Today’s blog post touches on the ways we are preparing for back to (pre)school in our house and includes a $500 VISA gift card giveaway to use toward your back-to-school shopping! Thank you so much to RetailMeNot for sponsoring this post!
The 2018-2019 preschool year officially kicks off for Chase on Tuesday next week. He’ll be in a Monday through Thursday program for three-year-olds for just under four hours a day and I know he will have the best time! We absolutely love Chase’s preschool (he went two days a week last year) and after attending his orientation on Sunday afternoon, I am even more excited about what the upcoming year holds for Chase!
This week we’re scrambling to get everything in order before the school year begins. We actually have Chase’s meet the teacher ice cream party at his school today which should be a lot of fun!
(Flashback photo to Chase at his preschool’s Meet the Teacher ice cream social last year!)
Before I drop Chase off at preschool on Tuesday morning (and try my hardest to keep my sappy mom tears inside), I am going to do my best to get organized for the school year ahead because something about the start of school — even preschool — feels like a fresh slate to me! With all of the craziness of the summer and the big changes in our family (hi, Ryder!), I am trying to take advantage of this exciting time of year to jump back into the swing of things, get organized and kick off some healthy habits.
Here are a few ways I’m planning to get myself and our family ready for the 2018-2019 preschool year:
Preparing for Back to (Pre)School
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Revisit Meal Planning
Oh meal planning! I love you but we admittedly have a bit of a rollercoaster relationship. When life feels crazy, meal planning is one of the first things that often falls to the wayside for me which is horrible because it’s one of the things that helps me feel more organized and less stressed throughout the week! It helps our family eat healthier, save money and look forward to mealtime. With the start of the school year comes packing Chase lunch four days a week and if I want to be sure his lunches are well-rounded, I try to plan them out ahead of time (or at least have a rough idea of what I’ll pack) and this also helps keep me motivated to meal plan our family dinners while I’m making my grocery list as well!
Interested in meal planning? Check out these past posts: Meal Planning: Prepping 5 Healthy Dinners / Meal Plan: 5 Meatless Meals / How I Find Recipes for Meal Planning
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Organize and Update Family Calendar
The combination of welcoming a new baby into our family in June coupled with the lack of a real schedule during the summer months admittedly has me feeling a little frazzled. I think part of this can be attributed to the fact that ever since Ryder was born, I have neglected keeping up with my planner. This has resulted in a few missed appointments and deadlines and a handful of events seemed to creep up on me at the last minute and left me feeling overwhelmed. Before I attended Chase’s preschool orientation on Sunday, I grabbed my planner and brought it along to encourage myself to get back into the groove of keeping a detailed calendar so I feel organized and activities, deadlines, events, etc. are all in front of me and don’t seemingly creep up out of nowhere.
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Prepare Make-Ahead Meals for Busy Mornings / Snack Time
As I’m sure nearly every parent out there can attest, some mornings feel a bit more scrambled than others. Sometimes we’re in our groove and ease into the day but other mornings I feel like we hit the ground running and I find myself feeling especially grateful for my stash of freezer-friendly breakfast muffins on these mornings! I simply reheat one of Chase’s favorite toddler muffins in the microwave for 20 seconds and we have a homemade breakfast on hand in a flash. I almost always have two different kinds of muffins in our freezer to grab at any given time and I’m planning to prepare another batch this weekend for back-to-school breakfasts and after-school snacks!
If muffins aren’t appealing for your little one, consider energy bites, breakfast bars or baked oatmeal for make-ahead breakfast options!
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Create A Weekly To Do List and Revisit It Daily
This one goes along the same lines as keeping my planner updated but on Sundays, I like to create a to do list for the week and then revisit it every morning to see what the “must dos” for every day look like before Ryder and Chase are up for the day and everything begins to feel a bit chaotic. There’s something magical about actually taking time to write down my weekly and daily to-dos and the feeling of crossing something off my to-do list can’t be beat!
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Wake Up Before the Kids
This is my latest must-do! Now that Ryder is sleeping a little better, I am able to wake up at 5 a.m. without feeling like a complete zombie… most days. I am definitely a morning person and feel like my brain works best first thing in the morning so by setting my alarm for 5 a.m. and cranking out some work before my boys are awake, I begin the day feeling productive. On the days when I opt to sleep in, I almost always regret it because I spend the entire day feeling like I am playing catch up. Sticking to a 5 a.m. wake-up time is crucial for me if I want to feel less stressed and distracted during the day.
