OK.” Ah, communication at it’s best.

Getting your kids to actively talk about their day can be a challenge but here are some tips that have worked for us on how to get your kids to talk more about their day.

Greet, don’t grill.
Kids can get defensive and feel intimidated when you ask them about school right as they get off the bus. Don’t grill them about their day as soon as they walk in the door. “What did you do today? What did you learn? What did you have for lunch?” Just take it easy and truly show them you are just happy to see them again. This worked wonders for my family since the kids didn’t drag their feet coming home to tell me bad news. They knew they could ease into it.

We found an article that Jim Fay wrote and he calls this technique the “30 minutes rule.” Don’t talk about school or your work for 30 minutes after greeting each other. You don’t want to hear bad news about your kid’s day and they don’t want you to take out any work aggression on them. Don’t let school or work ruin your relationship with your child. Make sure you are both happy to greet each other. You can read his other hints here.

Listen Up!
It’s great if your child begins the talking first. One day, don’t ask them about school at all and see what happens. Kids are usually less defensive and more willing to share their school experience when they start to talk first. So hold back the questions and just let them tell you. Or, see if they ask you about your day. (We can dream, can’t we?)
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Tags: Back to School Tips

My kids were positively gloom and doom this morning when they had to go back to school. (Why does school start so early? Why do I even have to go to school? Ninjas don’t need to learn math. Why don’t you ever buy me any decent pants?) Insert your kids’ favorite whining here.

Now I like a good wine, I mean whine, when it’s me doing the whining. I certainly don’t want to condone the kids’ whiny behavior, but I was thinking of doing something special for the kids this evening to “celebrate” or “ease the pain” of going back to school after they had so much fun and freedom this summer. My plan? Chocolate Fondue! What better way to create a Chocolate Cake Moment than with hot, gooey chocolate?

You can certainly surprise the kids with this treat after the first day of school or maybe on Friday after their first week of school to celebrate them getting back into the swing of homework.

Kirchner’s Chocolate Fondue

1 lb. of your favorite milk chocolate bar (we like Ghirardellis)
4 oz. dark chocolate bar
3/4 cup heavy cream (you can use half and half for less calories)
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Break the chocolate bars into pieces and place in your fondue, hot pot, or double boiler. Keep on a low setting. (If you don’t have any of those, just use a regular pot on very low setting and make sure you keep stirring.) Add cream and stir constantly until chocolate is melted and smooth. (If you are melting this on a stove top, watch the heat. Don’t walk away or the chocolate will boil and be ruined.) Stir in the vanilla right before serving. Then dip away!

Dipping Suggestions (In order of our kids preference):

• Large marshmallows
• Sliced bananas
• Salted pretzel sticks
• Cubed pound cake
• Angel food cake
• Stem strawberries
• Hazelnut or almond biscotti (more for the adults)

Serves 6

Have fun! Do you do anything to celebrate the first day of school?

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Tags: Back to School Tips

School has either started or is about to start and that means school papers are about to coming flooding into your house. Even if your school has gone “paperless” like ours, between my two kids, we still bring home about 10 papers a day that need to be signed, saved, recycled, or kept for an upcoming event. To avoid the piles of clutter in your kitchen, check out these tips on how to organize your kids’ school paperwork so that nothing gets lost and you keep the clutter under control.

Read the article I wrote, 5 Tips for Organizing School Paperwork over at Mamapedia.com. Readers added some great tips in the comment section as well.

For more Back-to-School Sanity Saving Tips for Moms, check out all of my Back-to-School parenting tips. From packing more fun into your kids lunch box, to volunteering at school with ease, to getting your kids to talk more about their day, I want to help make this Back-to-School season less stressful for you.

How do you keep all of your kids’ school paperwork organized?

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Tags: Back to School Tips

My kids are not at all excited about going back to school. They love staying up later, playing with their friends all day, and enjoying some really cool camps this summer. So, I went on a hunt online to find some fun back-to-school treats to cheer them up a little about going back to school. (Or, make them as treats for you and your husband to celebrate that the kids are finally going back to school and we can get the family back into a routine.) Either way, have fun cooking together and enjoy!

I just discovered Jenni Price’s website that has the most amazing pancake designs! She’s an illustrator and enjoys creating art with pancake batter. Check out her Back-to-School Pancake Pop Treats. Go to her site to download the incredibly detailed instructions and check out all of her other Pancake designs. You’ll be running for the kitchen to start creating something.

Jill from the Meet the Dubiens Blog made the most adorable after school snack with an owl theme. I can’t wait to make this for my kids next week. Head over to her site for the instructions.
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Tags: Back to School Tips

Does the idea of packing healthy school lunches for your kids make you break into a nervous sweat? After one week of school have you depleted your creative ideas for lunch? Do your kids come home telling you that they didn’t eat because they didn’t like anything in their lunch box? Don’t fear! Getting your child to eat his or her lunch just takes a little planning and creativity. Here are 5 ideas to make school lunches the highlight of your kids’ day.

1. Shake it up.
Prepare the same old food in a new way. Instead of a regular peanut butter and jelly on white bread (ho hum), make Pinwheel PB&Js by rolling up the PB&J in a flour tortilla and slicing it into pinwheels (fun!). Try a peanut butter and raisin or banana sandwich for kicks. Try dark chocolate peanut butter instead of regular. While some kids freak out when they see a new “food form,” as kids get older they will be willing to try more things, so don’t be afraid to shake it up. (And, if they are really hungry, they’ll at least try it.) Plus, if your kids are like mine, they actually try new stuff when they aren’t at home. I still remember my son coming home one day to tell me how awesome salami was because he had it at a friend’s house. Obviously, my many attempts to get him to try it were lame.

2. Get ‘em to pitch in.
Getting your child involved with the meal preparation is a great way to help ensure that they eat their lunch, not trade it away. It also makes them feel more grown-up. You could try filling one of each of three plastic baskets with fruits, vegetables and snacks. Then allow your child to pick one item from each basket for their lunch. Add a sandwich and a drink, and you’re done. They might actually eat all of their lunch if they got to choose what’s in it.

3. Chart it.
For siblings who like different foods, make a chart of favorite foods with the child’s name at the top and foods they like and will eat for lunch underneath. Then you can simply pick items from the list when you are still tired in the morning before your coffee kicks in. Keeping it simple and easy for Mom!

4. Theme of the week.
Surprise your kids by incorporating a new lunch theme every few weeks, such as serving all red foods. Pair a strawberry jelly sandwich with cherry tomatoes and low-fat ranch dressing with cherry Jell-O for dessert. Meals could be all round foods (a bagel with cream cheese sandwich, an orange, and carrot rounds) or a backwards lunch (a sandwich with meat and cheese on the outside and a note written in reverse telling your child to eat dessert first).

5. A rose by any other name might be worth eating.
To make those healthy greens more interesting for your boys, label your food with a gross name. Cooked spinach could be Sea Monster Hair. Snow peas are Alien Fingers. Broccoli are mini trees from the Haunted Forest. They’ll look forward to your creativity. (So would I. Let me know what you named everything in your kids lunch. I’ll share it in a future post.)

Yes, these ideas take a little time and prep to make. But remember; planning it on Sunday night for the weekdays will save you precious time on weeknights from trying to think of new lunch ideas. Or, just throw in the fun randomly when you have time. Your kids will never know what they’ll find that way.

In a future post, I’ll highlight some fun things you can do by making a kids bento box lunch. Have fun and here’s to healthy lunches for your kids this year!

What do you do to make your kids’ lunch less boring?

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Tags: Back to School Tips

Yesterday, we shared 3 ideas for getting the kids back into a back-to-school routine. Want more tips on how to get the family back into a school frame of mind?

Get a Family Calendar.
A Master Family Calendar is imperative for keeping track of the family’s commitments and should be easily accessible for everyone. Teach your kids how to look at the family calendar and increase their sense of responsibility by letting them know what they need to prepare for the next day. Keep the calendar in the kitchen or a common room. Here are some ideas to keep on track:

• Once school starts, have them sit with you and write in which days they have gym, art or music. That way you know if you need to bring or wear sneakers on gym day.
• Make it a habit to look at the calendar together after dinner so that everyone can prepare.
• Check their backpack to find those papers with new important dates to mark on the calendar.

Dad will appreciate the family calendar when he comes home from work and can’t find anyone. He can check the calendar and see we’re all at soccer practice. MomAgenda has some great desktop and wall calendars to help you keep track of the family. You can download a free weekly family calendar from Mommytracked.com. For you and your spouse to stay coordinated, try the free Cosi online Family Calendar service or sync up your calendars using Google Calendars. Even if you use your Smartphone to keep your personal schedule, it’s nice to a have a written central calendar that the rest of the family can refer to, as well.

Give your self time.
Your kids can sense your moods. They are like bats that way. Keeping yourself upbeat and calm in the morning can work wonders on how your kid’s day goes. Whether it may be getting up extra early if you need to begin the day with a quiet morning, or just a cup of extra strong coffee is all you need; be sure to give your child your brightest smile in the morning- that is the best gift you can give to help them through the rest of the day. Then, when they get on the bus or your drop them off, have another cup of coffee. While it’s not fair that you are the one that needs to sacrifice those extra precious minutes of sleep, it’s better for all to not be freaked out in the morning.

Breakfast, it does a body good.
Breakfast doesn’t need to be elaborate but it does set the energy level for the whole day. Keep it simple with cereal, yogurt, granola, fruit, frozen waffles (no-trans fat, please) and hard boiled or scrambled eggs, if they’ll eat it. We introduced our kids to a European-style bread, ham and cheese breakfast and they love it. It’s easy to make on a busy school morning. My kids also love VitaMuffins and our microwave scrambled egg cooker. It’s a fast and easy way to get protein into them. On Sunday, make pancakes or French toast and freeze it for the week. Don’t let your kids skip breakfast though. Have them eat a cereal bar or banana at the very least, to get the brain going.

The week before school starts, get up a little earlier and try out some new breakfast options to see which the kids like best. That way once school starts you have a breakfast plan.

To make it easier for school night meal planning, use our MomAgenda Weekly Meal pads and Grocery Shopping Pads. You can plan out breakfasts, sack lunch, and dinners ahead of time to make it easier to shop for groceries and eliminate the need to brainstorm last minute dinners.

Any other tips for us on getting the family into a back-to-school routine? Please share.

You may also like:
Back to a Back-to-School Routine – Part 1
Back to School Traditions
Back-to-School Bargain Shopping Tips

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Tags: Back to School Tips

Getting your kids to switch from the crazy, free days of summer into a Back-to-School routine again can be a little challenging. “I don’t want to go to bed!” “I’m not tired!” My husband and I can’t seem to get the kids in bed before 10 p.m. this summer but with the new school season creeping closer, we need to take charge and get the kids back on track. (And, reclaim our evening downtime.)

With just a little advanced planning, you can get everyone back into a School frame of mind. Here’s what works for us.

Get in the Groove Again.
A week or two before school starts, get the kids back into a routine. No more sleeping in front of the TV. No more waking up at noon or with younger kids, no more waking up at 6 a.m. for no reason. Reestablish a bed time, start reading a story again before bed, and wake the kids up earlier in the morning to get their body back into a “school sleeping cycle.”

State the Rules.
Sit down at the dinner table one night and lay down your expectations for the school year. Remind them of the family rules like:

• No breakfast until they are fully dressed
• Backpack ready the night before
• No TV or Wii until homework is done
• No friends over until homework is done

By stating these up front as a reminder, your kids should have the rules down pat by oh, say Middle School. However, you’ll feel better that you did your “Momly” duty.

As a visual reminder, make a chart that reminds the kids what they need to do each morning or before bed – brush teeth, get backpack ready, set out clothes for the next day, make bed. This takes away your need to nag, … or at least nag less. We sell a Magnetic Kids Chore Chart that we use daily to help with the reminders. (We also tie their allowance to the chart, so the kids actually use it.)

Address hidden emotional concerns.
Kids are usually worried about going back to school, even if they don’t express it. So ask them. Sit down at dinner and go around the table to ask your kids what they are most excited about and most worried about for the upcoming year. You’ll be surprised at what concerns them and you may be able to help them eliminate the concern before school even starts. But only if you know what’s bothering them. Most of your child’s concern will most likely come from not knowing what to expect (so ask an older neighbor kid), where their class room is (go see it when you Meet the Teacher), or how to get on and off the bus (ask an older neighbor to be their bus buddy). Give them the confidence to start school right.

Here are 3 More Ways to Get the Family Back Into a Back-to-School Routine.

Read more:
Back-to-School Traditions
How to Buy the Perfect Kids Backpack
6 Ways to Save Money on Back-to-School Clothes

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Tags: Back to School Tips

If your child is headed off to kindergarten, middle school or high school this year, they may be nervous about what to expect. These are big transitions! I know for me it happened so long ago (sigh!) that it’s easy to forget the anxiety and secret fears of going to a brand new school or starting a new phase in your school career.

Whether your child is excited and eager to go to the new school (for a few of you lucky parents) or anxious and unsure (for most of us), read my post at Patch.com “Tips to Ease Kids’ Fears When Starting A New School” with tips to smooth the transitions and start the year off right.

Do you have a child starting kindergarten, middle school or high school this year? Are they nervous or excited?

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Family Fun Ideas

The Back-to-School shopping season has officially started. Agh! Stores have swapped their summer merchandise for Fall clothing and back-to-school essentials, so good luck finding a bathing suit now. Have you started shopping yet to send your kids back to school or off to preschool?

To make your life a little easier, here are some money saving and bargain shopping tips to make this Back-to-School season a little easier on the wallet.

1. Always have your school supplies list with you. You never know when you’ll run into a bargain somewhere. Start checking off the items as you buy them to avoid duplicates. Sometimes stores you don’t expect have some good school supply deals.

2. Only buy what you need. Your kids are constantly growing and while you think their clothes from last year might still fit, they might not. Starting now, have your kids do a fashion show for you to see what in their closet still fits and what can be given away. Now you can make a list of what clothes, shoes, backpacks, and other accessories you need so you don’t over buy.

3. Wait to buy school clothes until after Labor Day. You’ll see more coupons and sales running then. Also, it never ceases to amaze me that after I buy my son new jeans in August, he grows an inch in September. There’s nothing worse than having a bag full of new clothes that your kids suddenly can’t wear. Wait until late September to make sure any last minute growth spurts are out of the way.

4. Search online for coupons to your favorite stores. There are all kinds of coupon sites out there to help you find a code. Don’t forget to check the store’s site directly. Some store sites offer coupons to new customers for signing up for their e-newsletters or listing their own coupons and deals. Psst! Shameless Plug: If you sign up for ChocolateCakeClub.com’s newsletter, we’ll send you a 15% off coupon for your first order. Our sister site has everything you need for back-to-school or off-to-preschool like school and toddler backpacks, messenger bags, waste free lunch boxes, water bottles, alarm clocks, supply bags, kids art storage folders, toddler nap mats, and even school paper organizers for Mom.

5. Check second-hand clothes shops or garage sales for kids clothes. Many times, these clothes were never worn and still have the tag on them. Some churches and Moms groups have used clothing sales so keep your eye out.

6. Host a neighborhood kids clothes swap. If you live in a neighborhood with a lot of kids or if you have a lot of friends with kids all different ages, host a clothes swap. Have all the Moms over for some chocolate cake. Tell them to bring their kids’ gently used clothes and see if you can swap. Set up a Yahoo! Group and have your friends and neighbors list their sizes before the swap meet. Even if you don’t end up doing much swapping, you’ll have a fun time getting together.

7. Finally, remember to write your kid’s name on the tag of their coat/jacket, backpack, lunch bag, etc. Stuff always gets lost but you might have a better chance of reclaiming it from the school Lost and Found box if you label it. Then you won’t have to spend more money replacing items.

So relax, take a deep breath and bring on the Back-to-School Season! Read all of our Back-to-School Sanity Saving Tips for Mom for a stress-free season.

What other tips do you have for saving money during Back-to-School season? I’d love to hear them.

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Tags: Back to School Tips

It’s Back-to-School Season, when the kids are done jumping into pools and beginning to jump into books. That means one thing – Back-to-School Shopping!. If your kids need a new backpack or their very first backpack for school or preschool, we’ve made life easier for you with these tips on how to choose the perfect backpack for your kids.

Your child will go through three backpack-size phases in their school years – preschool, elementary school, and middle/high school. While you may have more than one backpack during those times, most backpacks will fall into one of these three backpack “sizes” so you’ll need to pick the right one for your child.




PRESCHOOL OR DAYCARE

A preschool or toddler backpack should be small and simple, just big enough to carry those toddler essentials like a change of clothes, snack, BFF blankie, or a stuffed animal. Generally, a toddler backpack will fit a child ages 2 – 5 years old. So ask yourself, what do they need to bring every day and will this backpack hold it? Are you going to carry it or are they? If they are going to carry their own backpack to preschool then it needs to be smaller and very lightweight. You don’t want them looking like a deformed turtle as they walk down the driveway.



If you think you might use the bag while traveling, look for a Pull Along Backpack, one with a handle to make it easier for your child to pull instead of wear.



Most toddler-friendly backpacks are about 10″ – 12″ high and 10″ – 12″ wide. However, some can get as large as 14″ tall, but I would recommend that size for 4 or 5 year old rather than a 2 year old.


