School daze

Reading to my kids has always been one of my favorite things. Snuggled up on the bed or couch under a blanket, staring into their excited faces as I read, that’s a pretty great way to spend an afternoon, even if they do sometimes demand that I read the same book ten times.

While you’re reading (and rereading) that favorite book, did you know that you are also teaching your child early literacy skills:

• Tons of new vocabulary! The more you read to them, the more words they will be exposed to.
• Understanding how books work: how to hold a book, turning pages, print going left to right
• Helping to build motivation, curiosity and memory
• Creating a positive association with learning and reading

Here are 24 of my favorite books for exposing your kids to early literacy, broken down into categories.

ALPHABET

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. and John Archambault

Touch Think Learn: ABC by Xavier Deneux

ABC Mindful Me by Christiane Engel

ABC For Me: ABC Love by Christiane Engel

NUMBER SENSE

Pete the Cat and his 4 Groovy Buttons by James Dean

How Do Dinosaurs Count to Ten by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague

Little Owl’s 1-2-3 by Divya Srinivasan

Steam Train, Dream Train 1-2-3 by Sherri Duskey Sherri

COLORS

Baby Colors by Rachel Hale

Edible Colors by Jennifer Vogel Bass

Mouse Paint by Ellen Still Walsh

Splatter by Diane Alber

SHAPES

Press here by Herve Tullet

The Shape of Me and Other Stuff: Dr. Seuss’s Surprising Word Book by Dr. Seuss

Walter’s Wonderful Web: A First Book About Shapes by Tim Hopgood

Shape by Shape by Suse MacDonald

BODY KNOWLEDGE

Counting Kisses by Karen Katz

From Head to Toe by Eric Carle

Hello World! My Body by Jill McDonald

Inside Your Outside: All About the Human Body by Tish Rabe

ANIMALS AND ANIMAL SOUNDS

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? by Bill Martin Jr. and Eric Carle

Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You? by Dr. Seuss

My Big Animal Book by Roger Priddy

The Big Red Barn by Margaret Wise Brown

You are your child’s first and most important teacher. You are the one who will give them their first impressions on the importance of learning and expanding their worlds. The books above are all well-loved by my family, but honestly it doesn’t matter what you read. Just read with enthusiasm, do all the silly voices, and make it as fun for you as it is for them. If you can do that, you won’t just be creating memories, but also enthusiastic readers who never stop learning!

♥ Erin

I know school is already out for many of you, but here in RVA we still have two more weeks. Only two more weeks until I get to spend every waking minute with my precious children. Oh joy….Oh rapture. That got me thinking about the wonderfully patient individuals who have been handling them all school year. God bless those teachers, those administrators, and don’t even get me started on what those poor bus drivers have to endure. We definitely can’t forget them.

If you want to thank those people who have managed to make it through the entire school year without running out screaming, a feat I’m not sure I’ll be able to match in just the first week at home with my kids, here are some great gift ideas that they will actually appreciate.

Truth.

Creative Gift Card Gifts- Teachers love gift cards. We all know this. However, for some, a gift card can feel impersonal. Change that by doing one of the following:

• Add to Their Classroom Library– Find a book that is age-appropriate for the grade they teach. On the inside cover, tape a gift card of your choice and on the back cover have your student write their teacher a sweet note or draw them a picture and sign their name.
• Fill Up Their Cup– Buy an inexpensive water bottle, large cup or mason jar and place the gift card in the center of it. Next add some things you either know your child’s teacher likes or things most people like such as hershey kisses, chapstick, a small tube of sunscreen, nail polish, gum, etc. Finish it off with some ribbon or a label with your child’s name.
• Supply Them with Supplies– Visit the Dollar Tree for inexpensive school supplies. Teachers always need extras! Put them all in a plastic bin or basket, tie a ribbon around it and tape the gift card on the top.
• Don’t Forget the Bus Driver– Use these easy printables to personalize your bus driver’s gift card gift or use these gift tags to add a more personal touch to any gift you plan to give them. My kids have two different bus drivers so I’ll be making them chocolate chip cookies.

