We are back to school already! For some of you, it may seem like summer flew by too fast. For others, it may seem like it took FOREVER for school to start! Whichever side of the fence you land on, if you have a tribe of little ones, then you know things can get hectic! Try out these 5 tips to get your kids back to school with a breeze and still keep your sanity.
1. Don’t wait until the last minute to go school shopping.
I used to wait until the last minute to get school clothes and would end up having trouble finding their sizes. This year I started shopping for school uniforms in June to avoid any “out-of-stock” issues. Especially now with Covid-19, the supplies coming from Asia (where most clothes are made) are backlogged and it’s taking longer for items to get stocked on the shelves. I have several friends on the hunt now for khaki pants or shorts…the classic boy uniform. And they are almost nowhere to be found!
The only items I wait to shop for are shoes because kids are constantly growing. Go up a shoe size – your kids could be a size bigger within a few months!
Also, make sure to have them try their clothes on well before school starts. I made this mistake once, and my kids got dressed in their uniform for the first time on the first day of school…only to find that the waists were waaaay too big! LOL! You should have seen me running around the house searching for safety pins! Won’t make THAT mistake again! 🙂
2. Buy multiple pairs of shoes.
I strongly recommend buying multiple pairs of shoes! I don’t know about you, but my kids come home with mud and dirt on them from playing outside – especially my son! So, I don’t buy expensive shoes for them to wear to school (heck…their feet grow so fast that I don’t buy expensive shoes at all!) It would be such a waste to spend $100+ on shoes that are going to look crazy in a few months…or he/she will outgrow. Our kids’ feet grow so fast that it’s not worth spending a lot of money on shoes that last for 3 – 6 months. So, just stop by Target or anywhere you can that has comfortable, inexpensive shoes!
3. Use name tags for your kid’s school supplies and clothing.
Every year my kids lose some sort of clothing item, lunch box, or water bottle. To keep things organized, I put name tags on everything that the kids take to school! You can make your own tags (using label printer tags), or simply write on the tag that is in the jacket, shirt, or pants. If you want to get fancy, you can order them online.
Whichever route you choose, just get ready for them to lose them anyway! But…it does make it easier to find your stuff in the school’s lost and found…or for another parent to reach out to you if an item accidentally makes it home in someone else’s backpack.
4. Make sure your kids are up to speed on mask etiquette.
Back to school is even more hectic with COVID-19 still out there. Kids have to wear masks to school every day, and I always try to make sure my kids are up to speed on mask etiquette: do not share your mask, keep track of your mask, keep it on at all times, etc.
A pro-tip for all of the moms and dads out there – hide the masks. I buy masks in bulk, but only give my kids 2 masks for the week before hiding the rest of them. I’ve noticed they are more mindful about keeping track of their masks when they aren’t aware that there are more at home. The kids use their 2 masks for the week, then I wash them on the weekends.
In regards to mask shopping, good-quality 2-ply cloth or microfiber masks are more sustainable! I really love the athletic masks at Athleta because they are microfiber and multilayered. I also buy the mask lanyard which makes it easier for the kids to keep up with them.
5. Teach kids how to pack for school the night before.
Having your kids get everything ready for school the night before will save you a lot of stress come morning! Every night my kids fill up their water bottles, pack their snacks, get their school clothes laid out, and get their backpacks ready for the next day! That way, I am not yelling for them to pull all of this stuff together in the morning…nor is anyone yelling about where their library book is! (LOL!) I find that it saves us another 10 – 20 minutes in the morning of “swirl”…folks running around looking for stuff…or just not quite together.
It also teaches them to manage their snacks! My kids have learned that I am not shopping more than once a week, so if they eat all the snacks at the beginning of the week, then they’re all gone and they have nothing to take for a snack at the latter half of the week.
To close out my back-to-school tips, I’d like to emphasize how important it is to get your kids vaccinated if you can! There is nothing worse than a kid with COVID-19. Especially since you never know which variant your child will get or how they will react to it!
I hope that you find these tips to get your kids back to school useful.
Have a safe and productive school year!
Xoxo
Renee Morris (@lifebyrenee)