Pay attention to how the backpack opens and closes, as well. The younger the toddler the harder it may be for them to work a zipper, so you might want one with just a flap like this Quilted Toddler Backpack, which is machine washable as well. Bonus! But if zippers are no problem and you want something a little more sturdy, these Four Peas Toddler Backpacks are ideal.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

They say Niagara Falls is the 8th wonder of the world but I would argue that it’s my son’s backpack after a day at school. We’re talking a few books, folders, loose papers, a few Lego guys to play with on the bus, and of course pieces of priceless art like life cycles of a butterfly, macaroni necklaces and popsicle stick art. (I know these are going to be worth something on eBay one day.)



So, your child’s school backpack needs to be big enough and durable enough to hold all that and a bag of chips. If your child takes lunch to school then you also need to fit a lunch bag and maybe a water bottle. Now, here’s the kicker. Does your child go directly to an afterschool activity or care location where they would need to add in sports gear, additional books, or toys? Most school-size backpacks are sufficient for an elementary school child’s needs but if you are using the backpack for extra activities or to travel with on the weekends, go for the largest size you can find.

In general, look for a school-size backpack that is 14″ – 17″ tall to make sure it will hold books, notebooks and binders.

MIDDLE OR HIGH SCHOOL

For YOU, it’s all about durability because they carry some pretty heavy books. Look for durable material and a large size bag. For THEM, it’s going to be all about the ‘tude. This bag will hold more than just books, it will hold a statement. Don’t be surprised to find their bag covered in hanging doodads or covered with pins and patches. Your child will want to express him or herself so let them go for it.

There are a variety of styles for older kids; standard backpacks or messenger bags are popular, so have fun with your tween or teen picking out what they feel comfortable carrying- because they’re not just carrying a bag, but rather their heart on their sleeve, I mean back.

CLEANABILITY

If you want the backpack to last a few years, look for tough material. Not only to take abuse but to stand up to a hazmat-type cleaning. Make sure it is machine washable or easily surface cleaned. With my kids, we need to empty the bag and wash it every 2 months. The bags get skanky with food, left over glue, and various other substances that I can’t even identify! Remember, you only want one living thing attached to your kid’s backpack – your kid.

LAST NOTES ABOUT DESIGN

When your kids are younger, backpacks make a great gift. You or the gift giver can choose a cute, hip, or even plain design and your child will be thrilled. Once your kids gets ready for school, just try and get them to like the same design you do. I dare you! Avoid the arguments and let them pick.

Also, when your kids are younger they are going to gravitate towards the character designed backpacks – Spiderman, Dora, SpongeBob, Princesses, etc. However, these “fad” backpacks will probably only last you one year because your child will move on from that character quickly. “Oh Mom, Dora is so yesterday.” So, if you are going to buy a character backpack, don’t obsess over the quality and durability factors. And don’t pay too much for it because most likely it will go in the donation pile and be going to school with some other child.

Do you want to embroider the child’s name on the bag? If so, look for a design that has an open space on the front so you can add the name.

I hope these tips made it easier for you to choose the right backpack for your child. As a shameless plug, our sister site, the Chocolate Cake Club has a ton of Kids School Backpacks, Messenger Bags, and Toddler Backpacks if you are looking for ideas and inspiration.

If you still need help, shoot us an email at service@chocolatecakeclub.com and we’ll be happy to help steer you in the right direction.

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Tags: Back to School Tips

Is your toddler starting preschool in the fall? This is such an exciting time for them! They’ll meet new friends, learn the alphabet, work on fun art projects, and get exposed to new books, toys, and rules of behavior. They will also get comfortable to being away from Mom and Dad, if they haven’t already. Get your child ready for this new, fun experience with these 5 essential items.

1. Toddler-Sized Backpack

You’ll need to carry some items to preschool every day so a backpack that is sized just right for your toddler is a must. Look for a backpack that is lightweight, not too big, easy to open and close, and machine washable. In general, the ideal size for a toddler is about 12 or 13 inches tall. You want it big enough to hold a blanket, a favorite toy, and maybe a change of clothes. Look for adjustable straps too so they can continue to use it as they grow. You should be able to get at least 2 years out of your backpack. If that’s the case, steer clear of cartoon characters on the backpack. Kids change their favorites so quickly.

You’ll want to get your child’s name on the backpack somewhere so it doesn’t get mistakenly picked up by another child. You can get their name embroidered on the outside of the bag which kids love. Or if that makes you nervous that a stranger could see your child’s name, use their initials or just put a label inside the backpack. Read my post How to Buy the Perfect Kids Backpack for more considerations.


We have some of the cutest and most durable toddler backpacks around over at our sister site, ChocolateCakeClub.com.
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Tags: Back to School Tips

My kids are bouncing off the walls. They can’t wait for the last day of school tomorrow. Even though I don’t get the summer off, I do look forward to our annual family tradition of celebrating the end of the school year. Since they are so excited, I figure why not join in on the enthusiasm and make it a family tradition to do something fun as a family to mark the beginning of summer break?

Parents, if you can, take the afternoon off of work or dedicate a day for pure fun. Here are some ideas to inspire your celebration:

1. Hit the pool! Let the splashing begin. Head on over to your local pool and start working on that gorgeous tan while splashing around with the kids.

2. Neighborhood Fire Pit, Anyone? Put a fire pit out on the driveway and invite the neighborhood families over to celebrate together. Share your summer vacation plans, discuss the highlights of the past school year, talk about starting a gourmet club or how mosquitoes are the plague of man’s existence. You know, whatever makes you happy.

3. Run Around. It’s summer, so go outside. Be active and enjoy the outdoors. Go to the local forest preserve and play games, hit your favorite theme park, go for a long bike ride in another part of town, or go horseback riding if it’s available near you.

4. Go see a movie during the day. If your outdoor activities get rained out or you just want to enjoy extreme air conditioning, take advantage of that early bird, weekday discount to see the latest family flick. It will be a rare pleasure for the kids to see a movie during the day, because SCHOOL IS OUT!

5. Cook your kid’s favorite meal. Ask your kids what they want as a celebratory meal and have fun making it together.

Here are some other great ideas from around the Mom blogs for celebrating the last day of school.

Easy, fun ideas from Cindy at SheSparkles.com

Check out this awesome idea from Secrets of a Super Mommy to create a last day of school art gallery of her kids artwork from the whole year. Cool!

BTW, if you are overwhelmed with the pounds of artwork and school papers that are coming home on the last few days of school, download my free e-Guides on Organizing & Storing Your Kids Artwork and Organize the School Paperwork Chaos.

TipJunkie.com has a great round-up for end-of-school activities.

Do you celebrate the last day of school? How?

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Summer Family Activities

School is almost out so the question on every Mom’s mind is “What do we get for the kids’ teachers?” Every year I try to be creative and come up with something unique but most years I end up giving them what they say they really need. I am fortunate enough to have 6 teachers living in my neighborhood so I asked them what they like to get at the end of the year from their students. Here were the top answers, hands down.

1. Book Gift Cards – many teachers have to buy their own books for the classroom so gift cards help to cover that expense for them.

2. Coffee Gift Cards – We’re in a room with 28 loud children every day, need we say more?

3. Target Gift Cards – Hey, many teachers are Moms, too. (This applies for movie ticket certificates, restaurant certificates, and anything that you would appreciate as a gift.)

4. Anything Homemade by the student, especially if they had a nice bond throughout the school year. Notes, photos collages, or a written story were appreciated.

Want some more ideas? Here are some additional gift ideas I’ve come up with and found on various Mom sites.

5. The Mother Huddle blog had some ideas that were nice and most importantly easy to do. I really liked the Joyful Hands soap idea.

6. The Skip to My Lou blog had some great simple ideas for Teacher Appreciation Week that would also work as nice year end gifts. I like the Gift Certificate for a Massage idea.

7. If you have an artist at home, frame one of their masterpieces. My daughter’s teacher is retiring at the end of year so she is going to draw a picture of the teacher’s classroom so she’ll remember it.

8. How about a plant? They last longer than flowers and can be used to lighten up the classroom next year.

9. A box of pretty Thank You Notes. The teachers may want to send a thank you to all of the students for their year end gifts so why not make it easier for them to do so. If you don’t want to make your own, Sincerely Yours by Tracy has some beautiful, unique Thank You Notes and Teacher Cards.

10. A movie night package. Grab a recently released DVD, popcorn and some candy so your teacher can have a fun night at home with her or his family.

Care to add to the list? We’d love to hear more ideas!

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Ideas on Gifts for Big Occasions · Mom's Corner · Parenting Tips

It’s so hard to believe but the end of the school year is just weeks away. My kids had some really good teachers this year so I started looking for some easy but creative gift ideas that we could make together to show our appreciation. Here were my favorite ideas:

Teacher Lunchbox

This Teacher’s Lunchbox for the AlltheSmallThings blog takes a little bit of time, but what an amazing gift.


Apple Caramel Cupcakes in a Jar

These Apple Caramel Cupcakes in a Jar from Cheryl at TidyMom.net are another way to unique package some food gifts. They look so tasty!


Apple Oreo Pops

These super cute Apple Oreo Pops that I saw over on the SkiptoMyLou site are a fantastic idea.


Fairy Container Garden

Finally, this Fairy Container Garden from PinkandGreenMama blog is so unique and fun to both make and give. What a fun way to give a little bit of magic.

Which one is your favorite? Have fun making these gifts that are sure to make your kids’ teachers smile!

You Might Also Like:

Unique End-of-Year Teachers Gift Ideas

Easy and Inexpensive DIY Teacher’s Gift Ideas

Thoughtful Gifts Teachers, Neighbors, and Helpers Will Love

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Family Fun Ideas · Ideas for family projects · Mom's Corner · Parenting Tips

My kids were positively gloom and doom this morning when they had to go back to school. (Why does school start so early? Why do I even have to go to school? Ninjas don’t need to learn math. Why don’t you ever buy me any decent pants?) Insert your kids’ favorite whining here.

Now I like a good wine, I mean whine, when it’s me doing the whining. I certainly don’t want to condone the kids’ whiny behavior, but I was thinking of doing something special for the kids this evening to “celebrate” or “ease the pain” of going back to school after the Holiday Break. My plan? Chocolate Fondue! What better way to create a Chocolate Cake Moment than with hot, gooey chocolate?

You can certainly surprise the kids with this treat after school today or maybe on Friday after school to celebrate them getting back into the swing of homework.

Kirchner’s Chocolate Fondue

1 lb. of your favorite milk chocolate bar (we like Ghirardellis)
4 oz. dark chocolate bar
3/4 cup heavy cream (you can use half and half for less calories)
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Break the chocolate bars into pieces and place in your fondue, hot pot, or double boiler. Keep on a low setting. (If you don’t have any of those, just use a regular pot on very low setting and make sure you keep stirring.) Add cream and stir constantly until chocolate is melted and smooth. (If you are melting this on a stove top, watch the heat. Don’t walk away or the chocolate will boil and be ruined.) Stir in the vanilla right before serving. Then dip away!

Dipping Suggestions (In order of our kids preference):

• Large marshmallows
• Sliced bananas
• Salted pretzel sticks
• Cubed pound cake
• Angel food cake
• Stem strawberries
• Hazelnut or almond biscotti (more for the adults)

Serves 6

Have fun! What do you do to ease the pain of going back to school for your kids?

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Cooking with the Kids · Family Celebrations · Family Fun Ideas · Holiday Fun

Check out the article I wrote at HybridMom.com on 5 Tips for Organizing School Paperwork.

A big welcome to any new readers from HybridMom.com! I love meeting new people and helping families inject more fun into their daily lives with simple, creative and memorable ideas.

While you are at HybridMom.com, check out their list of the Top 20 Fall Family Activity Blogs. Check out one in your city so you don’t miss out on any chances for “Chocolate Cake Moments” with your family. (I hadn’t even heard of the site they listed for Chicago. I learn something new every day.)

Which family activity blogs do you use to find fun ideas for your family? Let’s make our own list here.

You might also like …

Back-to-School Sanity Saving Tips
10 Family Fun Ideas to Celebrate the Fall Season
We’re Featured in a New Book for Mom Entrepreneurs

[Read more →]

Tags: Back to School Tips · Fall Season Family Fun Activities · Family Fun Ideas · Parenting Tips

How many ways can we tell our kids we love them? Obviously, quite a lot. Here is our last post sharing all of the great kids lunch box note ideas that our readers sent in. This last category simply says “I Love You”, in many ways. From special terms of endearment to extra cookies thrown into the lunch box for friends, these ideas will make your child feel loved. With all of these great ideas, there’s no excuse not to throw a love note in your kids lunch box tomorrow morning.

My daughter told me today that even though kids make fun when they see a lunch box note from Mom in a classmate’s lunch box, she says it makes us kids smile inside and feel special. So, keep it up Moms and give your child a secret “Chocolate Cake Moment” while at school.

Love

“Have fun with your friends today. I love you, Peanut!”

“Enjoy your day! Laugh, Have Fun and Smile! Hugs and Kisses…”

“Hey my babycake, have a fun day at school! I cut the yucky stuff off your jelly sandwich for you. I will see you when you get home! ”

“I love your MORE than peanut butter sandwiches.”

“Son, when you think of me, I’m already thinking of you so our hearts are meeting. *HUGS* I love you always.”

“I love you sweet girl and can’t wait to see you soon. Have a fun day.”

“Thinking of your smile”

“Have a Great Day, Cupcake!”

“I love you! Can’t wait to watch your football game tomorrow! ”

“I love you big, big, big!”

“I Love You have fun, I am always thinking of you, yr mom”.

“You are a blessing, and I love you!”

“I’m thinking of you and praying for you today!”

“Remember that God made you special and wonderful!”

“I am thinking about you with a smile on my heart!”

“For my honey … some extra cookies to share with your friends. Love you!”

“Mommy & Daddy Love You!”

“You’re the Best Around…(we sing this song)”

“Mommy loves you to the moon and back!”

“Have a super fun day!!”

“Have fun on your first day of pre-school little monkey and make lots of new friends! Nanny loves you!”

“I love you to the galaxy and miss you lots! Enjoy your day.”

“Thanks for being such an awesome kid! I love you and hope you’re having a great day!”

“U R My Sunshine!”

I hope you liked these 4 posts on Kids Lunch Box Love Notes Ideas and you’re now inspired to share a smile with your child tomorrow.

Here are the other posts with Lunch Box Note Inspiration, so you don’t miss a single idea:
Notes of Encouragement
Missing You and Reminder Notes
Funny, Visual and Teaser Notes

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Tags: Back to School Tips

This is our third post sharing Kids Lunch Box Notes from our readers. I love the ideas in this post because we are featuring Funny, Visual, and Teaser note ideas. As always, please share your ideas at the end of the post.

Funny Notes: Make ‘em Laugh

• I would send her a knock knock joke as that is one of her favorite things now. Ours are silly and don’t rhyme or make any sense except to her and me!

  “Knock Knock
  Who’s there
  Hugs and Kisses
  Hugs and KIsses who
  Hugs and Kisses from me to you..”

• I would take a bite out of a sandwich or snack, then put in a napkin, and on the napkin write:
  “Oh! There was a mouse in your lunch! Hope you don’t miss that bite like the mouse misses you!”
• My husband likes to write cute notes to our 6 year old daughter that pertain to what is in her lunch. For example: if there is an apple, he would write “Have an apple of a day my sweetie!” or if I pack a string cheese he would write ” Cheese… have a happy day at school!” … strawberries would get ” You are so berry sweet!!!! we love you… mommy and daddy” and so on.
• “I’m gonna get your buttonnoodles!”
• “Boo” – for halloween, special holiday messages too…
• “See you soon, baboon!”
• I love you little
  I love you big
  I love you like a little pig

Visual: When no words are needed

• I would draw a picture of a hand and a heart in the middle of it to represent the “kissing hand.”
• My daughter loves dogs so I’ve been drawing little puppies and saying the simply “Have a great day, I love you!”
• Stickers or cut a fun picture out of a magazine
• I usually would draw a picture (he can’t read yet) something to do with a holiday or the season.

Teasers: Something to Look Forward To

• Happy Friday! Think about what game you’d like to play for Family game night tonight!
• Movie night tonight?
• Have fun with daddy at the gym after school.”
• “3 more hours until game night!” Love you! XOXO
• I hope school is going okay. I am making your favorite for dinner tonight, can’t wait till Sat. and watch you guys rock in football! Love you!
• “We’re having your favorite – TACOS! – for dinner! Yippee!!
• When your school day is done, Mommy will pick you up and we will have more fun!

You might also enjoy …

Inspiration for Kids Lunch Box Love Notes

Pack in Some Lunch Box Fun

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Tags: Back to School Tips

As we mentioned in our post Inspiration for Kids Lunch Box Notes, our readers sent in their ideas for little love notes to throw in your kids lunch box to share a smile. We divided all of the ideas into categories. Here are some more ideas in the Missing You and Reminder Categories.

Missing You

“I’m thinking of you. Put your hand to your cheek so you can get my kiss.” (We read “The Kissing Hand” which helped with saying goodbye).

“Hey Buddy- love you and miss you, see you when you get home.”