Get Them Summer-Ready– Stop at Five Below and purchase a beach bag and beach towel and then add in a few of these other ideas: magazines, a beach read, sunglasses, sunscreen, protein bars, a water bottle, lip balm. If you want to get fancy you can attach one of these free printables to the bag from Havalah at Sisters, What.

Write a Note From the Heart– It’s been awhile since I’ve been teaching, but I still remember the sweet note that one of my students’ mothers wrote to me at the end of the school year eleven years ago. (OMG, that adorable first-grader is graduating from high school! Holy shit, I’m old!) Hearing how I’d helped them get through a particularly tough year was the highest praise and best gift I’d ever received. Teachers don’t go into the profession for the glamour and money, they do it because they want to make a difference. Telling them that they did a great job gives them a reason to keep on going!

Make Them a Teacher/Bus Driver Emergency Kit– I love this idea from Jessica at Timeout With Mom. This sweet kit contains everything they could need from extra deodorant to gum to wrinkle releaser.

I’m here to tell you that, at the end of the day, teachers aren’t going to care about the cutesy presentation and the rhyming, personalized gift tags. They will appreciate that you thought of them. There really isn’t a need to overthink it.

If you’ll be home with your kids all summer, like me, may the force be with you! I’ll be posting next week on setting up a summer schedule that will help kids stay on a routine while still having lots of fun.

♥ Erin

Hey Parents, if you’re stumped on what to get your kids’ teachers this year, I got you covered. After living with teachers my entire life and then becoming one myself, I’m sort of an expert on the subject. There are tons of #1 teacher ornaments, mugs and knick-knacks out there, not to mention all of the apple-themed gifts. Also, now that we live in the world of Pinterest, there is also shit like this:

I mean, who has the time?

And this:

Are you frickin’ kiddin’ me?

But before you break out the glue gun and glitter, please take a minute to think it through. Imagine a first year teacher with 18 kids in his or her classroom. Now imagine if each year, for his or her first five years of teaching, half of those kids gifted the teacher ornaments for Christmas. That’s already 45 ornaments! My mom taught elementary school for over thirty years. Just sit back and try to imagine the sheer volume of knick knacks and tchotchkes! Half of our Christmas ornaments were adorned with apples, for God’s sake! It was overwhelming!

This year, please put down that ornament and show your appreciation for your child’s teacher with a gift that they will appreciate as well.

Four Gifts Teachers Love To Get:

1.) Gift cards- This may seem impersonal, but you know what, the teacher isn’t a friend or relative so impersonal is ok! To make it more personal you can find out about their interests and then get a gift card tailored to them. Our school has teachers fill out a form like this one at the beginning of the year to help with gift ideas. Last year, I used these funny gift tags, and they were a big hit.

2.) Personal Notes From You or Your Child- Eleven years ago, when I was in my second year of teaching, one of my parents wrote me a short note telling me how much I helped her son that year. I teared up when I read it, and I still have it. Teachers don’t go into education for the glamour or the money, and it’s often a pretty thankless job day after day. Telling him or her how important they are and what a difference they’ve made can really make a teacher’s day.

3.) Gifts for the classroom– Ask the teacher what they need the most right now and then go out and purchase those things. Teachers are often going out and buying school supplies with their own money. You can save their money and their valuable time by taking care of this for them.

4.) Edible Gifts– My mom got a delicious cranberry loaf every Christmas, and I looked forward to eating that thing pretty much all year! If you have something special that you love to make; cookies, fudge, toffee, etc. that’s something special that you can share with the teachers. You can also use the list I posted above to find out your teacher’s favorite foods and provide them a basket with three or four of those favorites. Be sure to check for any allergies or sugar restrictions.

Happy Holidays and Happy Gifting!

