Get Organized for Back to School with Label Daddy

I can't believe I'm typing this, but the new school year is fast approaching. Some of you might even be getting ready to send your kids back to school within the next week or two. With a new school year comes an opportunity to get organized and have a fresh start.

With my multiple children in multiple activities and attending multiple schools (only two this year - yay!), we have a lot of personal belongings to keep track of. From school supplies and lunchboxes, to jackets, dance and sports gear, and more, it's easy for things to get lost or mixed up. Whether your kids are going to school, day care, sports, or other activities, the last thing you want is for them to lose their belongings. So what's the solution?

Right now you can save 20% on Label Daddy labels for back to school.

The fun part is that with Label Daddy, you can design your own labels! Choose from a variety of colors, sizes, and logos, including popular Disney and Marvel characters and sport team logos.

The practical part is that labels from Label Daddy are not your average labels. What makes them so special?

• Super durable, with an exclusive laminated coating for extra protection
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• Washable - washer/dryer and dishwasher safe
• Microwave safe
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• Made in the USA
• Can be shipped worldwide

What are you waiting for? Order your labels today and use code USFAMILY20 at checkout for 20% off your entire order. This is the best Label Daddy discount available. Get started HERE. Just browsing through the website will make you feel like an organizational pro.


Disclaimer: MichiGal is receiving free products in exchange for this post. All opinions are those of MichiGal.

Getting Our Ducks in a Row for a New School Year

Well, we survived the first week of Back to School. I'd forgotten how quiet my house can be, and also how my blood pressure sky rockets at school drop off and pick up. But I believe I mentioned recently that I'd like to lead a more active lifestyle, so here's my chance. I'm going to try to slow down and resign myself to parking far, far away. Which will work when we have nowhere else to be. I'd like to commit to walking everyday (about a mile each way), but I really just can't see waking Lucy up any earlier. She already goes to bed at 7:30, we have too much going on to put her to bed earlier than that. And girlfriend needs her beauty sleep in a bad way. But after school...I'm thinking this out as I type so bear with me...although we are usually rushing straight from the elementary school to the middle school to pick up Bethany, Bethany will have cross country practice after school every day for the next couple months. So I can walk to pick up Connor and Lucy. And they will be SO thrilled. But it will be good for them. And this is really easy to say on a Saturday morning when I have nowhere to be for several hours. So we'll see. It's a good plan though.

The first couple weeks of Back to School is always a time of information overload. There is so much to remember. So much money to be thrown at schools. So much to be added to my calendar. So much getting up early. I am beat. Exhausted. Can't stay awake at night. I have so much work to do here on MichiGal, and also on my new site, MichiGal Travels, not to mention around my house and yard. I'm doing minute by minute prioritizing. Load dishwasher or start reading the book I'm reviewing? Order school pictures online or try to figure out what on earth to do with the SEO plugin I just installed? Cook dinner or write a new post? Jump on the trampoline with Mathilda or work on transferring posts over to the new blog?

The blog stuff is losing.

This month we will be adjusting. We will all be tired as we try to feel our way around a new school year. My challenges will be to:

1. Make sure my kids are fed and well rested every day, driven every place they need to be, and meeting their school responsibilities as well as doing their chores around the house. In other words, micro managing my children. 
2. Make sure we consistently have healthy foods in the house, clean dishes in the cupboards, clean clothes to wear to school, and some pieces of furniture to sit on that are not covered in backpacks, last night's pajamas, doll clothes, and coloring books.
3. Make sure we don't miss anything on the calendar. My phone is pinging constantly with alerts and reminders. I just recently started using the calendar on my phone. I'm loving it and hoping it helps me stay organized this year!
4. Make sure I stay on top of my volunteer responsibilities, while keeping in mind that, while very important, it is, well...volunteer work. And sometimes other stuff has to come first. See 1-3.
5. Take care of blogging stuff.

Not shown above would be things like hitting the gym at least a few times a week, spending time with family and friends, errands, and organizational jobs around the house. It will all come together. I fully expect a few monkey wrenches to be thrown our way, but it's going to be a good year. 

This week we start preschool, dance, and cross country. We will celebrate Lucy's birthday. And we have something super fun planned for Friday the 13th. Also did I mention Chris has been traveling a lot for work? I won't lie, I don't feel quite ready. But ready or not, school is back with all the accompanying madness. 

