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Diana Rene: 0:06

You're listening to The Decluttered Mom podcast, a podcast built specifically for busy moms by a busy mom. I'm your host, Diana Rene, and in 2017, I had my second daughter and it felt like I was literally drowning in my home okay, not literally, but I felt like I couldn't breathe with all of the stuff surrounding me. Over the next 10 months, I got rid of approximately 70% of our household belongings and I have never looked back. I kind of feel like I hacked the mom system and I'm here to share all the tips. This may be like oh my gosh, this is so timely. We start school now. Or you might be like I don't start, my kids don't start school for like another month. It's hard to find the best time of when to publish these, because people just go back to school at such different times all around our country, in the US, but then all over the world, like forget it. There's no way I'm going to make the perfect time for everyone. So if you're already back to school, perfect. This is going to be helpful for you. If you don't start school for another two months, perfect. This is still going to be helpful for you. Make sure you listen to it and come back also and listen to it again when you are getting even closer, because these are really good tips that have helped me so much in the past and have helped thousands of women that I have shared these with before.

Diana Rene: 1:36

So we're going to break the first episode and the second episode into kind of two categories. The first episode this one right now is things that are going to be helpful prior to school beginning, and then the second episode is just going to be things that you can be doing all throughout the school year basis. They're going to help you all throughout the school year. So this episode is the things that really help you if you set them up now or before school or like when school's first beginning. And then the second episode is going to be all about the things that are going to help you all throughout the year. Okay, so in this episode I'm going to share six different things that help me so much when it comes to kids going back to school. The very first one is just to batch bake before school starts, and what I mean by that is to make a bunch of protein muffins or make a bunch of breakfast sandwiches or just anything that will make your life easier once the school year starts to have things pre-made that you can make, put in the freezer and then easily pop in the microwave or the toaster oven or the air fryer on the day of, just to make your life easier For us. What I like to do is I like to do like a big batch of protein muffins that also have some like veggies in there too. That will be easy breakfast and easy afterschool snacks. And then I also you guys, if you like.

Diana Rene: 3:13

The idea of baking makes you want to crawl in a hole. I get it. I hate baking too. This is one of the only times in the entire year that I do bake, because I know how much it helps me. But you can also do this with pre-made, store-bought things. You can go to Costco, you can buy the muffins or you can buy any of the food, and you can cut the big jumbo muffins in half or in quarters and freeze those, and then you can pull them out throughout the next semester and it just makes for an easy breakfast or snack or anything like that. And so don't let the idea of hating baking or baking feeling overwhelming stop you from doing this, because it's really, really helpful. But then there's also so many companies now that make like Veggies Made Great and like Target brand makes a very similar muffin to the Veggies Made Great, where, like, you can just buy those too and you can pop those in the microwave. So there's just so many. Just start thinking about the things that you can just pre-do, whether that's make or buy, to have accessible to you.

Diana Rene: 4:17

When I still ate gluten and both of my girls still ate gluten, I would make breakfast sandwiches.

Diana Rene: 4:25

Both of my girls still ate gluten.

Diana Rene: 4:26

I would make breakfast sandwiches.

Diana Rene: 4:27

So I would like make sheet pans of eggs and then I would make all the sausage and then I would put cheese on and I would do bagels.

Diana Rene: 4:36

And yes, I technically could do it with gluten-free bagels, but gluten-free bagels are not good at all, and so, unless you have one that you know is really good and is also nut free, you can let me know, but I have not found one yet, and I also used to do that with like breakfast burritos. So I would make breakfast burritos Actually, that was something I used to do for my husband and I pre-kids is I would make a whole batch of breakfast burritos and I would wrap them in tinfoil, put them in the freezer and then, on my way to getting ready to go to work, I would take one out, unwrap it and microwave it and have it to eat on my way to work. So there are just so many things you can do. If you can start thinking about the things that your kids like, that would make your life easier on the days that just feel a little extra busy or a little extra overwhelming, the days that just feel a little extra busy or a little extra overwhelming.