♥ Erin

          We’ve been managing(ish) the school morning craziness for just over three weeks now and, let me tell you, the struggle is real. This is especially true for our kindergartner who sleeps like the dead and eats almost as slowly. I’ve been trying out some new things to help us all get through the morning and get my kids onto the school bus on time. Number five, in particular, has been a major time-saver. Check them out below:

1. We have the kids lay out all of their clothes before bed each night, shoes too! They waste a lot of time deciding on shoes and then, of course, searching for those shoes that they just have to wear.
2. We put the kids resource schedule on the fridge. Maybe by mid-year I’ll remember who has library and PE on which days, but not today. Until then, this visual will remind me who needs tennis shoes, books, etc. each day.
3. The kids and I worked together to create the responsibilities chart below. They earn one star in the morning and one in the afternoon if they complete all of their morning and afternoon responsibilities. They can use these stars to earn rewards. Two stars will get them a lot less than twenty stars, but they will have the choice between instant gratification or saving to earn something larger.  They only earn the stars when I don’t have to remind them of what they need to do.
4. My kids choose and pack their school snacks when they get home from school each day. They get off the bus ravenous so, while they’re picking out a snack to eat at home, I have them choose another one for school the next day and pack it in their bags.
5. I created a simple poster where the kids can pick their breakfast and lunch choices the night before. I know this sounds a bit like I’m running a restaurant, but we wasted so much time every morning asking the kids what they wanted for breakfast and in their lunches. When you only have 45 minutes to get everything done in the morning, every minute you save is a big deal. My kindergartner isn’t reading yet, so I also drew pictures of about five different choices for each meal. Before we go up to bed each night, the kids make their choices by adding their initials in pencil next to the items they’d like. This is one of their daily responsibilities. This has been a game-changer!! My husband or I can get up a few minutes before the kids to get meals made, and we don’t have to listen to tantrums about how we didn’t make what they wanted. There is a lot less yelling in our house these days.

These tips give my kids the power of choice, but the choices are all things that my husband and I can live with because we were the ones that set them up. I like that my kids are learning to be more responsible through this and to see that their actions have consequences.

Good luck with the morning hustle! As the school year goes on, it does get better. Until it does, keep on keeping on, my exhausted friends!

♥ Erin

I posted last week about sitting down with my kids to brainstorm healthy lunch and snack ideas for back to school. I’ve had trouble in the past with packing lunches that come back basically untouched, and snacks that are just basic carbs like goldfish or pirate’s booty with no real nutritional value of any kind. This year I wanted the kids to have healthier choices, while still giving them a say in what they eat. I was pleasantly surprised by what they came up with.

Disclaimer: A lot of simple lunch ideas like chicken nuggets. grilled cheese, sandwiches, pizza, basically any stereotypical kid food has been left out of this list because B doesn’t like them, and I’m not up for making two separate lunch plans.

Picture of butterfly snack, trail mix, dates and olives, chia pouch and eggs and tomatoes goes here

Snack Ideas

Clockwise from top left: Blackberry Chia Pouch, Seaweed Snacks, Pirate’s Booty and Banana Chip Butterfly, Black Olives and Dates and Homemade Trail Mix

1. 1. Butterfly Grapes and Goldfish-This was a special first day of school snack. I don’t usually do this Pinterest shit, but the kids had a a lot of fun decorating their clothes pins.
   2. Nut-free Trail Mix-Sesame sticks, Banana chips, Raisins, Pretzels and Dried raspberries
   3. Sliced Nectarines or Peaches
   4. Seaweed Snacks
   5. Hummus single packs with Carrots, Cucumbers or Pretzels-These packs are the perfect size for kids.
   6. Hard-boiled Eggs and Cherry tomatoes
   7. Olives and Dates-I never would of thought of this combo, but I found the idea here. Ben loves both of these things, and who doesn’t like a sweet/salty combo that also has healthy fats and vitamins instead of empty calories?
   8. Veggies and Dip-Check out these great containers for dips here.
   9. Banana Bread Energy Balls-Bananas, dates, flour, oats and chocolate chips are the only ingredients you need to make these tasty guys. Throw in your favorite protein powder to make these even more filling. I like this one.
   10. Cheese, Apple and Cherry Tomato Skewers-Remember to cut off the sharp edges
   11. Chia or Yogurt pouches-I personally love the Blackberry Bliss chia pouches and they have 2 g. of protein and 4 g. of fiber in each pouch. Score!
   12. Turkey jerky and Fruit snacks or Fruit leather

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Instead of packing snacks in sandwich bags, reduce your carbon footprint with these container ideas. I really wanted something like these, but when I couldn’t find them I got these and they’re great!

