Yesterday, I took part in the Don’t Fret the Sweat Talk on TheMotherhood. We had a great conversation about tweens heading back to school, how to keep them organized, the best ways to deal with the homework wars, and what to do about schoolyard bullying. These are not easy topics, but there were a lot of great ideas shared, and I came away with a few new tricks up my sleeve!
If you weren’t able to catch it yesterday, you can read the Talk Summary and catch up on everything you miseed.
For more information on these hot topics, you can watch Rosalind Wiseman talking teens, tweens and parents with Anderson Cooper and Dr. Phil at 8PM on October 9th and 14th.
And that’s not all! No ma’am. Unilever has provided a gift pack as a giveaway for Musings of a Housewife readers.
Check this out — a Vera Bradley bag; one sample each of Dove, Degree Girl and Degree Men deodorant; and Rosalind Wiseman’s books Queen Bees and Wannabes
To enter to win, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post and tell me how it’s going with your back to school routine. If you don’t have kids in school, no worries. Any relevant comment is welcome!
I will randomly select a winner using the And The Winner Is plugin for WordPress, and the winner will be announced on my Facebook page sometime next week (read: whenever I remember to close the giveaway.) Be sure you’re a fan! You will have 3 days to respond before I choose another winner.
Back to school is going great! The little man LOVES his new school and I do too!
After a few weeks, everything has settled out and it’s fantastic now!
Oh golly. You had to ask! Three of the four are having *no problem* but my twelve year old TWELVE year old threw a fit this morning and refused to get dressed. No amount of threatening, punishing, nor bribing corrected the problem. He missed the bus, forcing me to make the hour-long drive each way to drop him off at his school. Did I mention he’s twelve? I’d say that “adjusting well” isn’t happening yet.
Everything is going great for my son’s daycare back to school – he actually never stopped all summer. But, my husband is a teacher so it is still sort of “Back to school” in our home regardless! 🙂
Awesome! I sat out from yesterday’s discussion because my kids aren’t tweens yet. It’s still taking a bit to get into our routine. My son’s been in preschool before, but this is his first year going all 5 mornings. And wow, it’s tough to get us all out the door sometimes.
Back to school routines are getting better. We are no longer spending 3 hours a night on homework. The fidgeting has lessened and we are getting the work done quicker!!
Love summer, but love the routine of school days better. Of course this is because I work from home and my juvenile self is no longer upset because the kids are sleeping or having fun while I’m working! On the serious side, I love watching them learn and the excitement that comes with all of this new knowledge. This comment only applies to the 3rd grader, as the 9th grader knows everything. 🙂
Back to school has been great. New friends and amazing teachers.
The boys are doing well with the routine. I tweaked a few things from last year, went over it with them, posted it in the kitchen ( so I don’t have to repeat over and over, I just point at the list;-) and they are back in the swing of things-even with taking the second week off from school for a beach vacation.
I’d like to take the credit but I think they’ve just gotten older and-there’s no screen time for anyone not following the list and no arguing about it:-)
School has been drama free (SO FAR) this year!! I worry about that 5th grade girl dynamic. NOW if I could get them to remember to swipe that deodorant on in the morning things would be even better. I am such a fan of Rosalind’s writing!!
We’ve been “back to school” for about 6 weeks now and it’s going great! My daughter rocks the preschool. 😉
Back to school has gone pretty great so far. The kids seem to be adapting well and working hard on all their homework.
I don’t have kids, but I’m actually going back to school myself – I just decided to go back for a master’s degree. Wish me luck!!
My 10-year old niece is back in school, and it’s going well – except she’s already complaining about math homework! I try to tell her that math is fun but I guess I’m not too convincing. =)
Third grade was a big adjustment for us, but we’re settling into our morning routine quite well. This morning my girls actually got up before me and packed their own lunches!
School is going GREAT! The boy is enjoying 3rd grade, and princess is in heaven @ highschool. I have been making sure no one is stressed. by planning ahead. It’s been wonderful! so far:)
Well, today one of my second graders left his backpack at home and the other second grader left her math homework on the kitchen table….so apparently my school routines are not working as efficiently as I would like.
We are not doing very well. They refuse to eat breakfast in the morning and both already got sick.