“No, I miss YOU more”!

“I miss you, but will see you soon!! Have a great rest of your day!!”

“I am going to miss you so much today and can’t wait to see you at 3. If there’s someone new at your lunch table, ask him his name and come home and tell me about him!”

“Thinking of you, anything good going on?”

“I hope you are having a great day! I love you so much and am so excited to see you soon!”

“Can’t wait to see you after school!”

“Mommy & sister miss you.”

Reminders

“3 bites of everything – Mommy loves you.”

“Eat all of your lunch.”

“We love you! Remember not to kick the balls inside!”

“Take care of your brother.”

“please be good…mommy loves you! p.s. remember to eat all your real food before you start on dessert.”

“4 year olds don’t cry, smile.”
“Use your inside voice. Be nice. Enjoy your day!”

“Remember to listen, watch, learn and love…”

“Hey Buddy- hope school is going good, remember no sugary treats ok. Love you and see you when you get home.”

“Just remember, there’s a kiss in your hand if you need it.”

Feel free to share more ideas in the comments below!

You might like …

Pack in Some Lunch Box Fun

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Tags: Back to School Tips

We recently ran our Mother Lode Back-to-School Giveaway and to enter, our fabulous readers shared their ideas for Lunch Box Love Notes for kids. Thank you! We love throwing a little note, joke, drawing, or something special into our kids’ lunch boxes to remind them that we are thinking of them. We even gave out FREE lunch box notes with every lunch box we sold at ChocolateCakeClub.com this Back-to-School Season. It’s such an easy way to add a smile to a kid’s day. (Try it on your husband too. He may love it!) However, some days it’s just too hard to be creative or author the perfect note. So, we compiled all of your ideas and divided them into categories as inspiration. The list was so long we are going to divide it into a few posts, so check back the next few days to see them all. Happy note writing!

Notes of Encouragement

Test Days – “Good Luck on your test! I know you can do it!”

For the First Day – “Have a great year in First Grade Mommy is so proud of you!”

“Have a wonderful first day of 4th grade! Can’t wait to hear all about it!”

“Hey Sweets- I know you will ace your test today! You make me proud everyday!”

“Sweet Girl- Have a wonderful day today! I love you!”

“Be a leader today. Be the first to forgive and cover it in love. And do your very best in all that you do.”

“Have tons of giggly fun all day long!”

“Wow Them!”

“You are my girl!”

“You’re going to do GREAT on that math quiz today! “

“Thanks for always trying your best! Have fun learning today.”

“Be a leader, be kind to your friends and open your heart and self up to new people. I love you, have a great day!! “

“Hope you are having a great day.”

“Good Luck on your test today. Now, relax and do your best! I’m sure you’ll do great!”

“Work hard and have fun! We love you!”

“Be the best you can be today! “

“I am so proud of you!!”

“You are my shining star, Brighter than any in the sky by far!”

“Have fun in ART class today! “

“Your best is enough.”

“Field Trip Day !! Having a good time? I will be there when the bus pulls in. Love you so much…”

“Keep smiling!”

“Great job on the picture you drew.”

“Hey Sweets- YOU ARE AWESOME kid, you make me proud everyday!!!!”
(My son is in love with the word AWESOME)

“Be good.”

“Have fun with your friends.”

“Have a great day sweetie! I love you and know you’re doing great!”

“Have fun at show and tell.”

“Good luck today on your test! Try not to daydream-just kidding.”

Need more inspiration? Check out these ideas:
Kids Lunch Box Love Notes: Missing You & Reminder Notes
Kids Lunch Box Love Notes: Funny, Visual, or Rewarding Notes
Kids Lunch Box Love Notes: A Plethora of Ways to Say “I Love You!”

[Read more →]

Tags: Back to School Tips

Does the idea of packing healthy school lunches for your kids make you break into a nervous sweat? Have 5 days of school gone by and you have depleted your creative ideas for lunch? Do your kids come home telling you that they didn’t eat because they didn’t like anything in their lunch box. Don’t fear. Getting your child to eat his or her lunch just takes a little planning and creativity.

Shake it up.
One easy way to shake it up is to vary the food that you normally use. Instead of a regular peanut butter and jelly on white bread (ho hum), make Pinwheel PB&Js by rolling up the PB&J in a flour tortilla and slicing it into pinwheels (fun!). Try a peanut butter and raisin or banana sandwich. My daughter loves Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter sandwiches. While some kids freak out when they see a new “food form,” as kids get older they will be willing to try more things, so don’t be afraid to shake it up. (And, if they are really hungry, they’ll at least try it.) Plus, if your kids are like mine, they actually try new stuff when they aren’t at home. I still remember my son coming home one day to tell me how awesome salami was because he had it at a friend’s house. Obviously, my many attempts to get him to try it were lame.

Sally Kuzemchak, a registered dietician with Parents.com, provides several ideas for healthy lunch combinations. One is for Pretzel Kabobs, with ham, turkey and cheese rolled up and skewered with a pretzel stick. You could serve these with ½ cup mandarin oranges, ½ cup shelled edamame or sugar snap peas and 1 container of sugar-free chocolate pudding. You can find her 20 great lunchbox ideas in her article on Healthy School Lunches and Snacks at www.parents.com.

FamilyFun.com has some very creative, school lunch sandwich ideas to keep you inspired.

When lunch needs something special.
If your child has food allergies, don’t despair. Check out Cherrybrook Kitchen Mixes for tasty treats that are peanut-, dairy-, egg- and nut-free. My daughter has Type 1 diabetes so we are always looking for ideas to make a healthy, lower carb lunch. This site has some healthy ideas for any kids.

Get ‘em to pitch in.
Getting your child involved with the meal preparation is a great way to help ensure that they eat their lunch, not trade it away. It also makes them feel more grown-up. You could try filling one of each of three plastic baskets with fruits, vegetables and snacks. Then allow your child to pick one item from each basket for their lunch. Add a sandwich and a drink, and you’re done. They might actually eat all of their lunch if they got to choose what’s in it.

Chart it.
For siblings who like different foods, make a chart of favorite foods with the child’s name at the top and foods they like and will eat for lunch underneath. Then you can simply pick items from the list when you are still tired in the morning before your coffee kicks in. Keep it simple and easy for Mom! I love it.

Theme of the week.
Another tip is to incorporate a theme every few weeks, such as serving all red foods. Pair a strawberry jelly sandwich with cherry tomatoes and low-fat ranch dressing with cherry Jell-O for dessert. Meals could be all round foods (a bagel with cream cheese sandwich, an orange, and carrot rounds) or a backwards lunch (a sandwich with meat and cheese on the outside and a note written in reverse telling the child to eat dessert first). We just found a fabulous book called Yum-Yum Bento Box by Crystal Watanabe and Maki Ogawa. The bento box lunches they create are so adorable your kids will love it.

Click here to find more creative ideas for cute Bento Lunches for kids.

A rose by any other name might be worth eating.
To make those healthy greens more interesting for your boys, label your food with a gross name. Cooked spinach could be Sea Monster Hair. Snow peas are Alien Fingers. Broccoli are mini trees from the Haunted Forest. They’ll look forward to your creativity. (So will I. Let me know what you named everything.)

Yes, these ideas take a little time and prep to make. But remember; planning it on Sunday night for the weekdays will save you precious time on weeknights from trying to think of new lunch ideas. Or, just throw in the fun randomly when you have time. Your kids will never know what they’ll find that way.

Have fun and here’s to healthy lunches for your kids this year.

Looking for some fun kids lunch boxes to tote their healthy and fun creations to school. We’ve got plenty of cool designs and eco-friendly, waste-free kids lunch boxes to choose from at ChocolateCakeClub.com.

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How to Buy the Perfect Kids Lunch Box

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Cooking with the Kids · Parenting Tips

School has started for a lot of us, so let the volunteering begin! We all want to help out and get involved in our kids school, right? It’s a great way to meet your kids’ friends so you can put faces to their stories. It’s also a nice way to meet other parents in your area. And until your kids hit their teen years, they are thrilled to have you share their world at school. Sometimes though it’s just not possible to do all that is required. Or we feel such guilt to contribute but it adds stress to our lives and we end up resenting it. If that is how you feel. Stop!

Everyone is at a different point in their life. If you have the time to volunteer and enjoy it, do so. If it makes you resentful or stressed out, don’t. There are different ways to give back and each school year you can do it differently. Some years, I had plenty of time so I could chaperone field trips, help set up the book fair, and bake for the Holiday Bake Sale. Some years work is all consuming and I have no time, so I send in supplies and only volunteer for activities in my child’s class, not for the whole school.

I’ve been asked to sit on the PTA Board in the past, but with running my own business, I don’t have a lot of extra time. I’ve said that if you need an extra set of hands at an event, call me. I can totally give you a few hours of my time, and I’m a great worker bee. But I can’t commit to running or organizing committees.

However, if you do have some time, you may want to organize the Book Fair this year because you have some great ideas on how to make it better. Cool! However you enjoy getting involved in your child’s school is perfectly fine and should be appreciated by the school and your child. Give yourself a break – there’s no guilt needed here.

Making it easier!
If you are a classroom leader or chair for a school activity or even a Boy or Girls Scouts leader, you may want a little help organizing and leading your fellow volunteers. We just learned about a free, easy-to-use online tool that takes the hassle out of coordinating volunteers. Better yet, it encourages volunteers to interact with each other. As the leader, you don’t need to do everything.

What’s the secret? Check out VolunteerSpot.com if you coordinate volunteers or belong to a group that needs some help coordinating their volunteer efforts. With just a few simple clicks, the site helps you organize a group to sign up for any activity — from reading to your child’s class to staffing the Holiday Breakfast to organizing the Fall Fundraiser. Organizers can invite parents to volunteer with an easy e-mail sign-up invitation, and parents can volunteer for tasks with a simple click on an online calendar. No registration required. Automated e-mails remind folks of their commitments. Whew! You don’t have to create those mass “reply all” e-mails, late-night phone calls, dreaded clipboard sign-up sheets or confusion over exactly who will be doing what. Great leaders use great tools!

Feel free to pass this resource along to your child’s teacher, in case they need help recruiting parent helpers in the classroom. (Or keep it to yourself so you look like the only Mom at school who’s got it together. Your choice. We won’t tell.)

Best yet, VolunterrSpot.com has some great free ebooks on Fun School Carnival Ideas, Bake Sale Tips, Kid-Friendly Fundraising and Gift Ideas for Teachers. Download their new, FREE e-book – The Room Mom’s Survival Guide. I just downloaded it to check it out and it’s full of great information.

Have fun getting involved with your child’s school this year. Decide how much you want to give and then enjoy!

[Read more →]

Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

SuperMom Strikes Again

Faster than a travel soccer team practice three nights a week, stronger than two-a-day football practices, able to leap piano lessons and marching band in a single bound, it’s SuperMom!

Do visions of running your children to all of their after school activities have you pulling at your superhero tights and breaking into a cold sweat? (It’s not the itching, but the chafing.) Fear not! All it takes is some advanced planning and family guidelines to take the pressure off of you. Enlist your children and your spouse in this planning, and then the burden of organizing all of the after school activities won’t necessarily call for super hero strength–just some flexibility.

Write it down—all of it
Get in the habit now of writing everything down in one place. Keep a master family wall calendar like the Mom’s Plan-it Family Wall Calendar to keep track of up to five family members. The calendar is color-coded, magnetic and keeps it all together.

If you or your kids want to, hang the calendar low enough for them to reach to write down their own activities. They can keep track of special classes like art or music, activities or sports, or playmates and birthday parties. Have fun with the schedule. Let them add stickers or smiley faces or whatever they like to remind them of important days. Just get into the habit of everybody checking the calendar daily before they go to bed, so everyone knows what’s going on the next day.

Have weekly calendar sessions with the whole family every Sunday night to update the calendar. This helps you keep everyone on the same page and avoids potential scheduling conflicts before they occur. (This way no one in the family can claim … “But, no one told me.”)

Keep it together
Keep all of your kids activity stuff together in a duffle bag or backpack. Have a special duffle bag for soccer with pads, shoes, uniform and a water bottle. Keep all of this gear in the bag hanging in the coat room or garage. After your wash the uniform, throw it in the soccer duffle bag. Don’t take it upstairs and put it away in a dresser. That’s just an extra step. The ready-to-go bag will make life easier when you are late for practice and running out the door. You won’t need to go hunting for all of the gear you need. “Why are my soccer shoes in the pantry?” If you have two sports going on at the same time, get two separate duffle bags.

Same for piano lessons, keep all of the books, folders, etc. in a designated backpack. It’s always ready to go when you are and keeps the clutter in the rest of the house down to a minimum. Invest in hooks for extra backpacks. It’s worth it.

Say No once in a while
Busy moms and kids get a lot done in part because they are so busy. But remember to schedule in some down time between activities. Don’t pack the schedule so full that all you are doing is running from one thing to the next. Where’s the joy in that?

Step back, and remember that it is OK to say No to some things. The world will still go on, and someone else can run the bake sale this year. It is an important time management lesson to teach your child that you are choosing to do only what is most important to you and your family.

We tell our kids that they can do 1 extra activity per “quarter”. While we insist on things like Spanish, swim lessons, or music at different times to make sure they are getting exposed to different talents, we let them choose something THEY want to do. Whether they want to play soccer, basketball, gymnastics, art classes, Tae Kwon Do or nothing, they start to learn how to choose and set their own priorities, and then you aren’t in the car 24/7. If you are feeling burned out, take a few months off with no activities. The kids will still get into college.

Think about how taking on another activity or group or commitment will affect the entire family, and say no to ones that you or your kids don’t love. Kids also need an appropriate amount of time to do homework. Make sure they get it. Children and adults all need down time to just hang out and relax. Don’t overbook so you can use that new found time to create more Chocolate Cake Moments!

Roll with the changes
These days, everyone seems to have a jam packed schedule. Know that sometimes it won’t always be perfect. You can’t be SuperMom (even though you may come very close). Try your best to be organized, but stay flexible. When the schedule gets messed up, have back up plans in place for quick, easy dinners or a carpool driver on speed dial. If you miss an appointment, don’t beat yourself up. If you signed up for an activity where the coach insists on holding practice during church or important family times, quit and choose another program. You and your family are all in this together, and you will get through it in flying colors. The goal is to remember that nothing is more important than having time to spend together as a family.

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

Now that school has started, how can you talk to your kids about school without getting the famous one word reply– “Fine”? Or my favorite, “OK.” No that’s some communicating!

Getting your kids to actively talk about their day can be a challenge but here are some tips that have worked for us or we’ve read about on how to get your kids to talk about their day.

Greet, don’t grill.
Kids can get defensive and feel intimidated when you ask them about school right as they get off the bus. Don’t grill them about their day as soon as they walk in the door. “What did you do today? What did you learn? What did you have for lunch?” Just take it easy and truly show them you are just happy to see them again. This worked wonders for my family since the kids didn’t drag their feet coming home to tell me bad news. They knew they could ease into it.

We found an article that Jim Fay wrote and he calls this technique the “30 minutes rule.” Don’t talk about school or your work for 30 minutes after greeting each other. You don’t want to hear bad news about your kid’s day and they don’t want you to take out any work aggression on them. Don’t let school or work ruin your relationship with your child. Make sure you are both happy to greet each other. You can read his other hints here.

Listen Up!
It’s great if your child begins the talking first. One day, don’t ask them about school at all and see what happens. Kids are usually less defensive and more willing to share their school experience when they start to talk first. So hold back the questions and just let them tell you. Or, see if they ask you about your day. (We can dream, can’t we?)

Sharing.
Once you start talking, be very open with them. Tell them about a mistake you made that day that you wish you could take back. Seeing your wiliness to share about your day can help them talk about their school day. Share with them what you like to do, how you spent your day while they were away, what happened at your work, if you met up with a friend, or if you saw something interesting. Let your kids get to know you as a person.

It’s All in How You Ask.
Asking them “How was school today” most often or not leads to the word ‘okay’, ‘fine’ in a tone that declares an end to the conversation. We use more open ended questions like: What sport did you play today in gym? What game did you play in recess? Who did you play with at recess? Why do you like that friend? Did you like the lunch I packed you? Who did you sit with at lunch today? What was the coolest thing that happened to you today? What do you wish that you could do over?

Take advantage of the clues in their backpack to start the conversation. Ask them about the homework, graded papers, notes from teachers, and artwork your kids bring home daily. Talk to them about the notes their teacher wrote on their papers, and praise them for the good grades they’ve earned. (We all need a little more praise and positive feedback every day, don’t we?) Show interest in their artwork and ask them to explain their master piece to you- even if it is just green beans glued to white paper.

A place where everyone gathers.
Make dinner a safe and comforting place for your family to share their goods and bads, happiness and disappointments, past and up-coming events. There is no better time or place to talk about your day then when you are all gathered together eating dinner. If your family’s schedule is just too hectic so that you can’t eat dinner together, then make breakfast together a ritual. Get up a little earlier but get everyone around the table talking. If you make these family conversations part of the daily routine, when they reach to their teen years, it’ll be easier for them to share.

The best time is … anytime.
Try talking about your child’s day at different times. After you have relaxed and read a story together might be a good time to talk. Or at breakfast before the day starts might be the best time. Try talking about their day at different times to see when they are most relaxed and open to sharing.