How is back to school going for your family?

My 3 big kids: 7th, 5th and 2nd grades.

Back to School, Ready or Not

Tomorrow is the day. After our lovely summer hiatus, it's back to school for three out of four kids. Mathilda goes back next week. I know many kids in other states have already started back to school, but here in Michigan we are lucky to have a state law dictating that public schools must start the school year after Labor Day. From what I understand, this is because the tourism industry was suffering when schools tried pushing up their school start dates to late August. Whatever the reason, I am glad because August is obviously still SUMMER!

I've read the experts' advice and I know that I should have been gradually waking my kids up earlier and earlier over the past few weeks, while simultaneously making bedtime a little earlier every few days. They should be back in a structured routine now, to prepare them for a new academic year. I know all this, and yet...I have ignored it all.

Last night all four kids stayed up late. Two of them crashed out on the couch, where they stayed all night. We are still in summer meal mode, which means punting for at least two out of three meals a day. This morning they slept in as late as their bodies allowed them, which was altogether not late enough for my liking. We're doing things the old fashioned way. Tomorrow will be a shock to the system, but within a few days they'll be back in the school groove.

I'm not interested in interfering with my precious summer by preparing for school. We have the whole school year to be all structured and regimented. Summer is the time when we enjoy a lack of routine, being a little lazy, staying up late, and eating breakfast at lunch time. I know everyone doesn't do it my way, but by May I am so DONE DONE DONE with the school gig, I need these months to breathe and re-charge my batteries. The last week or so the noise level in my house has been starting to frazzle me, and I'm realizing that, although I really hate to see the end of summer, I am ready for a quieter house for awhile. My kids have been getting a little antsy, and I know they don't want to admit it, but they're kind of ready too.

I'm not totally unprepared. We have school supplies and new clothes and shoes to accommodate summer growth spurts. Two out of four kids have had haircuts, which is not perfect but acceptable in my book. I still have to go grocery shopping, but hey tomorrow is a half day so no one needs to pack a lunch. I think I'll go to the grocery store while three of my kids are in school. Sounds nice, eh?

I have been getting caught up with laundry, and weeding out clothes like a mad woman. I am giddy at the thought of a Salvation Army drop off later today. I always see this time of year as a fresh start, and have all kinds of plans about what I am going to organize and accomplish while my kids are in school. Then reality sets in and I realize that 95% of my life is spent driving to and fro and doing school-related stuff. But I am forever an optimist, so I feel like this year I can do better!

Today we are going to a barbecue to spend time with family and go swimming on our last day of summer break. When we get home everyone will shower and bathe and get outfits laid out. Kids will be tucked in early, and I will set my alarm extra early so I can make a special first day of school breakfast.

I'll miss you, Summer. 'Til we meet again...

Weekends are No Substitute for Summer (but I still love them)

When school started last month, I had big plans for weekends. It's hard for me to give up the freedom of summer, so I have to start the year off with the thought in my mind that it will still be possible for us to do fun things. And yeah, it is still possible, but  not quite as simple and streamlined as I had envisioned. Go figure.

The biggest obstacle seems to be that this is apparently a bad time of year for my kids health-wise (allergies, asthma, coughs). We have been to the doctor a ridiculous number of times in the past month. Tomorrow Mattie has one last (I hope) follow-up appointment, and then I HOPE we are in the clear for awhile. Although I don't know, we can't quite seem to get Lucy's asthma under control. And Connor is still coughing. But for all that, no one has missed a day of school yet. (knocking on wood like a maniac)

Now Connor has started up an activity which has Friday night meetings. Lucy was interested in taking a class or two on Saturday mornings, but I've decided to table that for the time being considering that she is ultra run down with all her recent asthma flare-ups. So I guess at least our Saturdays and Sundays are in the clear for now, until basketball games start up in a couple months.

This isn't to say I'm complaining. Our weekends haven't been bad (if unmemorable...). But there were so many things I never got to during the summer, that I thought just maybe I could use fall weekends to squeeze some of that stuff in yet. Well, it's not looking too good for that, but I am still hoping to get in at least one weekend getaway this month, while we still can. It's in the works!