We’re still getting into it… we started homeschool preschool this year and the kids love it – my 2 year old even participates a little bit, my 4 year old is loving learning to read, loves doing papers, loves the fun science we’ve been doing – but anytime something comes up that throws us off of starting before 10am the “school day” is toast – with jam. 🙂
Back to school is still crazy. Not normal yet- but I am hoping a few more weeks and it will be good. Middle schoolers are tough!
I’m having a hard time adjusting to the 5:30am wake up, but no problem for my Kinder son who loves catching the bus while it’s still dark outside. I’m hoping the time change will also change his mind on transportation.
No back to school routine here but am loving the back to school weather! I will have to catch you the Dr. Phil / Anderson talk (love Anderson’s new show BTW).
This has been a fabulous start to the school year! Both dc had horrible experiences in the local middle school, so we applied and were accepted into the local Charter School! What a HUGE difference. There are still “issues” (mostly teen stuff), but none of the drama junk!
Thanks for offering the giveaway!!!
No back to school routines here, however my life is much slower. I spend the summers at the beach with my siblings and their children. They are all back at school. I know summer was super chaotic but I really miss it now. My summer is also my busiest for beach portraits so I am just starting to slow down.
Mine is in college, but that is almost worse….very stressed daughter with her classes!!!
Oh gracious, I love that bag. My back-to-school is exhausting but rewarding (in addition to having a little one in elementary school, I teach 7th grade). It’s a big change from our lazy summer “routine.”
We’re still trying to figure out our school routine. I have a 2nd grader, a 4 year old and a 3 month old, and my time management skills are apparently a little rusty. 🙂
Back to school has been good! With a high schooler who starts at 7:30 and a middle school starting at 9:30, the day seems very long! I love that my kids are older now and able to handle the getting up and out very well. Thanks for the great giveaway and fun blog.
Back to school has been going as well as can be expected, since I just started a new job! I am loving the autumn weather 🙂 Thanks for the giveaway!
I do love me some Vera Bradley! While my kiddos aren’t school age yet, I am already thinking about all of the things that go along with that… routine, organization, bullying, etc. Hoping I am able to raise confident young men that can turn the other cheek if they are bullied…
Routine? {blink blink}
I will say I get a LOT more done. Mostly since the begging to go to the beach has stopped. Yes it was ME begging, but that is irrelevant as far as I’m concerned. 😉
I have to say, so far I’m still organized w/ back to school. We have had no morning break-downs, nothing has been forgotten, and everyone was on the bus on time.
After almost 4 weeks we finally settled into a routine and things are going well!
i think we’ve got our routine down. i’m making 2 loaves of pb&j sandwiches at a time and freezing them to save time too. love when i think of a shortcut to make the routine more manageable!
Hate I missed the talk…. our BTS is going relatively smoothly. My daughter’s teacher makes his students bring in a weekly calendar of the entire family’s activities so that had helped with my own time management.
My daughter just turned 3 and is not in school yet, but I will be headed back to work so I needed to get her potty trained. So my way to get her excited about potty training was to tell her that in order to go to school she had to be trained. So it worked, I start a new job on Monday, she’s potty trained and we will see how her new routine will work out with going to “school” i.e. daycare…..gulp! So unfortunately my BTS routine has not been started..yet!
We are starting to get into a good groove, and we have started Cub Scouts too. With a teenager, 6 year old, and a 3 year old (all boys), sometimes a schedule is a struggle but we just keep swimming! : 0
(no kids) loving the fall weather though!
it’s all about the prep work the night before when the little darlings are sleeping…. thanks
Our back to school rountines are going Great! [email protected]
Back to school is going well….just stinks to be out the door by 8:20! I miss my kids!
I don’t have kids, but back to school seems to be going well for the kids in the neighborhood. It’s a lot quieter around here! I love it when they go back – I get a little peace and quiet too, even though I’m not a parent! 🙂
With three kids and three schools its been a bit of adjustment to a new schedule. They seem to be adjusting well to 9th, 6th and 1st grades, but laundry and carpooling is overwhelming their mother. Some days we need a spread sheet to figure out who goes where/with whom etc. Crazy September I love you. I’ll be sure to check out the link to the message, I can use all the good ideas I can get.