Lunch Ideas

From left to right: Marinated Chicken Strips, Apple, Cheese and Tomato skewers and Turkey Rollups

1. Turkey roll-ups-My kids have an aversion to bread, apparently. In the past, I’d send them in with a sandwich and they’d come back with the bread untouched. To cut our food waste, I decided to make these rollups instead. I lay them flat and spread mayo or mustard and then roll them into cigar shapes.
2. Cheese roll-ups-V loved the sound of these. You spread cream cheese on a whole wheat tortilla and add a piece of cheese and then roll it up. I’m going to try to add thinly sliced cucumber and tomato and hope she doesn’t notice. 😉
3. Cheese, apple and cherry tomato skewers-This is a snack item that works for lunch too.
4. Brown rice and black beans-This was B’s go-to lunch last year. We kept it nice and hot for him in his thermos. Add some salsa for extra flavor.
5. Grilled and marinated chicken strips-We bought a package of pre-cooked strips from Kroger and marinated them overnight in oil and vinegar. B gobbled them up, and asked to have them for lunch again the next day.
6. Bow-tie pasta salad-Add chick peas and pine nuts to make this more filling and any veggies your child will eat to make it vitamin-packed. We found the recipe here, along with a lot of our other lunch ideas.

Along with these main courses, I add one serving of fruit, one fun carb like goldfish or pretzels, and a carton of milk for V.

Once we made the list, I had the kids each pick two snacks choices and two lunches choices for the week. This way they won’t have to eat the same thing every day, but I know what I should have on hand instead of buying all of the things on the list.

For their lunches, we’ve been using these containers for the past two years and they’ve really held up!

I hope you can use some of these ideas to prepare your own healthy snacks and lunches this school year! Let me know your best snack and lunch ideas in the comments. Happy eating!

🙂 Erin

Hey guys, so tomorrow is the big day around this house. Last week I wrote a post about all the things I was planning to do this week to get the kids ready. Here is what actually went down.

1.) We made it to bed by 8:00 pm approximately twice this week. Fail. My hopes are high though for tonight, which makes 3 nights out of 7, guys, that’s almost 50%, winning!

2.) Though my kids were definitely awake by 7:00 am every day, hell, it was more like 6:30, I couldn’t get them out of my bed before 8. Morning snuggles with the kids are one of my favorite things, but next week is going to be a wreck!

3.) We haven’t gotten to write our letters to our teacher, and I haven’t written my letters to the kids either. I’m not sure when I thought that was going to happen. I may change the letter idea to an I love you post-it. Still counts, right?

4.) As for our dates: V and I went on a long walk together and chatted about what’s making her nervous about starting kindergarten. It was really nice to get time alone with my middle child who craves attention like it’s the air she breathes. However, when B and I got Starbucks, I had a really hard time getting him to open up about anything. I asked lots of open-ended questions like all those smug parenting books tell us. No dice. I’m going to try again at bedtime tonight.

5.) We did brainstorm some great snack and lunch ideas, as you’ll see in my next post. However, after a week of dealing with very whiny, grouchy kids, I came to my senses and decided to shop alone. Hallelujah!

I wanted to keep it real in case you read my last post, filled with all of my hopes and “pipe”dreams for the week, and you thought that I was one of those Pinterest moms. Can you relate to having these grandiose plans and the best intentions turn to dust when faced with the realities of life? I figured you could. So it didn’t happen the way I’d imagined it, but everything that needed to get done got done, my kids had some much-needed one on one attention and everyone will still get on the bus and head to school in the morning. I’m still calling this a win.

Happy Labor Day!

🙂 Erin

Has anyone else seen the movie Grease 2? No, just me? Ok, well it has this great opening song about going back to school that always gets stuck in my head this time of year. Check it out here so I’m not the only one! I know a lot of kids are already back, but my kids start after Labor Day. This means I’m cramming  as much fun as humanly possible into this last week. Unfortunately, this also means we only have one week to fix our messed up schedule of staying awake until 10:30 and waking up after 8. My kids have to be on the bus at 7:05!!! That’s some bullshit, honestly, but I’ll save my problems with the public school system for another post.