Miss Ten: 5:26

Hi, I'm Miss Ten and I'm going to be talking about the teacher survey that we do each school year.

Miss Ten: 5:32

So the teacher survey is something that we type and then print and then we give it to our teachers. We type and then print and then we give it to our teachers and it has like all the basic things like when's your birthday, what's your favorite place to eat out at, what's your favorite color, what's your favorite treat, what's your favorite drink, stuff like that and then they fill it out and they give it back to us and then that helps with picking out their Christmas gifts or birthday gifts. Or like one of my teachers, my second grade teacher we gave her a gift basket when she was in the hospital and it had all of her favorites from on the list when she was in the hospital. And it had all of her favorites from on the list. It had gift cards, it had her favorite dark chocolate, it had drawings and the teachers I think that they really like that, because then we know some of their favorites and then they can get those stuff at Christmas and stuff.

Diana Rene: 6:44

I have a link for you in the show notes. I already have a pretty printable PDF that you can just print out and give to your teachers or email to your teachers once you know who they are. This is something that I created several years ago for myself and then I had people asking if they could use it too. So we made it really pretty and easy to print and I actually, before I started doing this I wanna say four or five years ago I actually asked on my Instagram to all the followers I said if you are a teacher, can you tell me, is this something that you would like welcome? Is this, does this feel like more work? What is your perception of this? And the overwhelming feedback was that if they, as a teacher, received this from a student or a student's parents, they would feel so loved and they would have zero problems filling it out, like they would be so thankful that a parent and a student were thinking about what they actually like and want that they would be thrilled. So, like I said, I have this linked in the show notes, totally free for you. What is it? It is a, basically survey, so it asks for their name, their birthday, like all the different things that they love. What's their favorite color? Where do they like to eat at restaurants? What type of store do they shop at for school? What type of stores do they love shopping at for fun? All of these different questions. That way, when it comes time for you to buy them a present for Teacher Appreciation Week or just any other time of the year, you have basically a customized list for exactly what you could buy them that they would love, instead of just another coffee mug or another picture frame that ends up as clutter in their home that they maybe don't even really want. And I'll move back a little bit by saying teachers have been very clear with me that they really appreciate any gift that's given to them. But if we're going to spend our hard earned money on a gift for someone don't, we want them to like, really love and appreciate and feel like they were seen, and so this is just a really easy way to do that For me.

Diana Rene: 8:56

Sometimes, if I know there was a time last year where strep was going around like crazy at my kid's school. Like it was, like they couldn't stop it. Every kid was getting strep multiple times in like a two month period and like the teachers were stressed and I don't blame them so I got, I was able to like, pick up their favorite snacks, favorite soda, and drop it off to them and, like it was just it meant a lot to them. There have been other times where I've dropped out or I picked up their favorite coffee from the local coffee shop and like, had my kids bring it into them in the morning and like, just, if we can find little ways to help our teachers feel seen and loved, I think it goes a long way. If we could do that in a way that they really are receiving things from us, that they really do, like it just helps a lot. And so, again, this is free. I just normally give this to teachers, usually about a week after school starts. I try not to do it before I meet the teacher night, because they have a lot going on. They have a lot going on all year, but you know what I mean. And then I also put a post-it note on it and I basically say please give this back to my daughter when you're done with it or you can email it to me. There's no rush at all, don't worry about that. So I just make it clear that they can fill it out at their leisure, because I don't want them to feel like they have like an assignment from me, if that makes sense.

Diana Rene: 10:29

The third thing that I really like to do is to create a hair stuff basket, which I got to come up with a better, like catchier, name than that, because it's not super fun A hair stuff basket. Basically, this is for boys and girls. No matter how you're doing their hair in the morning, it's really frustrating if you're doing hair in the kitchen while they're eating breakfast and you have to keep running upstairs to grab random things that you need for it, right? And so I have found that it's easiest for us to for me to do their hair while they are eating breakfast because they're sitting down, they're doing something, they're focused on something and we can kind of multitask and do two things at once. They can eat breakfast, I can do their hair, um, and so I like to keep. I used to keep a basket in the kitchen. Now I have a whole drawer that's designated to their hair stuff, and that's because my girls like a lot of hair stuff. There's a lot of bows and clips and fancy little hair ties and all these things. So having all of the hair stuff in one location, especially in the kitchen, if you can do that multitasking again, it just helps to eliminate the back and forth trips, not being able to find what you need oh shoot, you can't find the hairspray. Everything's there, right, and so it just makes the mornings getting them ready for school just a little bit easier and a little bit quicker. And again, anytime we can find those little things to fine tune and tweak, the better our mornings are going to go.