We hope these tips help you any your children to have more meaningful conversations about school.

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Family Mealtime Fun

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Family Dinner Time Fun · Parenting Tips

Our friends Holly at the Work at Home Woman and Abbey at Living My Moment are hosting a Back-to-School Blog Bash next week. There will be wonderful giveaways (we’re giving away a Four Peas School Backpack valued at $35) and every participating blog will be posting some fun Back-to-School tips and musings.

If you have a blog and want to participate in the tour, head on over to either site to sign up. It’s a nice way to get some additional traffic to your site. Then, come back here on Monday, September 6th to read our Back-to-School Sanity Saving posts and then take the blog tour around the web. You may discover a new blogger you absolutely love.

Have a fun Labor Day with your Family!

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Read our Back-to-School Sanity Saving Tips so far

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Contests

And so it begins. It won’t take long once school starts. It could be a few days or a week, but you know it is lurking around the corner—homework. The teachers will waste no time sending it home. And if your child is like mine, he or she will start whining as soon as they receive it. To win the whining wars, set some ground rules ahead of time, experts say. Follow these easy tips to bring peace and order to your home. (We’re trying them all out in our house.)

Susie Julian of Libertyville (Ill.), an experienced elementary teacher, said developing a routine to get homework done is the key. “Set the expectation with your child that they do their homework first,” Julian said. “Make it as much of a routine as possible. Then there’s no whining. It’s just what we do everyday. It’s like brushing your teeth.” My kids totally understand that the order is Get Off Bus, Greet Mom, Give Hugs, Have Snack, Do Homework, and then they are free to play.

Set a specific place to do homework.
If possible, set aside a desk or card table just for homework. If you are tight on space, designate a spot in their room or at one end of the kitchen table. Have pens and pencils available, and a calculator and a ruler for older kids.

Eliminate distractions.
Give your kids sperate spaces. That means no TV and no cell phones for the duration of their homework. Older kids probably will fight you on this point, but again, just make it part of the routine. They will get much more out of their U.S. History analysis of the causes of WWII if Jenny isn’t texting every five minutes about the new boy in class. My kids have to be separated so they don’t end up bugging each other.

Start early.
Start the homework sooner rather than later at night, when the whining may go up exponentially. “Make it as much of a routine as possible,” said Julian. “Having the same time, same routine seems to help with the whining. Set the expectation that you do homework first, then you can go relax or be with friends.” No matter how much they beg, don’t budge on this! I learned the hard way.

Whining with a reason.
There is whining, where the child just is not in the mood to do homework, and then there is true whining, that could signal a bigger problem. Julian says parents need to pay close attention, however, if the whining persists. “If you have a lot of whining, perhaps there is a real reason for it,” Julian said. “Is there too much homework? Is it too difficult? Maybe there is a legitimate reason for it.” If so, you or your child should contact the teacher right away.

Julian recommended that depending on the age of the child, have the child talk to the teacher on their own to encourage responsibility. The child can ask the teacher to explain a certain section or simply say the homework didn’t make sense. If the child is too young, or too reserved, then you can send an e-mail or call the teacher on their behalf.

“As a teacher, I need to know if something didn’t connect with the students,” Julian said.

Help, but don’t rescue.
Parents should support their children with homework struggles without rescuing them or doing the work for them. Some nights it’s hard when you need to go make dinner or do a million other chores but stop, take a deep breath and help them. Don’t do it for them. You already went to school.

For additional homework help, check first with the teacher or the school. Many offer homework help lines where you can simply call in for assistance. They are often staffed by teachers or volunteers who can help a student with a confusing subject. Your teacher could send some “cheat sheets” home for you as well to help your child.

There are also online sites to give assistance. Try www.school.discoveryeducation.com, a resource provided by Discovery Education to help students in all grades with all subjects, or www.homeworkhelp.com, where online tutors help students understand the homework concepts.

While the whining may not stop completely, it should be more manageable. Good luck!

What works best for your kids to stay on track and get their homework done with a minimum amount of whining?

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

Check out the article that I wrote for HybridMom.com on How to Wake Your Kids Up for School. Funny how the kids can snap awake at 6 a.m. during summer break but you need to physically drag them from the bed once school starts. Read about the tips and ideas we use in our house to rouse the sleepyheads.

Getting Your Kids Out of Bed in the Morning and Ready for School

Grab one of our Talking Kids Alarm Clocks to make it easier to wake up your kids with a smile.

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Back to a Back-to-School Routine – Part 1
Back to a Back-to-School Routine – Part 2

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

While your school age children may HATE this idea, your toddlers and especially your kids entering kindergarten will enjoy having some summer fun by pretending to go to school. If your child is really nervous about starting kindergarten then showing them what to expect can not only be fun, but help ease their fears. (This is also fun to do when your younger child is devastated that their older brother or sister gets to go to school and they don’t.)

Here are some ways to pretend school is in session:

• Make up a silly name for your school to get everyone in the giggly mood.
• Invite other kids in your neighborhood to be students or set up your child’s stuffed animals at little “desks” in the room.
• If you have a desk at home, pull it out into the middle of the family room. Set up a white board, chalk board, or tape a large piece of white paper to the wall so you can “teach” in front of them.
• Give your child a notebook or some pieces of lined paper to write, draw or pretend math.
• Give them some scissors to practice cutting shapes you’ve drawn on a piece of paper.
• You can print some worksheets from a variety of online sites to use.
• Set your alarm clock to go off loudly, to announce that school is in session.
• Use pretend money to practice counting and recognizing coins and dollars.
• Read some fun story books about school.
• Go outside and study bugs for science. Have them draw the bug in their notebook.
• You can even pretend to go on a Field Trip – loading the kids in a wagon and taking them to a local library to enjoy new books or visit a train station to talk about transportation. (Pick any nearby destination that your kids would enjoy and look at it from an educational angle.)
• Have a fire drill. Set your alarm clock to go off again and “evacuate” the building safely.

Here are some fun, school-related activity kits and educational games that will have your kids smiling, while they are learning.

Ready, Set, School Activity Set

What Time is It? Game

Spanish Bingo for Kids

Spanish Flash Cards

Write Me a Story Pads

American Presidents Placemat

Have fun playing and learning.

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Family Fun Ideas · Summer Family Activities

Going from Middle School to High School is a huge emotional step for kids (and for parents–get those Kleenex out again!) Most teens are apprehensive about going, but too cool to let you know. They may be worried about forming friendships, fitting in, getting good grades, getting lost, dealing with peer pressure and dating, just to name a few. Here are a few ideas to help them feel more comfortable about high school.

Re-establish routines.
Right now, before school begins, start turning your night owl child into one who goes to bed a little earlier and gets up before noon. This will help them avoid going into shock on the first day. If your kids are texting late at night while they are supposed to be sleeping, have them leave their cell phones in the kitchen, plugged into a charger, before they go to bed.

Be involved.
Even though they hope you don’t know, teens need their parents now more than ever. Find out how to best contact the school and the individual teachers to get help, if needed. Many schools now use technology like PowerSchool to provide parents with daily or weekly updates on their student’s progress with homework and tests. Get on these systems right away so that you can head off any problems before they become larger issues. Let your kids know you are talking with their teachers so it doesn’t feel like you are going behind their back and spying on them. Make sure they know it is because you want to stay involved.

Stay close but not too close.
Ask your teen about their day, but don’t interrogate them. If they tell you a problem, don’t automatically try to solve it for them. Expect that especially during the first few weeks of school, they may come home and need time to just “chill out.” Try to chat with them in the car on the way to activities or at dinner instead of grilling them as they come in the door.

Teach Them to Handle Independence.
Your kids may have a lot more independence in High School than in Middle School. However, that doesn’t mean you stop parenting. Talk with your kids frequently about meeting deadlines, avoid procrastinating (do as Mom says, not as she does), and prioritizing their work and fun. These are life skills they will need for the rest of their lives. Encourage them to try new activities and join clubs but learn when enough is enough.

Any other advice you’d like to share?

We hope this series of tips help you and your kids get through the crazy transition of starting a new school and meeting new milestones.

Read more:
Transitioning Your Child to Middle School
Transitioning Your Child to Kindergarten
Tips for Planning Family Vacations with Teens & Tweens

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

When your child has conquered Elementary School and is going on to Middle School, it is a significant adjustment. Kids may worry about fitting in, making friends and huge loads of homework. Let alone trying to get from class to class on time. Reassure them that it will all become second nature quickly and that you will be there to help.

Conquering the Combination Lock.
Many students are terrified that they won’t be able to get their locker open in the few minutes they have in the crowded hallway between classes. (What’s that combo? Agh! I’m going to be late!)Practice with your own lock in advance, or see if you can visit the school to practice using their real locker. Write the combination down in a planner. For kids who have a phone, program the locker combination into their phone – chances are, that’s the last thing they’ll lose.

Making friends.
Middle school can be a tricky time to make friends. It can especially be difficult for girls who frequently make and break friendships. Be sensitive to this. If your child is having some challenges with other girlfriends, maybe check out Queen Bees and Wannabes: Helping Your Daughter Survive Cliques, Gossip, Boyfriends, and Other Realities of Adolescence by Rosalind Wiseman.

Ask your child if they know anyone from their last school going there. Remind them that they made friends in elementary school that they didn’t know before. As with adults, tell them that joining clubs and after-school activities is the fastest way to make new friends, especially ones who share the same interests.

Eating lunch.
Lunchtime can be a social landmine. Kids are known for grouping together into the stereotypical groups—the jocks, the popular kids, the nerds, the trouble makers, kids who love vegetables. (We’ve all seen Breakfast Club and Better Off Dead.) Help your child plan ahead. Encourage them to find a friend who will save them a seat to avoid the awkward search. Or encourage your child to sit at a different table everyday to try to meet the most people and find the friends that make them feel comfortable.

Find a “mentor.”
Check your neighborhood for a kid who may be a year or two ahead. Ask them if they would talk to your child about middle school – how it works, which clubs to join, what to avoid, etc. At the very least, this will be a friendly face on the first day of school.

What other tips do you have for parents’ whose kids are entering Middle School?

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

If your child is headed to kindergarten, middle school or high school this year, they may be nervous about what to expect. These are big transitions and your child is either excited and eager to go to the new school (for a few lucky parents) or anxious and unsure (for most). Here are some tips to smooth the transitions and start the year off right.

To help both you and your child feel secure and excited about going to kindergarten for the first time, you need to plan ahead. Some young children jump right in, acting as if they had been there all of their lives, but others are shy and scared. Try these ideas to make going to school as easy as possible.

Don’t Miss Orientations.
No matter what grade your kids are entering this year, be sure to attend Back-to-School Nights and Meet the Teacher(s) events before school starts. It makes a huge difference to see a friendly face on the first day of school.

Be relaxed but excited.
Kids can sense any anxiety you may be feeling, so be sure to talk positively about school. Don’t ask them if they are nervous if they haven’t even considered that they need to be nervous yet. (Boy, do my kids run with the power of suggestion, so head it off at the pass.) Talk positively with your child about the fun they can expect in kindergarten, like learning new songs and playing games and recess, but don’t focus on it too much or don’t try to oversell the “play” part. School can be fun but it is for learning.

Practice makes perfect.
Kids will feel more secure if they know what to expect so practice walking to school or the bus stop. Or drive to the school and say, “This is where Mom will park or where the bus will drop you off and that is the door you will go into. Then this is where you will be picked up each day.” Bring your camera and some Kleenex for that first bus ride and ask another child to help them on the bus. Share tissues with the other moms because trust me, there will be tears. But be sure to send off your child with happy – not hysterical—tears. Or hysterical relief – that’s not a good signal to send either.

Let them have a say.
Be sure to get their school supplies early and let the kids pick out a special folder or a cool backpack to express themselves. Let them draw a picture of the family or a beloved pet to hang in their cubby, if allowed. Let your child pick out the special “first day” outfit the night before (or if they are wardrobe challenged, let them choose a part of it, such as a favorite shirt or funky socks.) To remember this fond moment, take a picture of them on their first day. There’s no better place to start making new friends than at the bus stop. Ask another child to help them on the bus or encourage your kids to introduce themselves to the other kids waiting.

Pretend.
Kids love to play school. Help them see what kinds of activities they might encounter in school with this Ready, Set, School Activity Kit from Alex Toys that we sell over at the Chocolate Cake Club.

Read books about kindergarten.
Reading together with your child is always one of the best ways to help them prepare for kindergarten. For kids who are anxious and don’t know what to expect in this big transition period, books like “Let Get Ready for Kindergarten” by Stacey Kannenberg covers the alphabet, letters, rhyming, numbers, and shapes to help ease them into the school year. We like funnier books to ease our fears, so we enjoyed “Jake Starts School,” by Michael Wright.

We’ll be covering tips for Middle School and High School next.

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Celebrate the Last Day of Summer Freedom
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Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

Mom, you may be jumping for joy that the kids are finally going back to school, but the kids might be a little bummed their summer freedom is over. Just because school is starting, it doesn’t mean you can’t have one last day in the sun. Help your kids to see the last day of summer as something to look forward to by creating a tradition where you do something fun as a family to celebrate. Mom and Dad, see if you can take the day off of work so you can do something fun together. Here are some ideas on how to celebrate:

Hit the pool one last time.Your kids have probably been swimming all summer but that’s no reason not to go again. Enjoy the sun and get that last tan of the season.

Have a block party. Invite the neighborhood kids and parents over. Share your summer vacation highlights as well as talk about who has which teacher, new outfits, bus schedules, etc. The kindergarten kids can ask the older kids for help with getting on the bus.

Run Around. It’s still summer, so go outside. Be active and enjoy the outdoors on this last day. Your kids are going to be sitting in a class room for the next 9 months so release as much energy as you can. Go to the local forest preserve and play games, hit the theme park one last time, go for a long bike ride in another part of town, or go horseback riding if it’s available near you.

Go see a movie during the day. If your outdoor activities get rained out or you just want to relax, this will be the last time to take advantage of that early bird, weekday discounts to see the latest family flick. It will be a rare pleasure for the kids to see a movie during the day, just because you can.

Cook your kid’s favorite meal. Ask your kids what they want as a celebratory meal and have fun making it together. Make cookies in the shape of a school bus or apple that they get to take to school on the first day. Make homemade trail mix or snack mix that they can take the first week of school. Simple, but fun.

A blog we love to read is Gourmet Mom-on-the-Go and she has a totally cool idea for a Celebration Sandwich for her kids. Check out this fun recipe!

Does your family do anything to celebrate the last day of summer before school starts?

You might also want to read:
Back to a Back-to-School Routine
Back to School Traditions
30 Day Summer Fun Challenge Ideas

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Family Fun Ideas · Holiday Traditions

ParentsConnect.com is hosting a Back-to-School Bash today and giving away prizes all day. We donated one of our popular Monkey Talking Alarm Clocks so head on over to enter to win the clock or any of the other great Back-to-School products they are giving away. Contest ends tonight at 11:45 PM EST.

Looking for some Back-to-School sanity during this chaotic time of year? Read all of our posts on Saving Money, Having Fun, and Staying Organized during Back-to-School Season.

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Contests

Want more tips on how to get the family back into a school frame of mind?

Get a Family Calendar.
The Master Family Schedule should be easily accessible for everyone. Teach your kids how to look at the family calendar and increase their sense of responsibility by letting them know what they need to prepare for the next day. Keep the calendar in the kitchen or a common room. Here are some ideas to keep on track:

• Once school starts, have them sit with you and write in which days they have gym, art or music.
• Make it a habit to look at the calendar together after dinner so that everyone can prepare.
• Check their backpack to find those papers with new important dates to mark on the calendar.

Even Dad will appreciate the family calendar when he comes home and can’t find anyone. He can check the calendar and see we’re all at soccer practice.

Shameless Plug: To get you started, we love the Mom’s Plan-it Family Wall Calendar and Engagement Calendar, which is why we sell them at www.ChocolateCakeClub.com. However, you can make your own or choose from a variety of other brands.

Give your self time.
Your kids can sense your moods. They are like bats that way. Keeping yourself upbeat and calm in the morning can work wonders on how your kid’s day goes. Whether it may be getting up extra early if you need to begin the day with a quiet morning, or just a cup of extra strong coffee is all you need; be sure to give your child your brightest smile in the morning- that is the best gift you can give to help them through the rest of the day. Then, when they get on the bus or your drop them off, have another cup of coffee. While it’s not fair that you are the one that needs to sacrifice those extra precious minutes of sleep, it’s better for all to not be freaked out in the morning.

Breakfast, it does a body good.
Breakfast doesn’t need to be elaborate but it does set the energy level for the whole day. Keep it simple with cereal, yogurt, granola, fruit, frozen waffles (no-trans fat, please) and hard boiled or scrambled eggs, if they’ll eat it. We introduced our kids to a European-style bread, ham and cheese breakfast and they love it. It’s easy to make on a busy school morning. On Sunday, make pancakes or French toast and freeze it for the week. Don’t let your kids skip breakfast though. Have them eat a cereal bar or banana at the very least, to get the brain going.

Any other tips for us? Please share.