As it turns out, this weekend ended up being pretty good. Friday night I worked, as in drove someplace that was not my house and worked for a paycheck. It was a one-time gig that was a lot of fun and will hopefully turn into more. It's been awhile since I left the house to go to work, so that was pretty momentous for me. All the kids stayed the night at my mother-in-law's, so I even got to come home to a quiet house. I couldn't keep my eyes open when I got home and ended up crashing really early (note: before midnight is really early for me). I set my alarm, just in case, never thinking I would actually sleep more than six or seven hours. But after several nights of four hours of sleep, I was more tired than I thought. I wound up sleeping for an astonishing 10 hours! I could use a few more of those.

Saturday morning, Chris had a job to do, so I tagged along with him so he'd have some company for the drive. I brought my Kindle and read in the car while he worked, then we went out to lunch together, while the kids were at the movie theater with their Meema (Chris's mom). Shortly after they came home, Chris's mom called to say she had play tickets that she couldn't use for that night. Her husband was working late, and she was coming down with a cold and just didn't feel up to it. Chris was working (again) and then had plans to go see his friend's band, so my mother-in-law offered to come over and babysit so I could go to the play with Bethany. This was, remember, after she had kept them all overnight Friday night, taken them all to the movies Saturday afternoon, and had them with her until after 3 p.m. And she didn't feel well either. That is the kind of mother-in-law I have.

One-on-one opportunities like this don't come up very often, so I was really happy to have the time with Bethany. Plus I love the theater and would go to every show that comes to Detroit if I could.

Let me real quick mention what I think is a long-lasting effect of my summer road trip. I use to be much more fearful and nervous of driving certain places. Downtown Detroit, especially at night, would be one of them. Or anyplace I'm not that familiar with. Now I've been to this particular theater many, many times, and I'm sure I've driven there too, if only a few times. But in the past I would have been really nerved up about driving there, especially without another adult present to help navigate. This time, I could feel myself starting to fall back into that pattern, and I quickly reminded myself that I successfully made it across the country and back with nary a mishap. I could totally make it 20 minutes to downtown and be absolutely fine. And of course I was. I didn't even have a GPS with me. Okay, I lie. I did use the navigation on my phone to find my way back to the freeway on the way home. But it's okay to be resourceful! And in my defense, any Detroiter will tell you that signs are pretty sparse and vague downtown. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I think more people would willingly spend time downtown if there were more signs! And signs like "Cultural Center" or "New Center" barely count, because who the heck knows what that means, especially out-of-towners?!

Alright, I digress. But my point is simply that I'm glad our road trip led me to a place where I'm more comfortable driving, and even not knowing exactly where I'm going.

And my other point is that even though our back-to-school weekends haven't exactly been all I've dreamed of and more, they have been fun and relaxing...and I'm grateful for every one of them! If things go according to plan, the next couple weekends should be full of fun and adventure.

If you're wondering about the play Bethany and I went to, look for another blog post very soon!

Rolling with the Back to School Mayhem

It's the eve of the first full week of school. Last week was insane, and I somehow let myself believe that this week would be way better. Then I looked at my calendar. Yikes. We're adding some craziness this week with Lucy's birthday, Mattie starting preschool, basketball registration, etc. Plus Mattie is sick (still!) and I'm hoping we get that worked out so she can make it to her first day of school!

I'm trying to stay calm, which isn't always easy for me. I like to be all Zen and laid back, but the truth is that I feel on the verge of hyper-ventilating when I begin doubting whether I'll be able to accomplish everything that has to get done. I want to enjoy this school year and not just survive it!

I know school is important, but I can't help but feel that it's interrupting our lives and keeping us from doing things we really want to do. I'm not one of those moms breaking out the bubbly because the kids are back in school. I get it, and I don't judge. I do appreciate the quiet around the house and the one-on-one time with Mattie. I'll admit, it's nice. I'm glad the kids are learning something and spending time with friends. But I just looked at the weather for the week and what I'd like to be doing is taking the kids swimming at my father-in-law's every day. I'd also like to not be setting my alarm.

What I need to do is stay organized, stay on top of things, keep a good attitude, and enjoy September as much as I enjoyed August. It's different, but different is good. Adjustment periods are always a little rough, but there's no need to freak out. We had a good, fun weekend, and that's just the sort of thing I need to keep me going. I also need to make sure I continue making time for myself; working out, seeing my friends, working on this here blog. But I also have to watch myself, because when I find myself over-extended, I tend to find myself sick shortly thereafter.