Diana Rene: 12:03

The fourth one is to keep the first weekend after school totally clear, if possible. I say if possible because I understand like, especially as kids get a little bit older and maybe they're in more competitive sports or things like that, it can be really hard to have a completely clear weekend. But even if they do have soccer practice or a soccer game or they have ballet class like whatever, if they do have that kind of stuff, then just try to keep the rest of the weekend as free as possible. For me, I have found this was something that when my oldest was in preschool, I actually saw someone talk about this on Instagram. I think I really wish I could find the original video, but I don't know if it was even on like I think it was like in stories on Instagram. I think it was Jen Hatmaker.

Diana Rene: 12:55

I like I really think I can't remember 100%, but I believe it was Jen Hatmaker who posted saying that like, basically, she knew that when she had a completely clear weekend after her kids. I think she how many kids does she have? I think she has four or five kids and they're all, like I think the youngest one is in high school now, and so I was listening and taking in valuable advice from a mom who has been there, done that right, like her kids had already been through school and she had lots of experience with this and my oldest was just going into preschool, and so she was talking about how, like, emotions are high, everybody's exhausted because they had all summer where they were not like as nearly as busy, and then they were back in school and they have friend stuff going on and they have all of the information for their classes and they have, you know, a strict like day where they have to be sitting in a classroom, and so she was talking about how it just feels really overwhelming for them. Their emotions are big and so just not having any plans and ordering pizza on Friday, having movie nights all weekend, letting them have as much screen time as they want, just decompressing over that first weekend was something that she said was invaluable every year with her kids, and so I really try to take that advice and not have any extra plans. If you are that family that just has pre-planned like sporting activities or something like that, then I would just say don't schedule anything else. Don't plan like a night, a dinner out with a family friend or like. Just try and minimize the plans To add to that.

Diana Rene: 14:44

What I like to do is I like to take a solo walk with both of my girls on that first weekend.

Diana Rene: 14:50

They know it, it's something that they look forward to.

Diana Rene: 14:54

I love it because I have found that my kids are just more likely to share with me more about what's going on in their lives, especially my oldest.

Diana Rene: 15:03

When we are just walking and maybe it's because the pressure is down, like I'm not sitting there staring in her face, you know, and for whatever reason, it just feels like we have really good conversations and they can open up to me while we're walking, and so I make a point of it to, one day on the weekend, take each of them separately for a long walk and we just talk about whatever they want to talk about. If they don't want to talk about anything at all, then we can listen to music on my phone while we walk. We can just hold hands and walk, or they can share with me what's going on or how was the first week of school or something's happening with this friend and they don't know what to do. It just creates this moment of connection in a very frazzled time of year, and so it's been really, really valuable to me and I wanted to offer that as an option for you also. Number five is the power of checklists. We are a big checklist family, hi.

Speaker 2: 16:07

I'm Miss Seven and I'm excited to talk to you about the school checklist. So the school checklist can have like if you wear sunglasses, put your sunglasses away, get dressed. And also it can have like. It can have like wash your hands and put away your lunchbox. It can have like anything that might make you like and happy and helpful for after school and you can pick how it's helpful. You can pick how it's like he helps you are like. You can talk about it. When it's like, you can just ask to make it with your family. You can make it a white board. You can make it. You can change the list. It can be whatever you like bye.