You may also like:
Back to a Back-to-School Routine – Part 1
Back to School Traditions
Back-to-School Bargain Shopping Tips

[Read more →]

Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

Getting your kids to switch from the crazy, free days of summer into a Back-to-School routine again can be a little challenging. (Oh, my gosh, we start next week! How did that happen!?!) But with just a little advanced planning, you can get everyone back into a School frame of mind.

Get in the Groove Again.
A week or two before school starts, get the kids back into a routine. No more sleeping in front of the TV. No more waking up at noon or with younger kids, no more waking up at 6 a.m. for no reason. Reestablish a bed time, start reading a story again before bed, and wake the kids up earlier in the morning to get their body back into a “school sleeping cycle.”

State the Rules.
Sit down at the dinner table one night and lay down your expectations for the school year. Remind them of the family rules like:

• No breakfast until they are fully dressed
• Backpack ready the night before
• No TV or Wii until homework is done
• No friends over until homework is done

By stating these up front as a reminder, your kids should have the rules down pat by oh, say Middle School. However, you’ll feel better that you did your “Momly” duty.

As a visual reminder, make a chart that reminds the kids what they need to do each morning or before bed – brush teeth, get backpack ready, set out clothes for the next day, make bed. This takes away your need to nag, … or at least nag less. We sell a Magnetic Kids Chore Chart that we use daily to help with the reminders. (We also tie their allowance to it so the kids actually use it.)

Address hidden emotional concerns.
Kids are usually worried about going back to school, even if they don’t express it. So ask them. Sit down at dinner and go around the table to ask your kids what they are most excited about and most worried about for the upcoming year. You’ll be surprised at what concerns them and you may be able to help them eliminate the concern before school even starts. But only if you know what’s bothering them. Most of your child’s concern will most likely come from not knowing what to expect (so ask an older neighbor kid), where their class room is (go see it when you Meet the Teacher), or how to get on and off the bus (ask an older neighbor to be their bus buddy). Give them the confidence to start school right.

Check back tomorrow for more tips on getting Back to a Back-to-School Routine.

Read more:
Back-to-School Traditions
How to Buy the Perfect Kids Backpack
6 Ways to Save Money on Back-to-School Clothes

[Read more →]

Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

The First Day of School is creeping up on us (we start next Wednesday) and I think we are organized and ready this year. Although my kids face the new school year with dread and gloom, I like to celebrate the start of a new school year. Sure, I’m dancing in the hallways because I get the house back to myself and can work noise-free once they’re back in the classroom. But I’m also celebrating because the start of a new school year means new opportunities, new friends, and new milestones for my kids. Whatever your reason, do take the time to celebrate and start some new family traditions.

I’ve read some fun posts on various blog sites about Back-to-School Traditions and thought I would share.

First Day of School Traditions:

Over at Make and Takes, read their post on the First Day of School Fairy.

At the Mother Huddle, read about the German tradition of giving kids Schultuete School Cones on their first day of school.

I always take pictures of my kids on the first day of school in their new outfits and backpacks. We take the photo in the same spot so that we can see how much they grow each year. I put notes in their lunch box or backpack to let them know that I’m thinking of them. I always meet them at the bus stop on the first day so I can hear about their day. Then we usually have something fun for dinner like homemade pizza or their favorite meal.

The last day of summer break is also a great day for celebrations. Read our post on How to Celebrate the Last Day of Summer Break by doing something fun with the kids.

What are your Back to School Traditions?

You might also like:
Pack in Some Lunch Box Fun
Tips for Getting Your Kids Out of Bed in the Morning

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Family Fun Ideas

When back to school season comes around, so does all the stress. There are about a million things to worry about. Who is their new teacher? What time is the bus coming? Why do my kids look like it’s the end of the world? Will my son eat something other than a salami sandwich this year?

Most importantly what new clothes do they need? Most likely your kids will either whine about being dragged out to shop, or eagerly fight through the crowds– pushing almost everything into the cart.

Take a deep breath and remember that there are ways to keep your money, time and sanity in check when shopping for school clothes.

1) Your kids are constantly growing and while you think their clothes from last year might still fit, they might not. In early August, have your kids do a fashion show for you to see what in their closet still fits and what can be given away. (Tip: Let your little girl wear make-up while she is doing it and she’ll be at it for hours.) Boys might need a little more bribery for this and you might need to spread “the fitting” out over several nights. However, now you can make your list of what clothes, shoes, backpacks, and other accessories you need so you don’t over buy.

2) While shopping for Back-to-School clothes, take advantage of the summer sales and stock up on some basics for next summer, especially for bathing suits or shorts. Retail sales for summer clothes usually starts at the end of July so look for cute summer clothes that are a size or two larger for your child to fit into a year from now.

3) Only buy one or two new school outfits now. It was always a tradition in our house that you wore a new outfit on the first day of school. Mom took photos as we were heading for the bus and wanted us to look our best. New clothes to me signified a brand new year full of possibilities. However, don’t buy clothes for the whole year in July or August. Every year it amazes me that right after I buy jeans for my son in August, he grows an inch. There’s nothing worse than having a bag full of new clothes that your kids suddenly can’t wear. Tip: Make sure you keep the receipts, so you can exchange what doesn’t fit. I’ve learned to shop for his jeans in late September or October. There are usually better sales and hopefully he’ll have done his sprouting for the year.

4) Also, remember to write your kid’s name on the tag of their coat/jacket, backpack, lunch bag, etc. Stuff always gets lost but you might have a better chance of reclaiming it from the school Lost and Found box if you label it. Then you won’t have to spend more money replacing items.

5) If you live in a neighborhood with a lot of kids or a lot of friends with kids all different ages, host a clothes swap. Have all the Moms over for some chocolate cake. Tell them to bring their kids gently used clothes and see if you can swap. Even if there’s no one the right size to switch with, you had some fun with the neighbors. Set up a Yahoo Group and have your friends and neighbors list their sizes before the swap meet.

6) Considering how active kids are, they’ll most likely need new shoes. Their feet can swell up to half a size more during the day, so trying on shoes during the evening or early morning can save you another trip back to the store.

So relax, take a deep breath and bring on the Back-to-School Season!

Want to read more on back-to-school bargains? Click here!

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

There have been quite a few good posts lately in various blogs about how to save money during the Back-to-School shopping frenzy. I thought I would throw my two cents in. (Even though that isn’t fiscally responsible of me.) I was interviewed in a Chicago Sun Times article last year talking about Back-to-School Bargains and while the article is no longer available online, here are some of the highlights.

• Always have your school supplies list with you. You never know when you’ll run into a bargain somewhere.
• Wait to buy school clothes until after Labor Day. You’ll see more coupons and sales running then.
• Search online for coupons to your favorite stores. There are all kinds of coupon sites out there to help you find a code.
• Check second-hand clothes shops or garage sales for kids clothes. Many times, these clothes were never worn and still have the tag on them.
• Have a neighborhood kids clothes swap.

If you have any additional tips on how to save money for Back-to-School, please share. Want to save 20% on back-to-school gear at www.ChocolateCakeClub.com? Use coupon code BTSBLOG before August 15, 2010. Happy Shopping!

Check out additional budget saving tips here!

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

It’s getting to be that time of year, when our kids are done jumping into pools and beginning to jump into books. That means one thing – school supplies and backpacks. There are some questions that you need to ask yourself and your child before picking that backpack for school or even preschool.

Your child will go through three backpack size phases in their school years – preschool, elementary school, and middle/high school. While you may have more than one backpack during those times, the sizes will grow as your child grows. (I know, that’s obvious.)

Preschool or Daycare: A preschool or toddler backpack should be small and simple, just big enough to carry those toddler essentials like a change of clothes, snack, BFF blankie, or a stuffed animal. Generally, a toddler backpack will fit a child ages 2 – 5 years old. So ask yourself, what do they need to bring every day and will this backpack hold it? Are you going to carry it or are they? If they are going to carry their own backpack to preschool then it needs to be smaller and very lightweight. You don’t want them looking like a deformed turtle as they walk down the driveway. Or, if you think you might use the bag while traveling, look for a Pull Along Backpack, one with a handle to make it easier for your child to pull.

How big do you need it?

The younger the toddler the harder it may be for them to work a zipper so you might want one with just a flap like this Quilted Toddler Backpack, which is machine washable as well. Bonus! But if zippers are no problem and you want something a little more sturdy, these Four Peas Toddler Backpacks are ideal.

Elementary School: They say Niagara Falls is the 8th wonder of the world but I would argue that it’s my son’s backpack after a day at school. We’re talking a few books, folders, loose papers, a few Lego guys to play with on the bus, and of course pieces of priceless art like life cycles of a butterfly, macaroni necklaces and popsicle stick art. (I know these are going to be worth something on eBay one day.)

So, your child’s backpack needs to hold all that and a bag of chips. If your child takes lunch to school then you also need to fit a lunch bag and maybe a water bottle. Now, here’s the kicker. Does your child go directly to an afterschool activity or care location where they would need to add in sports gear, additional books, or toys? Most school size backpacks are sufficient for an elementary school child’s needs but if you are using the backpack for extra activities or to travel with on the weekends, go for the largest size you can find.

Do you want to embroider their name on the bag? If so, look for a design that has an open space on the front so you can add the name.

Middle or High School: For you, it’s all about durability because they carry some pretty heavy books. Look for durable material and a large size bag. For them, it’s all about the ‘tude. This bag will hold more than just books, it will hold a statement. Don’t be surprised to find their bag covered in hanging doodads or covered with pins and patches. Your child will want to express him or herself so let them go for it.

There are a variety of styles for older kids; standard backpacks or messenger bags are popular, so have fun with your tween or teen picking out what they feel comfortable carrying- because now they’re not just carrying a bag, but their heart on their sleeve, I mean back.

Cleanability
If you want the backpack to last a few years, look for tough material. Not only to take abuse but to stand up to a hazmat-type cleaning. Make sure it is machine washable or easily surface cleaned. With my kids, we need to empty the bag and wash it every 2 months. They get skanky with food, left over glue, and various other substances that I can’t even identify! Remember, you only want one living thing attached to your kids backpack – your kid.

Last Notes about Design
When your kids are younger, backpacks make a great gift. You or the gift giver can choose a cute, hip, or even plain design and your child will be thrilled. Once your kids gets ready for school, just try and get them to like the same design you do. I dare you! Avoid the arguments and let them pick.

Also, when your kids are younger they are going to gravitate towards the character designed backpacks – Spiderman, Dora, SpongeBob, Princesses, etc. However, these “fad” backpacks will probably only last you one year because your child will move on from that character quickly. “Oh Mom, Dora is so yesterday.” So, if you are going to buy a character backpack, don’t obsess over the quality and durability factors. And don’t pay too much for it because most likely it will go in the donation pile and be going to school with some other child.

Hope these tips helped you. The Chocolate Cake Club has a ton of Kids School Backpacks, Messenger Bags, and Toddler Backpacks if you are looking for ideas and inspiration.

PSST! This weekend only, we are offering 20% off almost all of our popular Back-to-School products like our school and toddler backpacks, messenger bags, lunch boxes, water bottles, alarm clocks, school paper organizers, and even toddler nap mats. Hurry, quantities are limited and sale ends Sunday, August 1st.

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Cool Finds · Parenting Tips

Thank you to Holly Hanna at The Work From Home Woman site for interviewing me and featuring the Chocolate Cake Club on her site. Holly has some wonderful information on running a business from home.

You can read the interview with me here.

Here’s another reason to go check out her site – we are sponsoring a Back to School Giveaway where you can win some of the Chocolate Cake Club’s great Back to School Gear. You can enter here but hurry, the contest ends tomorrow at noon. Stay tuned for our 3rd annual Motherlode Back to School Contest which we are going to launch on Thursday. Check back on Thursday for details on how to enter.

[Read more →]

Tags: Back to School Tips · Contests · Cool Finds · Moms Living Out Loud

What’s your child’s favorite time at school? For my kids, it’s lunch. But sending your kids to school or day care with a packed lunch can be a hassle. You need to make sure you buy a lunch box or bag that your child loves carrying to show off his or her personal style, but is completely functional for Mom.

There are all kinds of different sizes, shapes, materials, and designs for lunch bags. Some zipper, some fold over the top. Designs can be funky or just plain functional. But which to choose? Hint: It’s all about Size!

Here are 3 things to think about when picking your child’s lunch bag – size, ease of cleaning, and safety.

Size Does Matter

Snack vs. Lunch. My son usually eats a hot lunch from school. However, he does take a snack everyday and sometimes he wants a snack that needs to be kept cold, like a yogurt drink, vegetable dip, or certain fruits that taste better cold. So, if you are only packing a snack, then get the smallest bag you can find.

What’s in the Bag?
Figure out what your child will be taking for lunch every day. Pack a typical lunch in your head and guesstimate the space you need. Do they need a drink or will they buy milk at school? If they are bringing a drink, are they bringing a water bottle? If so, will it fit inside the lunch bag to stay cool? How about a juice pack? How will you keep everything cold? Think about what you want to throw in the bag and then you can determine the right size. You don’t want a lunch bag so big that your child needs wheels to drag it to school. But at the same time, you want your child’s lunch all together in one bag and not with separate pieces floating around the backpack getting smashed.

Keeping it Cool!
Does your child want to keep lunch items cold or hot? Then the lunch bag needs to be insulated and it needs a cold source. Some lunch bags come with a chill pack, but most don’t. If not, you can buy one separately but make sure it fits in the lunch bag. Some chill packs are huge. It only needs to keep the lunch cold for a few hours so don’t overdo it.

If you don’t want to buy a separate chill pack, here are some tips for keeping lunch cool. Throw some ice cubes in a plastic baggie. Ask your child to empty the melted water and bring the bag back so you can reuse it the next day. (My kids drink it.) Or, if you have a smaller lunch bag and don’t have the room for extras, save space by freezing the water bottle or juice pack then use it as the chill pack to keep the food cold. If your child isn’t concerned about temperature, then ignore all of this.

If your child likes hot soup then make sure you get a thermos. If you want it to fit in the lunch bag, take the thermos with you when you shop for the lunch bag or measure it.

Waste Free Lunches?
We all want to do our part for protecting the environment and waste free lunches are a great way to conserve. Many schools are encouraging kids to bring waste free lunches. Our kids earn points every time they bring a waste free lunch.
I don’t want to keep adding to the landfill problem with plastic baggies so we try to use our clean butter tubs, and other small plastic containers that we can wash and reuse. However, plastic containers take up space in a lunch bag so make sure you have a large enough bag to hold them all. There are some great waste free lunch containers out there like this one from Kids Konserve.

At Chocolate Cake Club, we really like and therefore sell the Yubo Lunch Box System. It comes with a sandwich container, two side dish containers, and an ice pack. It’s all easy to throw in the dishwasher and reuse. However, the lunch box is designed to hold only the set pieces, so if you think you are going to be adding in a lot of other items, you might want a bigger lunch box.

Safety
We all care about our kids’ health and safety. If you are buying a plastic or vinyl lunch bag, just make sure it is lead, phthalate, and PVC free. If your child wants to keep food hot or cold, it needs to be insulated. But definitely make sure to ask if the bag meets all child safety requirements, if it is not labeled as such. Most bags are these days, but just double check the label. We highly suggest aluminum or stainless steel water bottles as an alternative to plastic.

Design
OK, now you can think about design. There are so many cool designs on the market from cute to hip to uber trendy. Beyond the graphics, see which type of bag is easiest for your child to open. For a smaller child, a “fold over the top” Velcro closure may be easier than a zipper. Just like with backpacks, kids will express themselves with their lunch bag. Once your safety and size concerns have been met, Mom, let your child choose the design they love.

Check out all of the sizes, shapes, and designs of lunch boxes and bags we carry at Chocolate Cake Club. Don’t forget the matching Aluminum or Stainless Steel Water Bottles for your kids.

Read More …
Healthy Lunch Ideas for Kids

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Cool Finds · Parenting Tips

Our kids have their last day of school tomorrow. They are done on a Tuesday at 11:00 a.m. Huh? (The fact that they have to go to school for 2 hours one day is completely redonkulous, but that’s a rant on how the school system dislikes working parents and the environment, which is best saved for another day.)

Let’s talk about celebrating the last day of school with your kids. They are elated right? So why not join in on the enthusiam, parents, and do something fun to mark the beginning of summer break? Take the afternoon off of work or dedicate a day for pure fun. Here’s some ideas:

1. Hit the pool! Let the splashing begin. Head on over to your local pool and start working on that gorgeous tan while splashing around with the kids.

2. Neighborhood Fire Pit, Anyone? At least in our neighborhood, if you put a fire pit out, they will come. Invite the neighborhood families over to celebrate together. Share your summer vacation plans, discuss the highlights of the past school year, talk about starting a gournet club or how mosquitos are the plague of man’s existence. You know, whatever makes you happy.

3. Run Around. It’s summer, so go outside. Be active and enjoy the outdoors. Go to the local forest preserve and play games, hit your favorite theme park, go for a long bike ride in another part of town, or go horseback riding if it’s available near you.

4. Go see a movie during the day. If your outdoor activities get rained out or you just want to relax, take advantage of that early bird, weekday discounts to see the latest family flick. It will be a rare pleasure for the kids to see a movie during the day, just because you can.