Here’s what I’m doing to prepare my kids, especially my soon to be kindergartener, for the harsh reality of school.

1.  Bedtime by 8 pm (ish) every day this week, even on the weekend.

2. Wake up by 7:30 Tues-Th and 7:00 Fri-Mon. This shouldn’t be a problem as they’re always up earlier on the weekends.(Seriously, WTF?)

3. Friday morning is bus stop practice day for V, and B too, if he’s not being too cool for school. We’ll practice our morning routine of clothes on, eat breakfast, brush teeth, (Anyone else hearing Daniel Tiger just now?) and walking (ok, probably running, just to keep it real.) to the bus stop. This is super important because V is seriously the slowest eater on God’s green earth. Getting her to eat breakfast in under an hour may break me!

4. This Saturday I’ll be sitting down with the big kids to help them brainstorm healthy snack and lunch ideas that appeal to them, and then taking them to Kroger so they can shop their lists. Kroger has these awesome little carts for kids that make them feel like Napolean on steroids. So yeah, this might actually be a shitty idea, but I’m just going to go with it. I’m hoping that giving them ownership of their snack and lunch options will lead to empty lunch boxes and kids who don’t turn into hangry assholes on the school bus home.

5. On Sunday I’m going to take each of the big kids out on separate special dates to talk about the new school year. They can share what they’re excited about, and also any fears they might have, over an ice cream cone or other favorite treat. Processing my feelings out loud really helps me. Not everyone needs to do this, but I’m hopeful that doing it will at the very least let them know that I see them as individuals and care about their feelings, good or bad.

6. If we have time over the weekend, I’m also going to have the kids fill out this awesome letter to their teachers from Chickabug.

7. The night before school I’ll have the kids prepare for the day by packing their own lunches, setting out their new outfits and writing down what they want for breakfast in the morning. Surprisingly this decision takes the longest time every morning. We have the same 3-4 choices every day, kids! Get it together!

8. Before I go to bed I’m attempting to start a new tradition where I write a letter to my kids, a la the beautiful and amazing Glennon Doyle Melton, and leave  a small gift on their beds to celebrate the start of a new school year.  Then I’ll go cross my fingers, say a prayer and get some damn sleep.

Good luck to all of your little ones, and not so little ones, as they embark upon a new year of school!

🙂 Erin

Ps-Don’t forget guys, it’s ok to cry when your kids get on the bus. It makes sense. You’re the reason they’ve made it here, feeling safe, loved and independent enough to walk into that new classroom, and you can be proud of that! And if the tears you’re crying are from happiness and excitement to have your kids back at school so they can stop their god-damn, non-stop, 24/7 (may sound redundant, but it seriously needed more emphasis) fighting, I get you too! Xoxo

I can’t sleep, so I’m turning my obsessiveness to good use for you! Here are the best deals I’ve found on school supplies and an amazing site to help take the work out of back to school shopping.

If it’s too tedious to sort through this entire list, check out this website that has a school supply search engine. Search for any product and it will show you where you can buy it the cheapest! The search engine is pretty far down the page, so keep scrolling!

Also, Amazon has the best price around on glue sticks. Right now you can get a 30-pack of Elmer’s sticks for only $7.88. 

Washable Crayola Markers-99¢ online only

Paper 2-Pocket Folders-15¢ each

Mini Pencil Box-47¢

Notebook paper-82 cents

Composition Books-50¢

Crayola 24-count Crayons-50¢

Backpacks-$4.97

1″ binders-97 cents

Mead Binders-40% off

Composition Notebooks-67 cents

Pencil cases-67 cents

BOGO on pencils, folders, notebooks, pencil cases, etc.

Wexford Erasers-50 cents

Wexford Pencil Top Erasers-50¢

Dry Erase Marker-4 pack for 69¢

Play doh single or 4 pack-BOGO

Contigo and Thermos Water Bottles-BOGO 50% off

Wexford Backpacks-$3

1″ Binders-69¢

Elmer’s Glue Sticks-5 pack-99¢

Composition Notebooks-99¢

Crayola Colored Pencils-99¢

Avery Binders-15% off

Crayola Markers-99¢ not the washable kind though

Bic Mechanical Pencils 8 count-27¢

Cat & Jack kids tees-30% off expires 8/5

See my previous post for more ways to save at Target this weekend!