Hello,
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this giveaway,
My daughter is 19 years old, She’s a second year student at the university, She’s doing very well,
I love to win a Vera Bradley bag as a gift for her,
I’ve a trouble, I’ve not access to facebook
I am finally getting in the swing of things this week. The schedule change, morning routine and afterschool activities took a few weeks to iron out. The kids are doing great!
Our oldest daughter just started preschool and we are both loving it! 🙂 She just randomly recited her Bible memory verse which brought tears to my eyes. So proud and this is only the beginning . . .
Back to school is going….fair. Reserving judgement for another week!
Our almost four year old just does a few hours a week of preschool type lessons with an aunt who homeschooled her own daughter. She loves “school” and always asks me if it’s “Aunt Dee day” when she wakes up. 🙂
So far it is going very well! Everyone is on time and dressed and ready to go! I make sure everyone is in bed on time and help them in the am with lunch packing. My 11 year old tween needs extra time to get ready in the morning now that all of a sudden she cares about how she looks and spends more time on her hair and outfit. Our 16 year old is an early bird and has never been a problem.
Our tween son’s been back to school for about 6 weeks now, and he still can’t get out of the summer sleep mode—keeps hitting his snooze button before I get home from work!
having three kids in three different schools is kicking my bottom. we have 5 pick-up and drop-off times and it is exhausting! i used to dread days off of school–now i am so thankful to have a day off. this is going to be one long school year…
I am a high school nurse and a mom to a tween and a high schooler – this is great info for both of my jobs…… the routine is always a work in progress! : )
I have a 6th grader and a 2 year old. This year has been especially easy with the older one- the older she gets, the more responsible she is! I am still having trouble with the school papers though, trying to keep them all organized!
I dont have kids but I totally have a morning routine. Since school started- it’s going okay:)
My three oldest are back in the routine, but my five year old is having a hard time. He still wants to stay home with Mommy!!
So far so good….I take little man to school and my son and daughter drive themselves (and the neighborhood) to high School!
The after school is tough…everynight it is someone’s sports going on! love it though!
So far, little progress. Football practice and games take up most of the evening leaving little time for homework and chores. I really thought back to school time immediately brought back order, but not really at our house right now!
So glad to be back to school, but we need to work on actually using our in/out baskets! I’m ordering Lunchskins online today for sack lunches – I’ve heard they are a great reuse item instead of disposable lunch baggies – smart! We don’t sell these great items, we are just sharing this and other smart lunch bag ideas on our blog YESSpaces.com/blog
(Please draw me! I really want to win those books in the gift bag!)
Things are going pretty well..my daughter is a senior and has it together thanks
Back to school is great so far…the only one suffering is my 15 month old who finds her naps cut short by school pickups at 12 and 2. Oh well…she will adjust I am sure but there is no way I am letting her nap after 3 in the afternoon. Way too close to bedtime!
We are slowly settling into the back to school routine…..these dark mornings make it hard to get the kids up though.
Back to school is going well!
My kids are grown up and past the back to school stage, and I sure miss it!!
Well, I don’t have kids, but I am sure NOT enjoying this back to school traffic. 🙂
What a fun prize! Our back to school routine is going…okay…still ironing out the kinks!
Back to school started here, late in July. We homeschool, and saw the benefits of having started a bit earlier, keeping that good routine for the week. The routine is good for us all, and lets us be more free to take off when we need to, without being worried that we’re missing required days!
Back to school is going well. The key to smooth morning for us, is getting everything together the night before. Packing lunches, ironing clothes, placing this in the car that need to make the morning commute. Works for us!
My daughter is in college so far so good… Thanks for this giveaway
Hope it’s not to late to enter. BTS has been tougher than usual this year. My 9 (almost 10) year old daughter is now in 4th grade and with being in upper grade comes a lot more work and responsibility. My daughter is usually on top of things but the transition back to daily homework after the homework free days of summer has been a big adjustment. She’s only been back two and a half weeks so I’m hoping we’ll be settling into the routine nicely this next week.
Oohh, I love Vera Bradley. I don’t have a kid in school yet but that tote bag will definitely be a nice touch (to replace the old diaper bag!) to haul the kid essentials whenever I do errands. I haven’t read those books yet but I’m sure it will give me ideas for when my kid is already in school (which starts next year – gasp!).
My daughter just started middle school and she loves it,but I know what you are saying.