5. Cook your kid’s favorite meal. Ask your kids what they want as a celebratory meal and have fun making it together.

What are you going to do to celebrate the last day of school?

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Family Fun Ideas · Holiday Traditions

For most families we know, school ends either this week or next so the question on every Mom’s mind is “What do we get for the kids’ teachers?” Every year I try to be creative and come up with something unique but most years I end up giving them what they say they really need. I am fortunate enough to have 6 teachers living in my neighborhood so I asked them what they like to get at the end of the year from their students. Here were the top answers, hands down.




1. Book Gift Cards – many teachers have to buy their own books for the classroom so gift cards help to cover that expense for them.

2. Coffee Gift Cards – We’re in a room with 28 loud children every day, need we say more?

3. Target Gift Cards – Hey, many teachers are Moms, too. (This applies for movie ticket certificates, restaurant certificates, and anything that you would appreciate as a gift.)

4. Anything Homemade by the student, especially if they had a nice bond throughout the school year. Notes, photos collages, or a written story were appreciated.

Want some more ideas? Here are some additional gift ideas I’ve come up with and found on various Mom sites.

5. The Mother Huddle blog had some ideas that were nice and most importantly easy to do. I really liked the Joyful Hands soap idea.

6. The Skip to My Lou blog had some great simple ideas for Teacher Appreciation Week that would also work as nice year end gifts. I like the Gift Certificate for a Massage idea.

7. If you have an artist at home, frame one of their masterpieces. My daughter’s teacher is retiring at the end of year so she is going to draw a picture of the teacher’s classroom so she’ll remember it.

8. How about a plant? They last longer than flowers and can be used to lighten up the classroom next year.

9. A box of pretty Thank You Notes. The teachers may want to send a thank you to all of the students for their year end gifts so why not make it easier for them to do so.

10. A movie night package. Grab a recently released DVD, popcorn and some candy so your teacher can have a fun night at home with their family.

Care to add to the list? We’d love to hear more ideas.

For More Teacher’s Gift Ideas:

Unique End-of-Year Teachers Gift Ideas

Easy and Inexpensive DIY Teacher’s Gift Ideas

Thoughtful Gifts Teachers, Neighbors, and Helpers Will Love

Homemade End-of-Year Teachers Gift Ideas

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Help Mom Stay Organized · Parenting Tips

Moms, need a little help getting the paperwork chaos monster under control this year? Have a New Years resolution to actually see your kitchen counters? Are the schools sending home more and more papers just to freak yo out? (Maybe that’s just me.) Regardless, we can help.

Download our FREE Guide to Organizing the Paperwork Chaos. It’s another Chocolate Cake Moments guide I’ve written with tips and ideas on how to get control of the mail that multiplies, not let the school paperwork bully you into submission, and keep your counters paperwork free. (So that you can pile other stuff on them, but that’s a different story.) My husband and I would play this game to see how long it takes before an empty chair or clear counter top gets used as a storage surface. It was sad how quickly we lost the game. So, I wrote this guide to help us get a process or system in place to get some control back. We may not be winning every time, but we keep trying and it helps. We strongly feel that getting organized and not feeling stressed about the clutter in your house will free you up for more Chocolate Cake Moments and fun with your family.

Download the guide here – Organize the Paperwork Chaos

If you like our guide, feel free to share it with anyone. Good luck. What are some of your tips for keeping household paperwork at bay?

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Help Mom Stay Organized

I don’t know about your kids but mine were positively gloom and doom this morning when they had to go back to school. (Why does school start so early … at 9 a.m.? Why do I have to go to school? Reading is for others! Why don’t you ever buy me any decent pants?) Insert your kids’ favorite whining here.

While I don’t condone whining (unless it’s me doing it, of course) I was thinking of doing something special for the kids this evening to “celebrate” going back to school after the Holiday Break. My plan? Chocolate Fondue! What better way to create a Chocolate Cake Moment than with hot, gooey chocolate?

You can certainly surprise the kids with this treat after school today or maybe on Friday after school to celebrate them getting back into the swing of homework. Or, I think I’ll make it for dessert tonight for Dad to participate in the celebration. He would be upset if there was chocolate around and he didn’t get any.

Kirchner’s Chocolate Fondue
1 lb. of your favorite milk chocolate bar (we like Ghirardellis)
4 oz. dark chocolate bar
3/4 cup heavy cream (you can use half and half for less calories)
1 Tbsp. vanilla

Break the chocolate bars into pieces and place in your fondue or hot pot. Keep on a low setting. Add cream and stir constantly until chocolate is melted and smooth. (If you are melting this on a stove top, watch the heat. Don’t walk away or the chocolate will boil and be ruined.) Stir in the vanilla right before serving. Then dip away!

Dipping Suggestions (In order of our kids preference):

Serves 6

Don’t really like Chocolate Fondue? Here’s another Chocolatey Treat we told you about last winter – Hot Chocolate Mug Cakes.

Have fun! What do you do to ease the pain of going back to school for your kids?

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Cooking with the Kids · Family Celebrations · Family Fun Ideas

School has started for a lot of us, so let the volunteering begin! If you are a classroom leader or chair for a school activity or even a Boy or Girls Scouts leader, you may want a little help organizing and leading your fellow volunteers. We just learned about a free, easy-to-use online tool that takes the hassle out of coordinating volunteers. Better yet, it encourages volunteers to interact with each other. As the leader, you don’t need to do everything.

What’s the secret? Check out free ebooks on Fun School Carnival Ideas, Bake Sale Tips, Kid-Friendly Fundraising and Gift Ideas for Teachers.

Good luck!

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Help Mom Stay Organized

I found some interesting articles on Back to School Balance and Sanity Savers, now that the kids are heading back to school and families are heading into more of a set schedule. While I love being back on a more defined schedule (so I don’t have to think, just do), there is a lot going on with after school activities and homework. I definitely have to be more organized and faithful to my daily planner to keep it all together for myself and my family’s sanity. See if these articles help you to get it all together now that school has started.

From Maria Bailey at BlueSuitMom.com – Balance for Back-to-School

From Molly Gold at BlueSuitMom.com – Planning for School Activities

If you find any other articles out there that you love, please let me know. You can check out our post on Organizing Your Kids Activities as well. Good luck! May the Mom Organizing Force be with you!

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Tags: Back to School Tips

Going from middle school to high school is a huge emotional step for kids (and for parents–get those Kleenex out again!) Most teens are apprehensive about going but too cool to let you know. They may be worried about forming friendships, fitting in, getting good grades, getting lost, dealing with peer pressure and dating, just to name a few. Here are a few ideas to help them feel more comfortable about high school.

Re-establish routines. Right now, before school begins, start turning your night owl child into one who goes to bed a little earlier and gets up before noon. This will help them avoid going into shock on the first day.

Be involved. Even though they hope you don’t know, teens need their parents now more than ever. Find out how to best contact the school and the individual teachers to get your help if needed. Many schools now use technology like PowerSchool to provide parents with daily or weekly updates on their student’s progress with homework and tests. Get on these systems right away so that you can head off any problems before they become larger issues. Let your kids know you are talking with their teachers so it doesn’t feel like you are going behind their back and spying on them. Make sure they know it is because you want to stay involved.

Stay close but not too close. Ask your child about their day, but don’t interrogate them. If they tell you a problem, don’t automatically try to solve it for them. Expect that especially during the first few weeks of school, they may come home and need time to just “chill out.” Try to chat with them in the car on the way to activities or at dinner.

Teach Them to Handle Independence. Your kids may have a lot more independence in high school than in middle school. However, that doesn’t mean you stop parenting. Talk with your kids frequently about meeting deadlines, avoid procrastinating (do as Mom says, not as she does), and prioritizing their work and fun. These are life skills they will need for the rest of their lives. Encourage them to try new activities and join clubs but learn when enough is enough.

We hope these series of tips help you and your kids get through the crazy transition of starting a new school and meeting new milestones. Have some additional tips and ideas for us? We’d love to hear them.

Have a child that’s younger? Read Help Your Child Transition to a New School and Part Two: Transitioning into Middle School

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Tags: Back to School Tips

I was very excited to be featured along with 4 other entrepreneurial Moms in a recent Chicago Sun Times article about How To Shop for Back-to-School Bargains. It was a fun interview and I even learned about some cool new websites from the other Mompreneurs.

For example, Jill Cataldo has a blog about couponing tips. She even offers workshops in the Chicagoland area on Super-Couponing. Serena Beltz blogs at ChicSimpleMoms where as she reviews and discovers items that help make life easier for Moms. We love that! Also featured was Aletha Noonan, founder of Peeka Productions, which creates personalized DVD videos and books for babies and children.

Definitely read the article to get some great ideas on how to save money this Back-to-School season, but here are some highlights:

Check out the article and let us know what you think. If you have any additional tips on how to save money for Back-to-School, please share.

Check out additional budget saving tips here!

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Cool Finds · Moms Living Out Loud · Parenting Tips

This the second posting in our series about helping kids with transitions to a new school. If your kids are a little older and starting middle school or high school, they may have some anxieties and fears. Try some of these tips to help get them going on the first day.

Transition to Middle School:

When your child has conquered elementary school and is going on to middle school, it is a significant adjustment. Kids may worry about fitting in, making friends and huge loads of homework. Reassure them that it will all become second nature quickly. Reassure them that you will be there to help.

Conquering the Combination Lock. Many students are terrified that they won’t be able to get their locker open in the few minutes they have in the crowded hallway between classes. Practice with your own lock in advance, or see if you can visit the school to practice using their real locker. Write the combination down in a planner. For kids who have a phone, program the locker combination into their phone – chances are, that’s the last thing they’ll lose.

Making friends. Middle school can be a tricky time to make friends. It can especially be difficult for girls who frequently make and break friendships. Be sensitive to this. Ask your child if they know anyone from their last school going there. Remind them that they made friends in elementary school that they didn’t know before. As with adults, tell them that joining clubs and after school activities is the fastest way to make new friends.

Eating lunch. Lunchtime can be a social landmine. Kids are known for grouping together into the stereotypical groups—the jocks, the popular kids, the nerds, the trouble makers. Help your child plan ahead. Encourage them to find a friend who will save them a seat to avoid the awkward search. Or encourage your child to sit at a different table everyday to try to meet the most people and find the friends that make them feel comfortable.

Find a “mentor”.Check your neighborhood for a kid who may be a year or two ahead. Ask them if they would talk to your child about middle school – how it works, which clubs to join, what to avoid, etc. At the very least, this will be a friendly face on the first day of school.

If your child isn’t in middle school? Check out Help Your Child Transition to a New School and Transition to High School

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Tags: Back to School Tips

If your child is headed to kindergarten, middle school or high school this year, they may be nervous about what to expect. Hey, so could Mom, right? These are big transitions and your child may be excited and eager to go to the new school (for a few lucky parents) or anxious and unsure (for most). Here are some tips that we have gathered to help smooth the transitions and start the year off right.

Don’t Miss Orientations.
No matter what grade your kids are entering this year, be sure to attend Back to School Nights and Meet the Teacher(s) events before school starts. It makes a huge difference to your child to see the teacher and other kids in their classroom to find a friendly face.

Transition to Kindergarten.
To help both you and your child feel secure and excited about going to kindergarten for the first time, you need to plan ahead. Some young children jump right in, acting as if they had been there all of their lives, but others are shy and scared. Try these ideas to make going to school as easy as possible.

Talk to the teacher.
Open lines of communication with your child’s teacher prior to the first day of class. Give the teacher a call or an email to introduce yourself. Describe your child’s interests and strengths, as well as areas of concern. Before school starts, attend the Back to School night and help your child locate the bathroom, their cubby and the playground. At our school, the kids like seeing their desk and putting their school supplies away ahead of time so when they show up on the first day of school, their desk is all ready to go.

Read books about kindergarten.
Reading together with your child is always one of the best ways to help them prepare for kindergarten. For kids who are anxious and don’t know what to expect in this big transition period, books like “Let Get Ready for Kindergarten” by Stacey Kannenberg covers the alphabet, letters, rhyming, numbers, and shapes to help ease them into the school year. We like funnier books to ease our fears, so we enjoyed Jake Starts School.

Be relaxed but excited.
Kids can sense any anxiety you may be feeling, so be sure to talk positively about school. Don’t ask them if they are nervous if they haven’t even considered that they need to be nervous yet. (Boy do my kids run with the power of suggestion so head it off at the pass.) Talk positively with your child about the fun they can expect in kindergarten, like learning new songs and playing games and recess, but don’t focus on it too much or don’t try to oversell the “play” part. School can be fun but it is for learning.

Practice makes perfect.
Kids will feel more secure if they know what to expect so practice walking to school or the bus stop. Or drive to the school and say, “This is where Mom will park or where the bus will drop you off and that is the door you will go into. Then this is where you will be picked each day.” Bring your camera and some Kleenex for that first bus ride and ask another child to help them on the bus. Share tissues with the other moms because trust me, there will be tears. But be sure to send off your child with happy –not hysterical—tears. Or hysterical relief – that’s not a good signal to send either.

Let them have a say.
Be sure to get their school supplies early and let the kids pick out a special folder or a cool back pack. Let them draw a picture of the family or a beloved pet to hang in their cubby, if allowed. Pick out the special “first day” outfit the night before and let them choose a part of it, such as a favorite shirt or funky socks. To remember this fond moment, take a picture of them on their first day. What’s a better way to start making new friends than at the bus stop? Ask another child to help them on the bus or encourage your kids to introduce themselves.

Want to read more on helping your kids get back to the routine? Click here!

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Tags: Back to School Tips

How can you talk to your kids about school without getting the famous one word reply– Fine? Or my favorite, “OK.” The definition of ‘Fine’ to us can mean an entirely different meaning to them. Getting your kids to actively talk about their day can be a challenge but here are some tips that have worked for us on how to get your kids to talk about their day.

Greet, don’t grill. Kids can get defensive and feel intimidated when you ask them right away about school. Don’t grill them about their day as soon as they walk in the door. “What did you do today? What did you learn? What did you have for lunch?” Just take it easy and truly show them you are just happy to see them again.

We found an article that Jim Fay wrote and he calls this the 30 minutes rule. Don’t talk about school or you work for 30 minutes after greeting each other. You don’t want to hear bad news about your kid’s day and they don’t want you to take out any work aggression on them. Don’t let school or work ruin your relationship with your child. Make sure you are both happy to greet each other.

Listen Up! It’s great if your child begins the talking first. One day, don’t ask them about school at all and see what happens. Kids are usually less defensive and more willing to share their school experience when they start to talk first. So hold back the questions and just let them tell you. Or, see if they ask you about your day. (We can dream, can’t we?)

Sharing. Once you start talking, be very open with them. Tell them about a mistake you made that day that you wish you could take back. Seeing your wiliness to share about your day can help them talk about their school day. Share with them what you like to do, how you spent your day while they were away, what happened at your work, if you met up with a friend, or if you saw something interesting. Let your kids get to know you as a person.

It’s All in How You Ask. Asking them “How was school today” most often or not leads to the word ‘okay’, ‘fine’ in a tone that declares an end to the conversation. We use more open ended questions like: What sport did you play today in gym? What game did you play in recess? Who did you play with at recess? Why do you like that friend? Did you like the lunch I packed you? Who did you sit with at lunch today? What was the coolest thing that happened to you today? What do you wish that you could do over?

Take advantage of the clues in their backpack to start the conversation. Ask them about the homework, graded papers, notes from teachers, and artworks kids bring home daily. Talk to them about the notes their teacher wrote on their papers, and praise them for the good grades they’ve earned (this can increase their self-esteem). Show interest in their artwork and ask them to explain their master piece to you- even if it is just green beans glued to white paper.

A place where everyone gathers. Make dinner a safe and comforting place for your family to share their goods and bads, happiness and disappointments, past an up-coming events. There is no better time or place to talk about your day then when you are all gathered together eating dinner. If your family’s schedule is just too hectic so that you can’t eat dinner together, then make breakfast together a ritual. Get up a little earlier but get everyone around the table talking. If you these jam sessions when they are younger, when they reach to their teen years, it’ll be easier for them to share.

The best time is … anytime. Try talking about your child’s day at different times. After you have relaxed and read a story together might be a good time to talk. Or at breakfast before the day starts might be the best time. Try talking about their day at different times to see when they are most relaxed and open to sharing.

We hope these tips help you any your children to have more meaningful conversations about school. If you have any additional ideas, please let us know.

Another article you might find interesting: No Whining Allowed!

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Tags: Back to School Tips

Does the idea of packing healthy school lunches for your kids make you break into a nervous sweat? Do your kids come home telling you that they didn’t eat because they didn’t like anything in their lunch box. Don’t fear. Getting your child to eat his or her lunch just takes a little planning and creativity.

One easy way to shake it up is to vary the food that you normally use. Instead of a regular peanut butter and jelly on white bread (ho hum), make Pinwheel PB&Js by rolling up the PB&J in a flour tortilla and slicing it into pinwheels (fun!). While some kids freak out when they see a new “food forma,” as kids get older they will be willing to try more things, so don’t be afraid to shake it up. (And, if they are really hungry, they’ll at least try it.) Plus, if your kids are like mine, they eat so much more new stuff when they aren’t at home. I still remember my son coming home one day to tell me how awesome salami was because he had it at a friend’s house. Obviously, my many attempts to get him to try it were lame.