Notebook Paper and Printer Paper-1¢ with $5 purchase

High Sierra Backpacks-50% off

Index Cards-50¢

Post-It Notes-Buy 2 Get 1 Free

Composition Notebooks-25¢

Pocket folders-15¢

Family Sized Kleenex Brand Tissues-3 pack-$4

Quality Lightweight Headphones-$6

#2 Pencils-72 count-$4

Plastic 2 pocket folders, with brads-50¢ each

Pencil top erasers-12 pack-25¢ each

Primary Composition Books-I couldn’t find these at all at Walmart or Walgreens

Plus they have this coupon:

Now pray for me as I prepare to take all three of my kids with me school supply shopping tomorrow!! Stupid as hell? Why, yes Ma’am! Unfortunately, necessity dictates. Good luck to all of you on your school supply shopping adventures! God speed!

Update: I just got back from finishing our school supply and clothes shopping. I actually ran out (ALONE, SO GLORIOUSLY ALONE!) at 6:45 this morning and ran to Walmart, Walgreens and Office Depot/Max before my husband had to leave for work. Then I came home, grabbed the kids, said some prayers and drove to Target. There we picked up a few more school supplies, socks and undies for all, and then I let the kids pick out their new backpacks and first day of school outfits.

All together I spent just over $50 on supplies for both kids, and considerably more on back to school clothes and accessories. I swear, “But it was on clearance!”, should be my nickname.

Here are my shopping tips for you:

IMO, Office Depot/Max had the best buys! I’ve never shopped for supplies there before so this was a great surprise. I got 3 packs of notebook paper for only 1¢ each, 12 pencil top erasers for 25¢, 72 pencils for $4 and a bunch of other things,  and spent just enough to use the 30% off coupon which saved me another $9.00!

Side note: The coupon wouldn’t work at first because the headphones that both of my kids have on their lists weren’t considered school supplies(grrrr!), but the awesome manager at our local Office Max gave me the discount anyway!

Walmart had the best deals on markers, crayons and composition notebooks.

Walgreens had amazing prices on generic brand dry erase markers, binders and pencil cases.

You should visit Target for cheap colored pencils and 30% off Cat and Jack tees. They were also the only place I found the 1.4 oz. giant glue sticks that V needs for kindergarten, and had the best price on play-doh, also mysteriously on our supply list. The clearance clothes are only 30% off right now, but I’m sure those prices will be getting even lower if you wait a few weeks.

I hope you go out this weekend and take advantage of some of these great deals! I highly recommend going alone! Your wallet and any shreds of sanity you may have left after these kids have sucked all the life out of you, will thank you. And don’t forget, ALL clothes and shoes are tax-free this weekend, so treat yo’ self!

🙂 Erin

Good morning,

Don’t forget, this is a tax-free weekend in AR, FL, IA, LA, MO, NM, OH, OK, SC, and VA. The tax-free shopping doesn’t just apply to clothes, shoes and school supplies. It also includes appliances, like dishwashers and refrigerators, and emergency preparedness supplies. See the full list of qualifying products below for more detail.  In most states this runs Friday-Sunday, but in a few it’s only 2 of the three days, so be sure to check before heading out to the store.

What items are eligible?

• School supplies, clothing, and footwear 
  • Qualified school supplies – $20 or less per item
  • Qualified clothing and footwear – $100 or less per item
• Hurricane and emergency preparedness products  
  • Portable generators – $1,000 or less per item
  • Gas-powered chainsaws – $350 or less per item
  • Chainsaw accessories – $60 or less per item
  • Other specified hurricane preparedness items – $60 or less per item
• Energy Star™ and WaterSense™​ products 
  • Qualifying Energy Star™ or WaterSense™ products purchased for noncommercial home or personal use – $2,500 or less per item

I’m hoping to find time today or tomorrow to write a post comparing school supply prices, but for now I wanted to leave you with this great deal from my favorite app, the Target Cartwheel. If you’re not using the Cartwheel app, you’re truly missing out. Check it out today! This weekend they’re offering the coupons posted below.