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Prioritize Back-to-School Shopping
Pop into just about any large store this time of year and you’ll see no shortage of back-to-school clothing, supplies and more. Rather than just mindlessly throw things I think Chase will need during the school year into my cart, I’ve opted to do the vast majority of his back-to-preschool shopping online. All parents were provided a list of items to bring to school for their kids as well as a list of voluntary items we could supply to the school for the kids and teachers to use throughout the year. I am always all about a good deal and thankfully RetailMeNot helped me save money on some of our back-to-preschool essentials and fall clothing this year!
I’m sure most of you are quite familiar with RetailMeNot by now — I’ve been using the site and app for years now to find great deals, cash back offers and coupons online — and it’s a great resource for saving money on all of your shopping throughout the year, whether you’re shopping for back-to-school items or other must-haves. (It’s actually how I find a lot of the deals I share with you guys in some of my Things I’m Loving Friday sale roundups!)
RetailMeNot actually just released a new Genie browser extension to automatically find and apply promo codes and cashback offers for you at checkout when you shop online so you can completely bypass the step of searching for promo codes on your own! Awesome, right!?
(The above is a screenshot of my laptop so you can see what the Genie extension looks like when I visited Kohl’s website and the coupon codes popped up! I easily applied the Extra 15% off coupon code by clicking directly on the code.)
Here are a few deals that caught my eye on RetailMeNot for back-to-school shopping this year:
- $15 cashback on $30+ purchases from Old Navy (I love their toddler slim fit pants for Chase!)
- 20% off Adidas Kids Collection
- 15% off $100+ purchase plus free shipping from Macy’s
- Extra 15% off at Kohl’s
$500 VISA Gift Card Giveaway from RetailMeNot
And now it’s giveaway time! One PBF reader will win a $500 VISA gift card from RetailMeNot to use toward whatever you wish — back-to-school shopping and beyond!
To enter this giveaway, simply visit RetailMeNot.com/Genie an
I will randomly select a winner next Friday, September 7. Good luck!!!
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Back to school is such an exciting time! I would use the bath and body works coupon to stock up on some fall candles. Our cooler weather last week had me ready for fall!
Yes, I am going to work on meal planning and weekly to-do lists; however, I also just want to take time to enjoy each day with my 3 and 1 year old. We lost our 11 year old dog last week, which was our first baby and I can’t help but find myself wishing we have just done “more things” as a family.
Titan was a high energy reddish brown mutt that we loved like a hold from day 1.
40% off pants at thredup! My little guy and I could both use a few new pairs 🙂
I added the extension and am most excited about Old Navy discounts. It’s the one place that I buy everything for our family. Their clothes are perfect for my pre-school aged son and baby daughter.
I’m most excited to use the Kohl’s discounts! As a big fan of Kohl’s I’m always shopping there and can typically get great deals!
Hi Julie!
This extension is so cool and seems super easy to use! Thanks for sharing this!
The extension has already shown me some pretty great deals at express.com and loft.com. I’m a teacher, so if I had an extra $500 for back to school shopping, I’d definitely use the extension to help find deals at these stores. I’d also get some classroom supplies at amazon. Can’t believe this extension can find even more deals on that site!
Downloaded! I’m most excited for the Kohl’s discount because I can combine it with Kohl’s cash to save even more.
I’ve been using RetailMeNot for years but didn’t know about the browser extension! Such a great idea! I’m a first grade teacher so I need some new clothes that are nice looking but comfy so I’m excited to use the Old Navy deals!
I’m most excited to use it at Target! That’s my go to for everything from school supplies to all the candles.
Can’t wait to see Chase’s first day of school pictures!! I so agree with you about meal planning and using an agenda–both make me feel much more on top of things!
I can’t wait to use RetailMeNot codes for some new shoes, especially these cute white New Balance shoes I have been eyeing for months!
Definitely most excited for the $15 cash back on $30 + purchases from Old Navy!! I love all of Old Navy’s clothes – athletic wear, pixie pants, adorable dresses – they have it all!
I love back to school for establishing or getting into new routines. And dowloaded the retail me not genie. I love using their site for deals, I just got one at Eastbay and saved on some new workout shoes for my husband and me.
Ohhh..I’ve always wanted promo codes to just appear magically:) excited to pair this with amazon. Wish it worked from phones…maybe soon!
Definitely Amazon! Thanks so much for this fun giveaway!
I had no idea you could find codes for Amazon purchases… that discovery made my day!
Old navy and Kohl’s discounts! Love their cute/affordable kids clothes!!
I’m most excited about the Target and Loft discounts. Thanks for letting us know about this!
My scheduling’s goes out the window this summer too. I’ll be doing Tone It Up’s Fall challenge which I think starts next week to get me back on nutrition track. As much as I love carefree summer days, I’m looking forward to a better routine.