Sally Kuzemchak, a registered dietician with Parents.com, provides several ideas for healthy lunch combinations. One is for Pretzel Kabobs, with ham, turkey and cheese rolled up and skewered with a pretzel. You could serve these with ½ cup mandarin oranges, ½ cup shelled edamame or sugar snap peas and 1 container of sugar-free chocolate pudding.

Get 20 great lunchbox ideas in her article Healthy School Lunches and Snacks at www.parents.com.

The site also has tips for making yummy sandwiches like one with veggie cream cheese and cucumbers or hummus and chopped peppers.

If your child has food allergies, don’t despair. Check out Cherrybrook Kitchen Mixes for tasty treats that are peanut-, dairy-, egg- and nut-free.

Getting your child involved with the meal preparation is a great way to help ensure that they eat their meal, not trade it away. It also makes them feel more grown-up. Family Fun magazine www.familyfun.com has several great ideas for getting the kids involved.

You could try filling one of each of three plastic baskets with fruits, vegetables and snacks. Then allow your child to pick one item from each basket for their lunch. Add a sandwich and a drink, and you’re done.

For siblings who like different foods, make a chart of favorite foods with the child’s name at the top and foods they like and will eat for lunch underneath. Then you can simply pick items from the list.

Another tip is to incorporate a theme every few weeks, such as serving all red foods. Pair a strawberry jelly sandwich with cherry tomatoes and low-fat ranch dressing with cherry Jell-O for dessert. A mom from Elgin(IL), created menus for pioneer adventures, cowboy cookouts and circus parties. Meals could be all round foods (a bagel with cream cheese sandwich, an orange, and carrot rounds) or a backwards lunch (a sandwich with meat and cheese on the outside and a note written in reverse telling the child to eat dessert first).

To make those healthy greens more interesting for your boys, label your food with a gross name. They’ll look forward to your creativity.

Yes, these ideas take a little time and prep to make. But remember; planning it on Sunday night for the weekdays will save you precious time on weeknights from trying to think of new lunch ideas.

Have fun and here’s to healthy lunches for your kids this year.

Click here for more tips on helping you and your kids organize fun activities!

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Cooking with the Kids

When back to school season comes around, so does all the stress. There are about a million things to worry about. Who is their new teacher? What time is the bus coming? What school materials do they need? And, most importantly what new clothes or school supplies do they need? Most likely your kids will either whine about being dragged out to shop, or eagerly fight through the crowds– pushing almost everything into the cart. Take a deep breath and remember that there are ways to keep your money, time and sanity in check.

Here are some ways to help you get organized this year:

1) Your kids are constantly growing and while you think their clothes from last year might still fit, they might not. In early August, have your kids do a fashion show for you to see which clothes still fit and which ones you can give away. (Tip: Let your little girl wear make-up while she is doing it and she’ll be at it for hours.) Boys might need a little more bribery for this and you might need to spread it out over several nights. However, now you can make your list of what clothes, shoes, backpacks, and other accessories you need.

2) Shopping for summer clothes during the Back to School season is always more expensive. Retail sales for summer clothes usually starts at the end of July- to save some money stock up on those for next summer, especially bathing suits. I don’t know about you but right after I buy jeans for my son in August, he grows an inch. Tip: Make sure you keep the receipts, so you can exchange. I’ve learned to shop for his jeans in late September. There are usually better sales and hopefully he’ll have done his sprouting for the year.

3) Also, remember to write your kid’s name on the tag of their coat/jacket. backpack, lunch bag, etc. Stuff always gets lost but you might have a better chance of reclaiming it from the school Lost and Found box this way.

4) If you live in a neighborhood with a lot of kids or a lot of friends with kids different ages, suggest a clothes swap. Have all the Moms over for some chocolate cake. Tell them to bring their kids gently used clothes and see if you can swap. Even if there’s no one the right size to switch with, you had some fun with the neighbors. Set up a Yahoo Group and have your friends and neighbors list their sizes before the swap meet.

5) Considering how active kids are, they’ll most likely need new shoes. Their feet can swell up to half a size more during the day, so trying on shoes during the evening or early morning can save you another trip back to the store.

6)Waited too long to get the school supplies and now the shelves at Target are bare? Make life easier for yourself and buy your supplies online at sites like www.write-stuff.com. If your school is listed with them you can easily access the school supply list. If not, they have some generic supply lists by grade so you can have it all shipped to your door. What could be easier? You won’t get distracted by pretty folders and erasers at the store either. Stick to what you need!

So relax, take a deep breath and bring on the Back to School Season!

Want to read more on back-to-school bargains? Click here!

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Tags: Back to School Tips

Does going back to school mean plying your child out of bed with a crowbar? Does every morning bring a fight between them, you and the covers? Funny how on Saturdays and during the summer they can get up at the crack of dawn, but once school starts it’s game over. Try these tips to make rising and shining a little easier.

Wake up, Little Susie

Some kids need time to come awake while others snap to it. You may need to set the alarms early enough to accommodate some sitting-and-staring-into-space time. If you don’t know which category you child falls into, the week before school begins, start using the alarm clock to see if your child needs their alarm set a little earlier to provide some wake-up cushioning. Another idea to get them out of bed is to set two alarms, one on the opposite side of the room. The fact of having to physically get up and turn it off means your child is that much closer to being awake.

See if setting an alarm to a radio station works better than just a buzzer. Or you can try tuning it to loud radio static to encourage them to get up and turn it off. There are some fun Talking Kids Alarm Clocks that can ease your child awake with kiss noises or snap them awake with a dinosaur roar.

Rise and Shine
Try to wake them with their nose. Use favorite smells to lure them out of bed, such as cinnamon-raisin toast, or crispy bacon frying or coffee brewing for teens.

While I’m not this dedicated, we found one suggestion that on cold winter mornings, you can throw their clothes into the dryer for a few minutes. Pulling on warm clothes may help inspire them to leave their warm bed. (Honestly, if you do that, you are my SuperMom hero.)

Early to bed, early to rise

Tell your child that you will keep pushing bedtime earlier and earlier until they are able to wake up earlier. The thought of having to go to bed at 7:30 p.m. may be just the thing to motivate them to wake up in the morning. Getting a good night’s sleep, as simple as it sounds, may solve the problem, too. We all know that we do best on a routine.

Desperate times call for desperate measures

If all else fails, march into your child’s room, bang on a pan with a wooden spoon, singing “The Wheels on the Bus” at the top of your lungs. That should do the trick! Personally, I enjoy using those pretend toy microphones to sing them a wake-up song. My voice is so bad that they just jump out of bed to get me to stop. While this might be a little cruel, I tend to look at it as payback for waking me up in the middle of the night.

What do you do at your house to get the kids out of bed for school? We’d love to hear about it.

Want more tips on getting your kids back on track? Check out Back to a Back to School Routine

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Parenting Tips

SuperMom Strikes Again

Faster than a travel soccer team practice three nights a week, stronger than two-a-day football practices, able to leap piano lessons and marching band in a single bound, it’s SuperMom!

Do visions of running your children to all of their after school activities have you pulling at your superhero tights and breaking into a cold sweat? (It’s not the itching, but the chafing.) Fear not! All it takes is some advanced planning and family guidelines to take the pressure off of you. Enlist your children and your spouse in this planning, and then the burden of organizing all of the after school activities won’t necessarily call for super hero strength–just some flexibility.

Write it down—all of it

Get in the habit now of writing everything down in one place. Keep a master family wall calendar like the Mom’s Plan-it Family Wall Calendar to keep track of up to five family members. The calendar is color-coded, magnetic and keeps it all together.

If you or your kids want to, have a separate calendar posted low enough for them to reach to write down their own activities. They can keep track of special classes like art or music, activities or sports, or playmates and birthday parties. Have fun with the schedule. Let them add stickers or smiley faces or whatever they like to remind them of important days. Just get into the habit of everybody checking the calendar daily before they go to bed so everyone knows what’s going on the next day.

Have weekly calendar sessions with the whole family every Sunday night to update the calendar. This helps you keep everyone on the same page and avoids potential scheduling conflicts before they occur. (This way no one in the family can claim … “But, no one told me.”)

Keep it together
Keep all of your kids activity stuff together in a duffle bag or backpack. Have a special duffle bag for soccer with pads, shoes, uniform and a water bottle. Keep all of this gear in the bag hanging in the coat room or garage. After your wash the uniform, throw it in the soccer duffle bag. Don’t take it upstairs and put it away in a dresser. That’s just an extra step. The ready-to-go bag will make life easier when you are late for practice and running out the door. You won’t need to go hunting for all of the gear you need. “Why are my soccer shoes in the pantry?” If you have two sports going on at the same time, get two separate duffle bags.

Same for piano lessons, keep all of the books, folders, etc. in a designated backpack. It’s always ready to go when you are and keeps the clutter in the rest of the house down to a minimum. Invest in hooks for extra backpacks. It’s worth it.

Say No once in a while

Busy moms and kids get a lot done in part because they are so busy. But remember to schedule in some down time between activities. Don’t pack the schedule so full that all you are doing is running from one thing to the next. Where’s the joy in that?

Step back, and remember that it is OK to say No to some things. The world will still go on, and someone else can run the bake sale this year. It is an important time management lesson to teach your child that you are choosing to do only what is most important to you and your family.

We tell our kids that they can do 1 extra activity per “quarter”. While we insist on things like Spanish, swim lessons, or music at different times to make sure they are getting exposed to different talents, we let them choose something they want to do. Whether they want to play soccer, basketball, gymnastics, art classes, Tae Kwon Do or nothing, they start to learn how to choose and set their own priorities when you aren’t in the car 24/7.

Think about how taking on another activity or group or commitment will affect the entire family, and say no to ones that you or your kids don’t love. Kids also need an appropriate amount of time to do homework. Make sure they get it. Children and adults all need down time to just hang out and relax. Don’t overbook so you can use that new found time to create more Chocolate Cake Moments!

Roll with the changes

These days, everyone seems to have a jam packed schedule. Know that sometimes it won’t always be perfect. You can’t be SuperMom (even though you may come very close). Try your best to be organized but stay flexible. When the schedule gets messed up, have back up plans in place for quick, easy dinners or a carpool driver on speed dial. If you miss an appointment, don’t beat yourself up. If you signed up for an activity where the coach insists on holding practice during church or important family times, quit and choose another program. You and your family are all in this together, and you will get through it in flying colors. The goal is to remember that nothing is more important than having time to spend together as a family.

How do you keep your kids activities straight? Share any tips with us because we’d love to learn more ideas!

Our Back to School Checklist gives you a list of necessities you might be forgetting.

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Tags: Back to School Tips

First day of school is never easy for Moms or kids. Starting off right and setting the right tone can be helpful for your child’s rest of the school year. Here are some steps to consider:

The night before – Get whatever you can get done the night before so you have more time in the morning. Have your child bathe at night. Have your kids pick out the outfit they will be wearing (including shoes, socks, hats). Pack their lunch the night before, and maybe include an encouraging short note in it!

Waking up a little earlier- Getting up a little earlier can gain you some much needed time. Wake your child up so that they won’t have to feel rushed on the first day. Starting the day off right by giving them a big healthy breakfast. If your child seems to have nervous energy, have them ride their bike around the block to work it off.

After school- Set expectations, like homework routines, immediately and stick to it. Having your child finish their homework before letting them watch TV is always a habit to develop. If your child needs help on homework, make sure you can set aside time without any distractions (tv, phones, etc). And remember, when your child brings home those health and emergency information paper for you, do them immediately.

Making it memorable- First day back to school is always filled with nervous excitement! To make their first day more pleasurable and memorable, do something simple and sweet for your kids. It could be making their favorite breakfast or dinner on that day, or going out to get ice cream. You can even pick out something inexpensive from the store.

Sticking to the routine- Stay in the same routine each night by bathing, picking out their outfit for the morning, waking up a little earlier so that won’t feel rushed to eat breakfast and get ready for school in the morning.

Find out what else you can do to prepare at Getting Ready the Night Before!

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Tags: Back to School Tips

It’s that time again when you and your kids pick out their new school supplies. Hunting for school supplies is always fun, but exhausting process. Besides the list that you get from school here are a few more necessities you may need.

* Shameless Plug: Most of these items can be found at The Chocolate Cake Club. Click on the link to get some ideas.

Preschool/Child Care

*Toddler/Small Size Backpack
*Nap Mat
*Lunch Boxes/Snack Bag
*Water Bottles
Gym Shoes

Grade School

*Backpack (age, size appropriate)
*Lunch/Snack Bag

*School Supply Bag
*Water Bottles
*Alarm Clocks
Hand Sanitizer
Gym Shoes
*Duffle Bag (Essential for Sports or other after school activities)

Checklist for Moms

Moms beware of all the paperwork, events to remember, and planning you will need to do when your child is back to school. Here are some supplies that will help keep you and the rest of the family on track.

*Weekly Menu Planner
*Family Calendar
*School Paper Organizers
*Kids Artwork Storage Folder (You will definitely need a place to store the masterpieces that come home.)
School Lunch Notes
*Take-Out Menu Organizer (For those school nights when no one has the energy to cook)
Cold Packs (to keep kid’s lunches cool)
*Kid’s Reminder Notes
*3 Way To Do List Note Pad
*All Out Of Grocery Pad (Make it easy to remember what to grab at the grocery store when you are on the way home.)

What did we miss? Let us know what you think is a Back to School essential.

For similar articles, check out Tips for Buying the Right Lunch Bag

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Tags: Back to School Tips

The morning rush hour isn’t just for commuters on the freeway. It can also apply to busy moms trying to get their kids out the door on time for school. “Where is my backpack?” “What’s for breakfast?” and “What should I wear today?” are just a few of the barrage of early morning questions that somehow are all directed your way. Although it takes a little planning, to make things run more smoothly in the morning, try starting the night before. The more you can do in advance of the morning, the better it will be for everyone. Really!

Early to bed, Early to rise
Grandma was right, this saying is true. If your child has a tough time getting up in the morning, institute an earlier bedtime. Even 15 or 30 minutes earlier at night can make a big difference in his or her attitude in the morning.

A corollary to this one is just for you, Mom: set your own alarm for 15 minutes earlier in the morning. Rise and shine before your family does, enjoy that cup of coffee in quiet before they awake. Although it stinks that you need to be the one who sacrifices, the calmness is worth it.

Preparation is key.
Lay out your daughter’s entire outfit for the next day, including hair bows and socks, if they care about such things. You don’t want to miss the bus because she dissolved into tears over not finding her special Barbie barrette.

Generally, boys don’t seem to have the picky clothes gene and most just want a T-shirt—any T-shirt—and shorts. But if he needs a special Cubs shirt, find it the night before. (You’ll thank me later for this one.) This will also tell you whether you need to do laundry. You don’t want your child going to school with mustard stains.

Designate a School Zone
Keep all of your kid’s school papers, forms, schedules and backpacks in one area. If possible, make separate binders or hanging folders for each child. This way, everything is in one general spot. To really work ahead, check homework and sign any permission slips the night before. Then pack up the backpacks, zip them closed and line them up, ready to go.

Make a Master Task List
Involve your child on this one. Ask them to think of all the things they need to do before they leave for school in the morning. Then, create a checklist. This does two things: (1) it helps them take ownership of the job and (2) helps you not to have to nag them for every step. The list could include: Make bed; Brush teeth; Brush hair; Eat breakfast; and of course, Hug Mom good-bye.

Once you have the list 5 to 8 items, let them decorate it with stickers or drawings. Then laminate the list, or cover both sides with clear Contact paper, attach an erasable marker in their favorite color and put it on a clipboard in a special place in their room. Then, they can check off the items as they do them. And you can quietly enjoy a second morning cup of coffee.

Check their backpack if you haven’t already. You don’t want to find out that they needed to bring 100 raisens to school in the morning. At least if you see it before bed you can run to the convenience store. They know me well there.

Track the Time
If your son tends to wander off or get distracted, you can take the Master List one step further and set a simple kitchen timer for each task. Say, two minutes for brushing teeth, five minutes for making the bed, etc. If they get everything done in time, then you can reward him with a special book or money for a snack. Leave the TV off. It can derail the most focused child in the morning.

Keep it light
Don’t feel like everything must be perfect every morning. It won’t be. Remember to keep your sense of humor when things go wrong. The kids can smell your tension like a burnt casserole (not that any of us know what that is). If you are able to laugh, so will they.

Here are more ways to get kids back on the school routine

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Tags: Back to School Tips

It won’t take long into the school year. It could be a few days or a week, but you know it is lurking around the corner—homework. The teachers will waste no time sending it home. And if your child is like many, he or she will start whining as soon as they receive it.

To win the whining wars, set some ground rules ahead of time, experts say. Follow these easy tips to bring peace and order to your home.

Susie Julian of Libertyville (Ill.), an experienced elementary teacher, said developing a routine to get homework done is the key. “Set the expectation with your child that they do their homework first,” Julian said. “Make it as much of a routine as possible. Then there’s no whining. It’s just what we do everyday. It’s like brushing your teeth.”

Set a specific place to do homework.