This is a great deal if you’re already planning to buy your kids school clothes at Target, and seriously, how adorable is their Cat and Jack line for both girls and boys? Here’s some more great deals for back to school.

We’ve all been to Target intending to buy some paper towels and baby wipes and come out with fox-shaped salt and pepper shakers (They were on clearance!), a t-shirt covered in pineapples, three cases of La Croix and a box of wine. Why not maximize your savings on those impulse buys with a Target debit card? I refused the pleas of the cashiers for years before I finally got mine last October. I just didn’t want another card in my wallet. However, with this debit card, purchases just come right out of your bank account and you save 5% every time. It’s kind of a no-brainer, and I love seeing the total on the register change after I insert my card. Damn, I love saving money!!

Here’s another link the all of Target’s current promotions. My favorite is a BOGO deal on kids’ shoes.

Happy Saving!

🙂 Erin

PS-I am not affiliated with Target in any way and get nothing for promoting their stuff. I just really love saving and want to share the love with you.

Last week I had an idea to write a post about the ways I’ve been trying to prepare V, my five-year-old, for kindergarten in September. However, most of the things I’ve been doing have been tips from my mother, who was a legendary kindergarten teacher for over twenty years. I decided who better to write this post than the legend herself? Here are her best tips for getting your kids, and yourself, ready, and for surviving those first few months of school exhaustion:

Starting kindergarten is one of the great rites of passage in a child’s life.  It is your child’s first brave step into the world beyond the family.  Even if your child went to preschool or daycare-nothing is quite the launch as beginning elementary school. That next big shift will not come until middle school, high school and an even larger shift into the greater world.

So, how can you help?

First, take care of YOU.  Grow into this new stage, and encourage your child to do the same.   Once school begins, you’ll be spending more of your parenting focus and your day on parenting chores, routines, homework, and the morning and dinnertime rush.  You begin a new phase of parenting (Facilitator in Chief), so try to see it as an adventure. Find your balance between excitement, dread, loss, etc.  Encourage your child while celebrating the passage and at the same time, acting like it is no big deal so nothing for your child to worry about.  Got to love the balancing act of motherhood!

De-stress family life, and your life, all you can. Think crockpots, Friday night pizza and movie nights, etc.  Make allowances in the early weeks of school.  You may find that acting out can increase for a while at home.  Fatigue after school can cause even worse dinnertime craziness.  Keep in mind how mentally exhausting all these new expectations are for your kindergartner.  They now need to pay attention, behave and be quiet all day!   Imagine yourself on a Thursday night amid a brutal work week, whew!

So, here we go.  As we approach August and September—What can you do?

Right now, the backpack, lunchbox and perfect outfit all matter.  Help your child to feel special and safe as these totems of big kid land do build confidence.  Enjoy getting school supplies, or pretend you do.  Invest in a separate school supply box for homework supplies at home. Make it fun to prepare for school.

About three weeks before school, begin your bedtime and waking up routines that you plan to use during the school year.  Seek a smooth transition.  Splurge on easy dinners and lunchbox prepared kid foods, all to ease the strain of school start.

Plan for routines- morning, homework, etc.  Consider how you will keep track of PE day, library day, homework due dates. NOW is the time to create routines like laying out clothes, packing lunch, and preparing backpacks.  You are creating NOW routines your fifth grader will incorporate with less nagging in the future.

Invest in hand sanitizer, vitamin c and fruits and vegetables, to give your kids a head start on staying healthy during the school year.  Begin a ritual of hand washing when your child first gets home from school.  Head off whatever shared germs you can.

Talk about school rules like getting in line, raising your hand and waiting your turn to talk, but in an offhanded way.

Finally, enjoy the ride!  You are launching your precious jewel.

Here’s my big almost second grader on his first day of kindergarten.

Thanks for all the good tips, Mom! Good luck to everyone with little ones starting kindergarten! I know I’ll need a whole damn box of kleenex when I see V step onto that school bus. If you have any other tips to add, please feel free to leave them in the comments.

🙂 Erin