Diana Rene: 17:13

We do this because it helps keep everyone on the same page, but it also gives the kids just a way to have a handle on what's going on with them in their daily lives and it also teaches them how to be prepared and how to organize in any family home, and so it's just really helpful all the way around, no matter the age. We usually start this in preschool and kids need a little bit of help in those earlier years, but as they get a little bit older it's something that they can do totally on their own and it's just really helpful. So we have a couple of different checklists. We have an AM checklist, we have an afterschool checklist, we have a PM checklist and we have an out the door checklist. So what are all of those checklists? The AM, after school and PM checklists are checklists for the girls that they are responsible for things to do in the morning, after school and at evening. We have in the show notes. We have a link. You can see an example of the checklist that we do. Just to kind of get the ball rolling for you to think about this, I just go on Canva and I make a cute little checklist that I can print out, then what we do is we put them in oh gosh, I can. Why can't I think of the sleeves, the plastic sleeves I was not going to remember what those were called. We put them in the plastic sleeves on a clipboard and then they have a dry erase marker so they can check things off as they do them, at whatever time of day. They have the checklist and then when they're done and I see that they've done it all they can erase it and then it's ready to go for the next day. It's super, super simple. Plus, they just like having clipboards. I think they think that's like fun. They get their own little clipboard. It's the little things, right.

Diana Rene: 19:02

And so, again, these are all just things that they need to do. So, like, in the evening, for example, they need to make sure the shoes they're wearing the next day is by the door. They need to make sure that their backpack is by the door. They need to make sure their water bottle is filled and inside their backpack All of these little things that are going to help minimize the chaos in the morning and, at the same time, help them learn how to be prepared. Ok, and then the out the door checklist is a checklist I literally put on our back door that we leave for them to go to school every day, and it's just the things that we want to make sure they don't forget. So I have a checklist and I say the checklist out loud and they both literally say back to me check. Sometimes they say, oh, hold on, I got to grab that. And that's exactly why we have the checklist. So for us it's like backpacks check, water bottle check, sunglasses check, because they both like wearing sunglasses to school. So like all of those things. And then each specific day well, not every day, but like if there are certain days, like if they do PE every Tuesday and Thursday, then I put on Tuesdays and Thursdays PE shoes to make sure that they have the correct shoes they're supposed to wear for PE. Or if they have some type of like musical instrument class, you would put like on that day, make sure they bring this instrument. So like it's just again one of those things that's going to help minimize how many times you might have to run to school because they forgot something or them being left out because they forgot something. It just helps you in the moment be prepared. You in the moment, be prepared.

Diana Rene: 20:40

Last but not least, number six is to preload your planner or calendar. So as soon as you get the school year calendar, you might even already be able to get it on your school's website. As soon as you get it, whether it's back to school night or the first day of school, what I like to do is sit down and put everything in there for the whole year into my Google calendar. That way I know, like if we're planning a trip back to Michigan to visit family in October, I'm not planning the trip for when their like fall bonanza thing is happening, right, like it just again is helping you to plan your time and not cause time conflicts in the future because you forgot to put it in your calendar. So I just think, as I just do the entire year. It has saved me so many times where I like go to plan something and then I see in my Google Calendar they have a school thing and I don't plan the thing. If I didn't have that in there because it was three months away when school started, I easily could have double booked, and that can create a lot of disappointing times, and so that's something that I always like to do, and then I always like to, usually right around winter break. I do it again because sometimes it changes over the year and so I wanna make sure I am up to date.

Diana Rene: 22:04

I hope these are all as helpful for you as they have been for me and all of the women before who have used all of these tips. We have so many resources for you that I've mentioned in the show notes, so be sure to check out all the links there. They're all free resources for you, and then when you come back to listen next week, we are gonna go through the top tips that I have of just things to do throughout the whole year that are going to help you so much. I hope this was helpful and we will see you next week on the Decluttered Mom podcast. Thanks for hanging out and listening to The Decluttered Mom podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, it would mean the world if you could write a review or share this episode with a friend or your Instagram stories, and if you're on Instagram, be sure to follow me at thedeclutteredmom and send me a DM to say hi. I'd love to hear what you thought about today's episode. I hope you'll come back next week and hang out with us again.