If possible, set aside a desk or card table just for homework. If you are tight on space, designate a spot in their room or at one end of the kitchen table. Have pens and pencils available, and a calculator and a ruler for older kids.

Eliminate distractions. Give your kids sperate spaces. That means no TV and no cell phones for the duration of their homework. Older kids probably will fight you on this point, but again, just make it part of the routine. They will get much more out of their U.S. History analysis of the causes of WWII if Jenny isn’t texting every five minutes about the new boy in class.

Start early.

Start the homework sooner rather than later at night, when the whining may go up exponentially.
“Make it as much of a routine as possible,” said Julian. “Having the same time, same routine seems to help with the whining. Set the expectation that you do homework first, then you can go relax or be with friends.”

She added that parents need to pay close attention, however, if the whining persists.

Whining with a reason.

There is whining, where the child just is not in the mood to do homework, and then there is true whining, that could signal a bigger problem.

“If you have a lot of whining, perhaps there is a real reason for it,” Julian said. “Is there too much homework? Is it too difficult? Maybe there is a legitimate reason for it.”

If so, you or your child should contact the teacher right away.

Julian recommended that depending on the age of the child, have the child talk to the teacher on their own to encourage responsibility. The child can ask the teacher to explain a certain section or simply say the homework didn’t make sense. If the child is too young, or too reserved, then you can send an e-mail or call the teacher on their behalf.

“As a teacher, I need to know if something didn’t connect with the students,” Julian said.

Help, but don’t rescue.

Parents should support their children with homework struggles without rescuing them or doing the work for them.
For homework help, check first with the school. Many offer homework help lines where you can simply call in for assistance. They are often staffed by teachers or volunteers who can help a student with a confusing subject.

There are also online sites to give assistance. Try www.school.discoveryeducation.com, a resource provided by Discovery Education to help students in all grades with all subjects, or www.homeworkhelp.com, where online tutors help students understand the homework concepts. Good luck!

For more ways to communicate with your child, check out How to Get Your Kids to Talk.

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Tags: Back to School Tips

Getting your kids to switch from the crazy, free days of summer into a Back to School routine again can be a little challenging. But with just a little advanced planning, you can get everyone back into a School frame of mind.

Get in the Groove Again.
A week or two before school starts again, start to get the kids back into a routine. No more sleeping in front of the TV. No more waking up at noon or with younger kids, no more waking up at 6 a.m. for no reason. Establish a bed time, start reading a story again before bed, and wake the kids up earlier in the morning to get their body into the ‘school sleeping cycle’ again. If they seem drowsy to you at first, don’t worry! Remember that they bounce back quickly.

State the Rules.
Sit down at the dinner table one night and lay down your expectations for the school year. Remind them of the family rules like no breakfast until they are fully dressed. Get their backpack ready the night before. No TV or Wii until homework is done. No friends over until homework is done. By stating these up front as a reminder, your kids should have the rules down pat by oh, say Middle School. Make a chart that visually reminds the kids what they need to do each morning or before bed – brush teeth, get backpack ready, set out clothes for the next day, make bed. This takes away your need to nag, or at least less of it.

Address hidden emotional concerns.
Kids are usually worried about going back to school, even if they don’t express it. So ask them. Sit down one night at dinner and go around the table to ask your kids what they are most excited about and most worried about for the upcoming year. You’ll be surprised at what concerns them and you may be able to help them eliminat the concern before school even starts. But only if you know what’s bothering them. Most of your child’s concern will most likely come from not knowing what to expect (so ask an older neighbor kid), where their class room is (go see it when you Meet the Teacher), or how to get on and off the bus (ask an older neighbor to be their bus buddy). Give them the confidence to start school right.

Be sure to take advantage of meet-the-teacher nights if your child’s school offers it. It’s nice to see the teacher and see which kids are in the class this year. If your school doesn’t have one, schedule an appointment to go check out the school before hand. Exploring their new school together is always an adventure!

Get a Family Calendar. The Master Schedule should be easily accessible for all in the family. Teach your kids how to look at the family calendar and increase their sense of responsibility by letting them know what they need to prepare for the next day. Once school starts, have them sit with you and write in which days they have gym, art or music. Have fun marking the days off. Look at the calendar together after dinner so that everyone can prepare. Check their backpack to find those papers with new important dates to mark on the calendar. Even Dad will appreciate the family calendar when he comes home and can’t find anyone. Check the calendar and see we’re all at soccer practice.

Give your self time. Your kids can sense your moods. They are like bats that way. Their stress radars work great so do what you need to, to stay stress-free. Keeping yourself upbeat and calm in the morning can work wonders on how your kid’s day goes. Whether it may be getting up extra early if you need to begin the day with a quiet morning, or just a cup of extra strong coffee is all you need; be sure to give your child your brightest smile in the morning- that is the best gift you can give your child to help them through the rest of the day. Then, when they get on the bus or your drop them off, have another cup of coffee. While it’s not fair that you are the one that needs to sacrifice those extra precious minutes of sleep, it’s better for all to not be freaked out in the morning.

Breakfast, it does a body good. Breakfast doesn’t need to be elaborate but it does set the energy level for the whole day. Keep it simple with cereal, yogurt, granola, fruit, frozen waffles (no-trans fat, please) and hard boiled eggs, if they’ll eat it. We introduced our kids to the European bread, ham and cheese breakfast and they like it. On Sunday you can make pancakes or French toast and freeze it for the week. Don’t let your kids skip it though. Eat a cereal bar at the very least to get the brain going.

Here’s to a new year at School!

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Tags: Back to School Tips

While Mom you may be jumping for joy that the kids are finally going back to school, the kids might be a little bummed that summer is over. Just because summer is almost over doesn’t mean you can’t have one last day in the sun. Help your kids to see the last day of summer as something to look forward to by creating a tradition where you do something fun as a family to celebrate. Mom and Dad, see if you can take the day off of work so you can do something fun together.

1. Hit the pool one last time.Your kids have probably been swimming all summer but that’s no reason not to go again. Enjoy the sun and get that last tan of the season.

2. Have a block party. Invite the neighborhood kids and parents over. Share your summer vacation highlights as well as talk about who has which teacher, new outfits, bus schedules, etc. The kindergarten kids can ask the older kids for help with getting on the bus.

3. Run Around. It’s still summer, so go outside. Be active and enjoy the outdoors on this last day. Your kids are going to be sitting in a class room for the next 9 months so release as much energy as you can. Go to the local forest preserve and play games, hit the theme park one last time, go for a long bike ride in another part of town, or go horseback riding if it’s available near you.

4. Go see a movie during the day. If your outdoor activities get rained out or you just want to relax, this will be the last time to take advantage of that early bird, weekday discounts to see the latest family flick. It will be a rare pleasure for the kids to see a movie during the day, just because you can.

5. Cook your kid’s favorite meal. Ask your kids what they want as a celebratory meal and have fun making it together. Make cookies in the shape of a school bus or apple that they get to take to school on the first day. Make homemade trail mix or snack mix that they can take the first week of school. Simple, but fun.

Click here to see tips for getting ready to go back to school!

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Cooking with the Kids · Family Celebrations

Once school starts, you’ll be amazed at the amount of paperwork that they bring home. While some schools are doing a good job of sending newsletters and information home electronically, there is still a mountain of papers on the counter after just one or two days of school. Here are some tips to keep on top of it and not let it overwhelm your house.

1. Designate a place to put your school papers. Do you have a desk or place to set up a few files?

2. Create a folder filing system. You’ll need folders for temporary papers, permanent information, and kids artwork. In the temporary folders, put the paperwork that you need to hang onto for a few days and then throw it all in the recycle bin at the end of the week. This can be field trip forms, notices for school parties, Star of the Week paperwork, birthday party invitations, or weekly homework packets. In the permanent folder, include school phone numbers, schedules, contact numbers for afterschool activities, etc. Anything you might need to refer to during the whole year. Finally, throw your kids artwork in a folder. At the end of the month, go through it and keep the ones you want and move them to a larger, more permanent space. Don’t forget to date them first! The Chocolate Cake Club has some School Paper and Kids Artwork Organizers, if you need help creating your filing system.

3. Create folders or a holding area for your kids other educational activities like Religious Education Classes, Tutor schedules, Spanish class, piano, etc. We have magazine racks sitting on the counter because they can hold information papers and any text books the kids need to grab for their weekly class.

4. Box tops. Have an envelope or small box designated to hold the box tops you collect to send in for school fundraising. Throw the box tops in as you go. Then, divide them up equally between the kids when the school collects them.

5. Family Schedules at a Glance. Have a Family Wall Calendar in the kitchen. It is essential for Moms and the rest of the family to have a place to refer to for activities, appointments, and social fun dates. If someone asks your daughter to babysit, she can easily check and see if she is available. If Dad comes home from work and no one is home, he can check the calendar and see that everyone is at soccer practice.

Check out more family planners at Chocolatecakeclub.com!

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Help Mom Stay Organized

What’s your child’s favorite time at school? For mine, it’s lunch. Because lunch time is so special, make sure you’ve got the best lunch bag out there to make eating not only fun but easy. While we love a great design, keep in mind that your lunch bag needs to be functional too. Here are some things to think about when picking your child’s lunch bag. There are all kinds of different sizes, shapes, and designs for lunch bags. Some zipper, some fold over the top. Designs are cute, hip, or just plain functional. But which to choose? Hint: It’s all about Size!

Snack vs. Lunch. Our kids get a hot lunch from school. However, they do take a snack everyday and sometimes they want one that needs to be kept cold, like a yogurt drink, vegetable dip, or certain fruits that taste better cold. So, when you are picking your lunch bag, if you are only going to include a snack, then get the smallest bag you can find.

What’s in the Bag?
Figure out what your child will be taking for lunch everyday. Do they need a drink or will they buy milk at school. If they are bringing a drink, are they bringing a water bottle? If so, will it fit inside to stay cool? How about a juice pack? How will you keep everything cold? Think about what you want to throw in the bag and then you can determine the right size. You don’t want a lunch bag so big that your child needs wheels to drag it to school. But at the same time, you want your child’s lunch all together in one bag and not with separate pieces floating around the backpack getting smashed.

Keeping your Lunch Cool!
Does your child want to keep lunch items cold or hot? Then the lunch bag needs to be insulated and needs a cold source. Some lunch bags come with a chill pack but most don’t. If not, you can buy one separately but make sure it fits in the lunch bag. Some chill packs are large. If you don’t want to buy a separate chill pack, here are some tips for keeping lunch cool. Throw some ice cubes in a plastic baggie. Ask your child to empty the melted water and bring the bag back so you can reuse it the next day. Or, if you have a smaller lunch bag and don’t have the room for extras, save space by freezing the water bottle or juice pack then use it as the chill pack to keep the food cold. If your child isn’t concerned about temperature, then a good old paper bag will do.

Waste Free Lunches?
We all want to do our part for protecting the environment and waste free lunches are a great way to conserve. Many schools are encouraging kids to bring waste free lunches. Our kids earn points every time they bring a waste free lunch. However, plastic containers take up space in a lunch bag so make sure you have a large enough bag to hold them all. There are some awesome waste free lunch containers out there like this one from Kids Konserve – (http://store.kidskonserve.com/) designed by two Moms who know their lunches.

Safety
We all care about our kids’ health and safety. If you are buying a plastic or vinyl lunch bag, just make sure it is lead, phthalate, and PVC free. If your child wants to keep food hot or cold, it needs to be insulated. But definitely make sure to ask if the bag is safe, if it is not labeled as such. Most bags are these day, but just double check. Check out the aluminum or stainless steel water bottles as an alternative to plastic.

Design
OK, now you can think about design. See which type of bag is easiest for your child to open. For a smaller child, a “fold over the top” Velcro closure may be easier than a zipper. Just like with backpacks, kids will express themselves with their lunch bag. Once your safety and size concerns have been met, Mom, let your child choose the design they love.

Cleaning
Finally, the most important consideration for Mom. How easy is the lunch bag to clean? Does it have tiny little corners and pockets where you won’t be able to reach the crumbs? No good! Make sure you can easily wipe it with a cloth and access all of the corners so things won’t start breeding in the lunch bag.

We hope this helps you pick the right lunch bag for your child. For ideas on what to pack in the lunch bags, check back for another post. Looking for some inspiration, check out the lunch bags at the Chocolate Cake Club.

Don’t forget to enter our Motherlode Back to School Contest. Win $140 worth of cool back to school products.

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Tags: Back to School Tips

It’s getting to be that time of year, when our kids are done jumping into pools and beginning to jump into books. That means one thing – school supplies and backpacks. There are some questions that you need to ask yourself and your child before picking that backpack for school or even preschool.

How big do you need it?

Your child will go through three backpack size phases in their school years – preschool, elementary school, and middle/high school. While you may have more than one backpack during those times, the sizes will grow as your child grows. (I know, obvious.)

Preschool or Daycare: A preschool size bag should be small and simple, just big enough to carry those toddler essentials like a change of clothes, snack, BFF blankie, or a stuffed animal. So ask yourself, what do they need to bring every day and will this backpack hold it. Are you going to carry it or are they? If they are going to carry their own backpack to preschool then it needs to be smaller and very lightweight. You don’t want them looking like a deformed turtle as they walk down the driveway.

Elementary School: They say Niagara Falls is the 8th wonder of the world but I would argue that it’s my son’s backpack after a day at school. We’re talking a few books, folders, loose papers, a few Lego guys to play with on the bus, and of course pieces of priceless art like life cycles of a butterfly, macaroni necklaces and popsicle stick art. (I know these are going to be worth something on eBay one day.)

So, your child’s backpack needs to hold all that and a bag of chips. If your child takes lunch to school then you also need to fit a lunch bag and maybe a water bottle. Now, here’s the kicker. Does your child go directly to an afterschool activity or care location where they would need to add in sports gear, additional books, or toys? Most school size backpacks are sufficient for an elementary school child’s needs but if you are using the backpack for extra activities or to travel with on the weekends, go for the largest size you can find.

Do you want to embroider their name on the bag? If so, look for a design that has an open space on the front so you can add the name.

Middle or High School: For you, it’s all about durability because they carry some pretty heavy books. Look for durable material and a large size bag. For them, it’s all about the ‘tude. This bag will hold more than just books, it will hold a statement. Don’t be surprised to find their bag covered in hanging doodads or covered with pins and patches. Your child will want to express him or herself so let them go for it.

There are a variety of styles for older kids; standard backpacks or messenger bags are popular, so have fun with your tween or teen picking out what they feel comfortable carrying- because now they’re not just carrying a bag, but their heart on their sleeve, I mean back.

Cleanability
If you want the backpack to last a few years, look for tough material. Not only to take abuse but to stand up to a hazmat-type cleaning. Make sure it is machine washable. With my kids, we need to empty the bag and wash it every 2 months. They get skanky with food, left over glue, and various other substances that I can’t even identify! Remember, you only want one living thing attached to your kids backpack – your kid.

Last Notes about Design
When your kids are younger, backpacks make a great gift. You or the gift giver can choose a cute, hip, or even plain design and your child will be thrilled. Once your kids gets ready for school, just try and get them to like the same design you do. Avoid the arguments and let them pick.

Also, when your kids are younger they are going to gravitate towards the character designed backpacks – Spiderman, Dora, SpongeBob, Princesses, etc. However, these “fad” backpacks will probably only last you one year because your child will move on from that character quickly. “Oh Mom, Dora is so yesterday.” So, if you are going to buy a character backpack, don’t obsess over the quality and durability factors. And don’t pay too much for it because most likely it will go in the donation pile and be going to school with some other child.

Hope these tips helped you. The Chocolate Cake Club has a ton of Kids School Backpacks and Toddler Backpacks if you are looking for ideas and inspiration.

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Tags: Back to School Tips

Yeah! Tamara B. from Cantonment, FL is the winner of our Motherlode Back to School Contest. Congrats, Tamara! We hope this Back to School Season goes super smooth for you.

This contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered and helped spread the word. We will be announcing the winner of the contest in a few days. Please come back and check the blog often for new contests and advice on how to make family life a little easier.

It’s Back-to-School time and the Chocolate Cake Club and Chocolate Cake Moments Blog want to make one lucky Mom’s life easier with a chance to win $140 worth of Back to School products. The contest winner will receive a Four Peas School Size Backpack with matching Lunch and Supply bags. The winner will also grab a Talking Alarm Clock for the kids, as well as a Mom’s Plan-it Wall Calendar, Engagement Calendar, and Kids Reminder Notes, so that she can be that Mom who’s got it all together. Finally, you will love the momAgenda Kids Chore Chart to keep kids on track with their homework and chores. A prize worth $140.00! Hurry, contest ends August 12th, 2009! (Winner will get to choose the Backpack and Alarm Clock design of their choice.)

How do I enter, you ask?
Leave us a comment here by answering this question: What did your school lunch box look like? If you don’t remember, just tell us about a favorite school memory.

But wait! Want more chances to win? Find out how to get additional entries, complete prize package detials and contest rules on our Mother Lode Back to School Contest Page.

After you’ve entered the contest, head over to Chocolate Cake Club to check out our cool Back-to-School products or to the blog home page for Back to School tips and ideas on how to get back into the school groove.

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Tags: Back to School Tips · Contests · Cool Finds