Friday Favorites :: Back to School
The school year is officially here. I’m actively aiming for a calm, semi-organized start to my back to school routine this year. Fellow Type B moms, please wish me luck! I’m a youth sports coach, teacher, and mom, so I’ve seen the best and worst back to school products out there. These are some of my favorites!
Waterproof Zippered Pouches
Back to school means managing a mountain of new things: school supplies, sports uniforms, artwork, and treasure box treats. One of my favorite organizational products are these plastic zippered pouches. They’re waterproof and come in a variety of sizes. My favorite uses are:
- PE uniform organizer
- Snack bag (I throw a variety of snacks in at the beginning of the week)
- Sports bag organizer (mouth guards, sweatbands, extra socks and blister bandaids all fit nicely)
- Feminine product bag (I keep one of these stocked in my car and purse- it’s so handy!)
- Spare clothes bag (teachers will appreciate this for the classroom)
What are some other uses you can think of?
Visual Schedule for Kids
In the middle of the pandemic, my oldest son was diagnosed with ADHD. He easily lost track of time and his belongings, which resulted in many tears and frustrations. He wanted to be independent and was super frustrated with himself. Every morning started off with an anxiety fueled race to get to school and work on time until a teacher friend recommended purchasing a visual schedule to display. It transformed our routine. Here’s how to get it set up: start by listing the tasks that your child can do independently. It will boost their confidence! Afterwards, add tasks that are a bit more difficult and praise them for trying. Eventually, hopefully, they will get the hang of things? Right?!? And as I keep reminding myself: it takes at least 30+ days to build a habit.
Add to Calendar App
The back to school year hustle is here! Bring on the birthday parties, sports practices, tests, and school spirit days. Sometimes it can be hard to keep it straight. I recently followed a fellow mom blogger who suggested a free app called Add to Calendar. No more scrolling between screenshots and emails to organize your calendar. The Add to Calendar app allows events to be added by photo, scanned document, or screenshot of a website page. Once your teacher sends home the school and classroom calendar, you can take a picture and easily add it all at one time. Easy peasy! Gotta love technology!
Waterproof Name Labels
Have you ever visited your school’s lost and found bin at the end of the school year? There are thousands of dollars worth of water bottles, lunchboxes, coats, and sweatshirts that are unaccounted for every school year. If you want to save yourself time and the heartache of searching for unlabeled missing items, order waterproof name stickers now. Label every item before the first day of school. Your child’s teacher will thank you, your child’s classmates will thank you, and whoever keeps tabs on your household budget will especially thank you.
Owala Coffee Cup
Moms deserve at least one thing on the back to school list, right? For me, it’s my morning coffee served hot or iced in my Owala travel cup. This cup is completely leakproof, super durable, and doesn’t have a million annoying parts to clean. If you need to toss it in your bag and sprint out the door, you’re good to go. It might even help you finally kick that expensive drive-thru habit!
These are my 5 favorites for back to school season! Hoping these items can help your household shift into the new school year.