Hope Chase enjoys his Meet the Teacher ice cream social. Don’t cry too much, but I get it. He’s a big boy now!
I love Retail Me Not too! Can’t wait to see deals from Dick’s Sporting Goods pop up for some soccer gear for my daughter.
Good Morning 🙂 I must live under a rock. After adding on the extension, I downloaded the app. Excited for Target, Loft and Bed, Bath & Beyond.
Amazon and Target, of course!
I am a first-time “RetailMeNot” user and having this Genie feature is a great way to take advantage of lots of different savings. I will especially look for the deals at Old Navy. I love to buy my grandchildren school clothing from Old Navy, so the more deals that I can take advantage of, the better!!! That how I would use the $500 Visa gift card if I’m a winner. Thank you!
I am always excited for Sephora discounts!
Would love the old navy discount. With two littles and a third on the way it would be perfect for updating our fall/winter wardrobe (and maybe some maternity clothes for Mama. The third time around everything feels so familiar and old).
Ok. I have three kids 16, 14 and 12. Shopping for these three tends to be a challenge since we live in a tiny town in South Georgia with very few shopping options near us. I have never used retail me not before but have seen it mentioned on a number of blogs. I just downloaded the genie and have high hopes that it will help me save money and ease the stress of shopping!
Thank you so much for all the awesome content that you share on your blog. I love that you are open about your faith and what it means to you.
We just moved from TN to MN and all three of our kiddos will needs LOTS of warm clothes for the winter! Kohl’s in store 20% off would be great for our start on winter clothes!
Most excited to use it at Sephora!!
I’m so excited to use Genie to shop at Target! As a nursing student, I’m all about discounts, especially at stores like Target where I can get pretty much anything I could possibly need.
I always get excited about the old navy discounts.
Hmm…. I am torn because they have a ton of great offers but I have a few things that I have been eyeing on amazon so I’d probably use the $10 cash back on clothing, accessories, jewelry and watches.
Target discount — yes please!! 🙂
I’m a brand new public health PhD student at the University of Wisconsin! I would love to use the $500 gift card toward text books using Amazon’s Text10 – 10% off $100 in textbooks – and maybe save a little extra for decorating my new studio apartment.
I am in college, so funds for back to school shopping is pretty limited. I would probably use the 20% off at Alternative Apparel or the free shipping at ThredUp.
They have all of my favorites! Old Navy deals are always exciting, but I also saw they have a coupon for Bath & Body Works. Love loading up on fall scented candles!
Love RetailMeNot! I’m eyeing the 40% pants at ThredUp!
I downloaded! I’m most excited for the Kohl’s deal 🙂 They always seem to have so many great coupons!
Love RetailMeNot and am so excited to learn about the browser extension since online shopping seems to be the easiest these days! I’m most excited about the Old Navy discounts – I’m a huge fan of the work and play versatility of their clothing and would be great to freshen up everybody’s back to school wardrobe!
I’d be super excited about getting some new work clothes at loft!
I would be most excited to use a coupon for bath and body works for candles!
The cash back at Old Navy. I have three girls and I buy ALL of their stuff from there and Gap. My twin daughters start Kindergarten and they have a dress code so we need a whole new wardrobe which is painful on the pocketbook! 🙂
Pier 1 discount of $25 off $100 to add some zest to my boring family room!
30% discount from amazon on things for sure!
I love this extension and it makes things so much easier! I’m excited for the Walgreens print discount and the Airbnb credits. I just got married so I’m going to be printing off wedding pics once they come in and I’m looking at places to stay in Puerto Rico when we are there for our honeymoon!
While it’s back to school season, it’s wedding countdown time and I am looking forward to using this gift card for last minute needs for the wedding and honeymoon from Target, Amazon and Macys!
Kohl’s, Old Navy, or ThredUp! I could honestly use some warm weather (hello 100 degrees New England) clothes for work. Since my summer go-to is typically athletic shorts 🙂
Amazon! I just put in an order : / without the app. NEXT TIME!
I already used the Old Navy deal 🙂
I have always loved retail me not for coupon codes. So cool that now I just need to click the installed button on top and it will automatically tell me which coupon codes are available for that site. Thanks for sharing! I spy a 30% off at Kohls!
Back to school time is so exciting!! I tend to look forward to the weather change as well and retail me not has some good looking coupons to use at target to get everyone some new cozy bedding. I find a good night’s sleep does wonders for adjusting to the new bustling schedule after the lazy days of summer!
Oh gosh!!! So many deals!!! I’d also like to get some Old Navy deals as school clothes get ruined so quickly!!