Calm. Deep breaths. Slow down. Smile. Laugh. Sleep. This might be my magic formula.

I hope your back to school is off to a great start!

Having fun with family & friends at our church picnic

The End of the Line

We have one more day of summer break, and then it's back to the grind. I am not ready, the kids are not ready. We have not been practicing early bedtimes. We don't have everything we need. I'm behind on laundry and I need to go grocery shopping. Lucy needs a hair cut. Bethany needs a school bag. Instead of doing all the things we were "supposed" to be doing, Chris and I went away for the weekend and left the last minute stuff to the very last minute. And today, instead of getting busy, we swam at my father-in-law's house for hours and then left three out of four kids with Grandpa for a sleepover. After years of doing the back to school thing, I know by now that it'll all come together, whether we want it to or not. Maybe it would be smoother sailing if everyone were back in the habit of early bedtimes and we didn't have to run five million errands the day before school starts. But we're okay with milking every last ounce of summer goodness for all it's worth. We don't want to let you go, summer; not without a fight.

I'm in a mild panic thinking how quickly life is going spiral out of control. Juggling three schools, homework, after school activities, social calendars, my duties as board president of preschool, running the elementary school book fair. I keep telling myself it's all going to be GOOD. It is all going to be good.

I have a reluctant acceptance of fall. The excitement of a new school year...changing temperatures...new clothes...the world is open to new possibilities. I like sweaters and tights and boots and apple cider and field trips. I dislike getting up early, losing my kids to the regiment of school and all it entails, and the looming, dreaded winter.

This year is different because my baby will be in preschool, and for the first time I'll have a preschooler with no little ones at home. I'll enjoy unhindered trips to Target, Starbucks with friends, and trips to the gym. All in four and a half hours a week. It's something to look forward to, and also something to mourn. Because this is the last time I'll have a kid starting the 3's class.

While my youngest is running off to preschool, my oldest is starting middle school. I'm a little scared because it's going to hit her hard that this ain't no grade school picnic. My daughter has to be more organized and responsible than she's ever been in her life, and I worry about how much I should interfere and how much I should let her be, making her own mistakes along the way. I'm scared about the new friends she'll meet, and the terrible things they'll teach her. I know she's going to meet new people, but I like her friends and I hope they stick around too. I think about when I started middle school, how much my social circle changed; but times are different now. Yeah I sound like an old lady, but truly. With texting and all that jazz, kids today are way more connected than we were when I was in school.

We had an incredible summer. Life-changing, I might even venture to say. We didn't do everything I had hoped we would do, but then again I tend to set the bar kind of unattainably high. And now we're going to have an incredible school year. We're going to make it happen, because we can.

Good bye, summer. 'Til next time...xoxo

School Days Are Coming

Is this lovely summer really coming to a close already? We will be celebrating Bethany's (10th!!) birthday this weekend, which is our annual signal that the summer fun is nearly over. We've done a lot and will be cramming in as much as we can these last days of blissful freedom. I can't believe in less than a month I will be sending Lucy off to kindergarten, Connor to 3rd grade, and Bethany to 5th. Last year of elementary school! How did this happen? Although I will thoroughly enjoy the one on one time with Mathilda, I have already been scouring the school district calendar for days off throughout the coming year. I don't want summer to end.

And here's another thing. Last summer I was super good about keeping Bethany and Connor busy with school work so they would be totally prepared for the new school year. They read everyday, wrote in journals, and worked in their Summer Bridge activity books. This summer...not so much. They haven't been reading or writing nearly as much as they should. I didn't buy Summer Bridge books this year (and I might add that it irritates me that there is a special rewards day for kids who complete these work books over the summer - they cost money, it's a public school...I just think it's kind of crap). So no, I don't think they'll be going back as prepared this fall. And I feel bad about that, because let's face it, there is always something to feel bad about as a parent. It almost doesn't feel like I'm doing my job if I'm not worrying or feeling guilty every moment of every day.

On the flip side, they've spent more time swimming, playing outside, and just plain old hanging out with no structured activities. And that's important too. I'm trying not to feel like a horrible mother because I've primarily been letting them relax and have fun. It's been an absolutely fabulous summer, so I'm just going to let that outweigh everything else. Although we will be practicing ABC's and multiplication facts in between our end of summer fun these next few weeks...